Paneer Tawa Masala

ot starting with my usual gaga about my fascination with paneer everytime I post a paneer dish, let me cut straight to the chase. The idea occurred to me when I was making my Tawa Pulao dish that I posted a few days ago. Why not make paneer with the same masala combination! This gives the dish the sophistication of paneer yet the charm of street food, making it taste like paneer bhaji chaat (drooling yet?) and equally suitable as a snack as it would for dinner. The other cool thing about this dish is that it is ridiculously easy to make, literally fifteen minutes from start to finish if you had all the ingredients. The fact that you can whip up this flavorful dish in a jiffy makes it a very suitable roadside street food. If you walk the streets in India, you would find road side food vendors with huge iron griddles on open flame cooking this away with reckless abandon for a queue of hungry people that have their eyes fixated on the sheer skill with which the chef tosses the dish around on the griddle while they talk about the movie they just came out of. So without further ado, here goes.

Ingredients:

Paneer ................................................. 2 cup cubed

Tomato puree or crushed tomatoes ............... 3/4 cup

Onion .................................................. 1 medium very finely chopped

Pav bhaji masala ..................................... 2 tsp

Ginger garlic paste ................................... 1 tsp

Red chilli powder .................................... 1 tsp or to taste

Oil ...................................................... 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds ........................................... 1/2 tsp

Garam masala ......................................... 1/4 tsp

Turmeric .............................................. 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida ............................................. a pinch

Amchur or lemon juice .............................. 1 tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a medium non stick pan on medium heat, add in the cumin seeds and asafoetida. Let it splutter.

2. Add the onion, turmeric and salt and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add in the tomato puree and ginger garlic paste, cook for 1-2 minutes while stirring.

3. Add in the pav bhaji masala, chilli powder and mix. Cook till oil  starts to separate from the mixture add the garam masala and amchur and paneer. Add 1-2 tbsp of water if it appears too dry. Add in the cilantro, mix and take off the heat. Serve as an appetizer or with toasted bread, roti, naan or rice. ENJOY!

Notes:

1. For variation try adding some bell pepper. 
2. This dish works very well in wraps n rolls for a quick fix meal.

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