Mutter Paneer in Peanut Gravy

This is my very first blog hop and my partner for this blog hop was Surabhi. Surabhi is someone who is very passionate about cooking & this reflects from her posts. She is one of my first friends of the blogging world, thanks to Radhika of Tickling Palates :). I was a little confused as to what to choose as the 'Star dish', either i bake something or prepare something else. 
Finally, i choose Surabhi's Mutter Paneer in Peanut gravy, coz i could relate to her recipe story ( yup! every recipe has a story to it), but in this case, roles were reversed. I love Paneer & S is not such a big fan, he prefers veggies more and loves peanuts! So, i knew, this was what i would prepare..its easy,quick & tastes great...

Mutter Paneer in Peanut Gravy

Another click with Chappati

Ingredients
1. Peas/Mutter - 1 cup ( I used frozen peas)
2. Onion - 1
3. Tomatoes - 2
4. Paneer - 1/4 cup
5. Roasted Peanuts - 1/2 cup
6. Red Chilli powder - 1-2 tsp
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Cumin-corinader powder - 1 tsp
9. Green chillies - 2
10. Ginger-garlic paste - 1-1/2 tsp
11. Salt - to taste
12. Oil - 1-2 tsp 


Preparation Time!!
1a. Take paneer and add it in hot water and let it rest for a while. This makes paneer soft!
1b. Take around 2-3 glasses of water and add peas in it and boil, till it is done. Drain water and keep aside
1c.Take some oil in a pan, once warm, add coarsely chopped onions, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and sauté till onions turns pink
2. Add tomatoes and sauté. Let it cook for a couple of minutes, till tomatoes start getting mushy
3. Cool the mixture and then blend this along with peanuts in a mixer
4. Transfer the pureed gravy to the pan again and add chilli, turmeric and cumin-coriander powder, along with salt
5. Let this mixture simmer, till the raw smell goes. Add a little water, based on the consistency, you desire for your gravy!
6. Once the raw smell goes, add peas and mix well
7. Remove the paneer from hot water and cut the paneer to cubes and add them in the gravy. Mix well, so that paneer gets coated well in the gravy
8. Let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes, for the peas and paneer to acquire the flavor


Serve with any Indian bread of your choice or even with brown bread :). We had it for dinner with Chappati.


Pointers
* In original recipe, paneer is shallow fried! You could go ahead & do that. I prefer to add it in hot water, and remove it & cut, just before i add to the mixture
** The side dish is slightly heavy, just like the ones, when we add malai or cream! This is due to the peanuts. So, next time you have people over for dinner, this could be a good option


Serving: 1 big full bowl
Duration : 30 minutes