Indian cuisine always seems too complex and too intricate for me to attempt at home. Such a long list of spices just the create the simplest home-cooked dishes! For years, I left it to the professionals. Of course, I cannot be more wrong. This ancient cuisine thrives under generations of mothers passing their cooking skills to daughters. It is possibly one of the most home-influenced cuisine in the world. Lacking my own Indian mother, I’m happy to learn from cooking shows demonstrating modern takes of well-loved dishes.
I watch Bal Arneson’s Spice Goddess show from Food Network Canada occasionally when I do my morning workout at the gym. She appears so approachable and the way she cooks just makes sense to me. So what if there are many spices to measure out? I can get used to that. Instead of relying heavily on ghee (clarified butter) and cream, she insists on building flavour and richness from spices, savoury vegetable, and dahi (yogurt). That’s remarkably similar to the way I cook. I made her version of Paneer In Tomato Sauce over the weekend and it confirmed why I love watching her show so much.
Paneer is my protein of choice when I order anything from Indian restaurants. This fresh cheese can withstand heat without melting and adds substance to many vegetarian dishes. My absolute favourite is tandoori paneer with deep smoky flavour from the tandoor clay oven. My first introduction to paneer went back to 2003 when I went on overnight ski trips sharing a chalet with Indian friends. They brought along ingredients to cook simple Indian dishes and paneer was always on the menu for the vegetarians in the group. They tasted like cottage cheese curds compacted into a big block, a little squeaky but not terribly tangy. This is one of the simplest cheese you can make at home but when I saw the supermarket next door started stocking paneer, I immediately bought a block without thinking what to make with it.
I first dredged the cubed paneer in flour before pan-frying them on all sides to give them a nice brown crust. Following the simple instructions of Arneson’s recipe for paneer in tomato sauce, a rich sauce was built from cooked onion, ginger, garlic, cumin, tomato paste, fenugreek, paprika, turmeric, crushed tomato, and dahi. While the sauce was simmering, my kitchen filled with the delicious aroma from the mingling spices. I served it with steamed brown basmati rice and a pineapple mint raita. The raita is inspired by a dinner I enjoyed at Tiger Trail in Royal Orchid Central Hotel at Pune back in 2009, my last trip to India.
This was my first time cooking savoury Indian food at home and it was a huge success. Between this and my carrot halwa attempt, I want to explore deeper into this wonderful cuisine. I already placed my order for Arneson’s two cookbooks and they should arrive any day now. I can’t wait to recreate some of my favourite restaurant food in my own kitchen!
Check out more dishes I cooked from Arneson's cookbooks!
