Muttar Paneer: a make ahead dinner

Note to self: Make this Indian recipe the night before actually wanting to eat it.  It is ten thousand times better the next day.

Note to anyone reading: This recipe is delicious if slightly modified and reheated.  You should try it.

Now that all of that is out of the way, let me get to the actual recipe I am writing about.  It is an Indian dish called Muttar Paneer.  Because I am slightly obsessed with Indian food and Indian spices, I decided to expand my Indian food repertoire last week by making a new dish.  I had a block of paneer cheese in the fridge so I knew I wanted to see what other Indian recipes would include that.  This recipe is what found while looking on foodnetwork.com.  Here's the link:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/muttar-paneer-recipe/index.html  

After reading the recipe reviews, I decided to change up the ingredients a little bit.  First, I seasoned and cooked the paneer like I would in the Saag Paneer recipe.  I cut the cheese into bite-sized pieces and placed them in a bowl.  I then added a splash of olive oil, a 1/2 teaspoon cayanne pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt over the cheese.  I mixed that up until all the cheese pieces were coated with the spices.  I then pan fried the cheese and once done, set it aside.  

When the Food Network recipe calls for adding the garam masala and turmeric, that's when I also added 1 1/2 teaspoons of coriander and about 1 teaspoon of cumin.  After the recipe calls for adding the peas, I sprinkled about 1/2 teaspoon of cayanne pepper over them, stirring well to make sure all the peas were mixed and covered in the spice sauce.   Also, I let the peas cook for about 15-20 minutes instead of the 5 minutes mentioned in the recipe.  

While eating Muttar Paneer that first night for dinner, both Matt and I agreed that it was an okay dish.  He said it got about 3.25 chicken wings out of 5.  However, the next day, what a different story!  Literally the first thing I said to Matt after work was, "What did you think of the Indian today?"  His response, "So good and so much better."  After a day of sitting, I think the recipe moved up at least one chicken wing in his book.  I have been thinking about it and I am not quite sure what brought the spices together so beautifully the next day.  Maybe there is an Indian fairy out there somewhere that corrects all poor attempts at Indian food made by a girl from Ohio. Oh well, I am definitely not complaining.  Enjoy!