Despite the fact that we live in international food heaven, paneer can be a pain to find in conventional grocery stores.  It happens that a couple of my favorite Indian recipes are centered around paneer, so I was really excited when my friend Missy sent me a link on how to make homemade paneer.  It was super easy to make and really good.  So we needed a recipe, and I picked Matar Paneer, one I like a lot.  This was kind of a mish-mash of a Madhur Jaffrey recipe and some other cobbled-together on the internet.  We liked it, but next time I’ll add WAY more liquid.  We both like our curries on the soupy side. 😉  It was enjoyable and I’d give it a spin again.  The paneer will *definitely* happen again.

• 2 Tablespoonsvegetable oil
• 8 ounces paneer, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 onion, halved
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 -inch piece ginger, roughly chopped
• 2 scallions, roughly chopped
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 (10-ounce) packets frozen peas
• 1 cup tomato puree (I used fresh roma tomatoes for this)
• 1 cup vegetable stock  (you could also use leftover whey for this, or chicken stock)

Heat the oil a large skillet and add the paneer cubes, in 2 batches, and fry until they are golden. Remove the golden cubes to drain on a paper towel.

Put the onion, garlic cloves, scallions, and ginger into a food processor and process to a coarse pulp. Fry gently for about 5 minutes with a sprinkling of salt. Stir in the garam masala and turmeric and cook for another 2 minutes before adding the paneer and peas (you can add them still-frozen, just simmer longer).

Dissolve the tomato puree in the vegetable stock and pour over the contents of the pan. Stir again and turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, tasting to check that the peas are tender.  Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Server over rice (we used brown and it was fine).