Description
This dish is well balanced and tridoshic.
You can substitute extra-firm tofu for the paneer.
Ingredients
Scale
Sauce
- 1 small clove of garlic, cut in half
- Half a cup of balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp tamarind sauce
Fennel-Crushed Paneer
- 1.5 tbsp of ghee (or sunflower oil)
- Half tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ¾ tsp ground coriander
- 1 garlic clove, pressed and finely chopped
- 1/8 tsp crushed black pepper
- 1/8 tsp ground turmeric
- 200g of paneer, roughly cut into 1cm squares
Serve with: basmati rice and seasonal steamed vegetables.
Instructions
- SAUCE: In a small saucepan, combine all the sauce ingredients. Bring to the boil over a medium-high high, stirring. Reduce and simmer for 8-10 minutes – the sauce will reduce. You can simmer for longer if you’d like a thicker sauce. Remove from the heat and discard the garlic. Let cool at room temperature.
- PANEER: In a large shallow saucepan, melt ghee over a medium heat. Add fennel and cumin seeds; cook, stirring for about 30 seconds or until the seeds pop. Immediately reduce the heat to low and add coriander, garlic, pepper and turmeric; cook, stirring for 1 minute.
- Add more ghee if needed, then add paneer in a single layer on top of the spices. Cook, gently turning until browned all over. The seeds will stick to the paneer and make a crunchy coating.
- Place the paneer on a plate and drizzle with some of the sauce. I had mine with boiled basmati rice and steamed vegetables, then added the paneer and sauce on top.
Notes
- Black Pepper: One of the most powerful digestive stimulants. It burns up Ama (toxins) and cleanses the alimentary canal.
- Coriander: Increases digestion and absorption.
- Cumin: One of the best herbs for sluggishness. Helps absorption of nutrients. Digests Ama (toxins) it can be of use in counteracting catarrh in the chest. It’s heating post-digestive property implies that it absorbs fluids from the large intestine; it is constipative when there is diarrhoea.
- Fennel: One of the best herbs for digestion, strengthening agni without aggravating cramping and helping reduce wind. Calming to the nerves. For urinary problems, they combine well with coriander.
- Garlic: Classic folk medicine used for gastric disturbances. Its ability to remove pathogenic bacteria without depleting the body’s natural flora takes it a step beyond just being a ‘herbal antibiotic’. Strongly decongestant. A circulatory stimulant that warms the whole body.
- Salt: Stimulates digestion (but don’t use to excessive as this will increase water retention – I’m talking to the Kapha queens out there!), by increasing digestive enzymes. Has the ability to liquify mucous in the lungs and dislodge deep-seated phlegm.
- Tumeric: An excellent natural antibiotic, while at the same time it strengthens digestion an helps improve intestinal flora. Purifies the blood, and warms the blood stimulating formation of new blood tissue. Promotes proper metabolism, correcting both excesses and deficiencies. Aids in the digestion of protein.