Monday 23 May 2016

CHOLE PANEER



Choley Paneer.... if you are on a low carbohydrate diet.... a bowl of this is just perfect for you. Ever since I was caught with diabetes and started on a restricted diet, I look for a bowl full of fulfilling meals. As a Bengali, my love for rice is perhaps by default, hence a restriction on it always leaves me in a hungry kya state. So I try to cook for myself something that fills my big tummy and is nutritious too. This choley/garbanzo beans/chick peas are a very good source of protein and keep us off those hunger pangs for a long time. Though till a few years back yellow/green matar were more common in a Bengali home than chick peas/garbanzo beans/kabuli chana, it is now very common among us. Tagore's Kabuliwala had been more famous to us than kabuli chana. Tears still rolls down thinking of the classic piece or the movie seen a number of times.

I was thinking of preparing a curry with my two favourite things.... chickpeas and paneer. So I made a hearty curry with chickpea and Indian Cottage Cheese, which we call Choley Paneer. There must be a number of recipes on this but I did it my own way. You can make your own paneer at home but I used the store bought one this time. We usually have it with Indian breads, I had a bowl full of just like that. Let us do this Choley Paneer together.

INGREDIENTS :
Chick Pea : 250gm
Paneer : 100gm
Tomato : 1big[chopped]
Onion : 1big[sliced]
Garlic[minced] : 2tsp
Ginger Paste : 1tsp
Cumin Powder : 1tsp
Coriander Powder : 1tsp
Garam Masala Powder : 2tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Salt : As Required
Cumin Seed : 2pinches
Bayleaf : 1
Coriander Leaves : 2tbsp[chopped]
Green Chilli : 2-3[slitted]
Oil : 3-4tbsp

METHOD :
Wash and soak the chick peas in hot water for 5-6 hours. Pressure cook up to 4 whistles adding little salt. Let cool.

Crush the paneer lightly with hand and apply very little salt to it.

Heat oil in a wok. Temper with cumin seeds, bayleaf. Add the minced garlic and fry till light brown.

Add the sliced onions and fry till golden brown. Add the ginger paste and fry for a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir till they melt.

Add the coriander, cumin, chilli,  and turmeric powders, slitted green chillies and stir well. Add the boiled chick peas and fold in well.

Add a big cup of water and cover cook at low heat for about 10 minutes. Open cover, add the crushed paneer, fold in well.

Add the garam masala powder and chopped coriander leaves. Fold in well and let cook for a minute.

Its done. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Serve with breads or have it just like that.





8 comments :

  1. Oh-yum and mouthwatering dish. Have made my version of choley without paneer but with tofu, this recipe is bookmarked. Would love to try for the next week's veg meal.

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  2. Delicious & lovely curry...........you made it perfectly... :)

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  3. Exotic and flavorful choley paneer, it's very famous in North-India too, adding of cottage cheese in choley..drooling bas waiting for my bowl of rice and puri chef :)

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