Indian food spectacular!

I love Indian food.  Matt loves Indian food too.  This is one reason why we love each other.  

During the summer of 2011, Matt and I went to a festival that had three food trucks as the possible lunch/dinner options.  Needless to say, when you only have three food trucks to choose from, you quickly learn which one is the best.  The Indian food became our staple lunch and dinner during the three days we were at the festival.  Once we got back to Atlanta, my sweet and adventurous sister Audrey came down to visit and took us out for an Indian dinner.  Audrey had spent a month living in India a couple years beforehand so she knew what was good and what we might like.  Matt and I left our dinner with Audrey stuffed but steady in our love for Indian.

Last night I made Saag Paneer, a recipe I found on foodnetwork.com.  Since we have gotten married, I have made this Aarti Sequeira recipe probably between 10-12 times.  Considering we have only been married for 9 months, that is a lot of wonderful Indian in a short amount of time.  I stumbled across the Paneer cheese one day at the Farmer's Market but I am sure they have it at other places as well.   If you can't find it, Aarti (I am calling her by her first name now like she and I are best friends or something) has a recipe on foodnetwork.com on how to make your own. Below is the recipe for Aarti Sequeira's Saag Paneer as well as the link. Now you have no excuse to not make this dish as soon as possible!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/saag-paneer-spinach-with-indian-cheese-recipe/index.html

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Saag Paneer: Spinach with Indian Cheese

• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• Kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 12 ounces paneer, (Indian cheese, either store-bought or made from Aarti's recipe) 
• 1 (16-ounce package) frozen chopped spinach
• 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
• 1 (1-inch thumb) ginger, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large green serrano chili, finely chopped (seeds removed if you don't like it spicy!)
• 1/2 teaspoon store-bought or homemade garam masala, recipe follows
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirred until smooth

In a large bowl, whisk together the turmeric, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons oil. Gently, drop in the cubes of paneer and gently toss, taking care not to break the cubes if you're using the homemade kind. Let the cubes marinate while you get the rest of your ingredients together and prepped.

Thaw the spinach in the microwave in a microwave-safe dish, 5 minutes on high, then puree in a food processor until smooth. Alternatively, you can chop it up very finely with your knife.

Place a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, and add the paneer as the pan warms. In a couple of minutes give the pan a toss; each piece of paneer should be browned on one side. Fry another minute or so, and then remove the paneer from the pan onto a plate.

Add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to the pan. Add the onions, ginger, garlic and chile. Now here's the important part: saute the mixture until it's evenly toffee-coloured, which should take about 15 minutes. Don't skip this step - this is the foundation of the dish! If you feel like the mixture is drying out and burning, add a couple of tablespoons of water.

Add the garam masala, coriander and cumin. If you haven't already, sprinkle a little water to keep the spice from burning. Cook, stirring often, until the raw scent of the spices cook out, and it all smells a bit more melodious, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the spinach and stir well, incorporating the spiced onion mixture into the spinach. Add a little salt and 1/2 cup of water, stir, and cook about 5 minutes with the lid off.

Turn the heat off. Add the yogurt, a little at a time to keep it from curdling. Once the yogurt is well mixed into the spinach, add the paneer. Turn the heat back on, cover and cook until everything is warmed through, about 5 minutes. Serve.

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When making this dish, I never use my food processor to puree the spinach.  I hate to wash that dang thing.  If the frozen spinach is already chopped, I figured that is good enough for me.  I also leave out the yogurt.  One main reason I leave out the yogurt is that it cuts down on the Weight Watcher points.  Just so you know, based on my Weight Watchers online food tracker, fried paneer is about 3 points per 1 oz and white rice is 5 points per cup.  By the time I am done eating this delicious meal, I have had approximately 2 oz of cheese (which totals 5 points) along with 1 cup of rice.  It is a really hearty meal for only about 10 points.  That always makes me very happy.  Enjoy!