What’s cooking, good-looking?

Indian cuisine is hugely popular globally and for me as well it was an Indian restaurant where I had my first encounter with ethnic cuisine as early as in the 90s — though admittedly I only had a pizza from the culturally overlapping menu, as I felt nauseous by the strong smell of curry coming from the kitchen, oozing from the red carpet on the floors, and was still too shy of a child to give such foreign things a try. I always opted for pizza or pasta. It was hard to ever go wrong with such homely dishes and familiar tastes, staples in the Finnish kitchens too.

It’s a deep-rooted misconception that authentic Indian cuisine equals the one introduced by Indian restaurants all over the world, even in India herself. The strong smell of curry in the kitchen and on the people themselves. Meals heavy on spices and if not hot, then at least lathered in cream, butter and oils. Cooking that seems to be such a long process, marinades working their magic overnight and all the other different stages where you lure all the possible flavours out of the dish. Am I going to start smelling like a big sack of curry perpetually too? How much time am I going to have to spend in the kitchen in order to make the food as rich and tasty for my boyfriend to enjoy it? I asked myself when I needed to start learning how to cook the Indian way.

I, as many of my international friends, was surprised by the distinct difference between home-style and restaurant food in India. Here more people actually look down upon the restaurant versions of traditional home dishes and going out for a meal is quite a foreign idea, despite the numerous restaurants, dhabas and cafes. Restaurant dals are declared too oily, salty and heavy on masala, unhealthy and inferior by any accounts and rotis pale in comparison to homemade versions. At home the goal is to cook as simply as possible, offering the tummy nutritious and light meals made of fresh local ingredients. So what is it then that the Indian people eat exactly?

The mouthwatering scent of spices such as jeera, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger fills the air, as mustard oil sizzles on a kadai. Palak paneer, a favourite Indian dish of mine and many friends alike, has become a staple in my kitchen. I most often order palak in restaurants too, as it is quite gentle for the digestive system and it is quite hard to go too wrong with this healthy choice for gravy. However, now I’m thinking of my recent experience at my favourite Vizag restaurant that is labeled an organic health cafe. Too oily, way way too salty. So I’m happy to be able to make this from scratch in my own kitchen now, making sure that all the best flavours from the good dishes I’ve had combine into this one mind-not tummy-blowing experience. When I say that I make even the paneer myself, it’s easy to assume that this would be a complicated, time-consuming dish to prepare, but it actually is one of the most simple dishes I make at home and I try to serve it once a week at dinner.

Unfortunately my video camera died at the very beginning of the cooking process and it’s virtually impossible to get decent pictures in our tiny, dark kitchen, but I hope you’ll be able to visualise the process of making paneer well enough with these. In the future, for these recipes too, I’ll be sure to check the charge in the camera early enough and make cooking videos for all you other visual learners out there too!

How to make paneer

1,5l of fresh milk (I prefer using whole/full fat milk and wouldn’t use very processed fat-free milk. This amounts for about 200–250g of paneer)

one small lemon per 500ml (roughly, sometimes you need a bit less, sometimes more and this amount is estimated by the size of Indian lemons. Remove seeds before using)

a thin cotton cloth ( I use large handkerchiefs), strainer, big kettle, two bowls, big plate and heavy items for pressing the paneer

1. Pour milk in a big kettle and bring to boil on medium flame

2. When the milk comes to a good boil, switch to low flame and add freshly squeezed lemon juice gradually. Sometimes some of the milk might not be completely fresh and will start curdling without any agents, so you will need less lemon

3. Keep the flame on until you see the milk curdling properly. Add lemon until it does

4. Carefully check the colour of the liquid by gently pushing the curdled milk out of the way on the edges, do not stir. The liquid should turn translucent, as the milk curdles

5. Switch the flame off

6. Put a cotton cloth in a strainer and place it in a bowl. Pour the paneer and liquid into the cloth and strain the liquid off (save the liquid for later to avoid waste, use to make rotis or a healthy drink by adding lemon)

7. Quickly move the strainer with the cloth in it into another bowl and and pour cold water on top of the paneer to rinse off the lemon aroma and cool the cheese down in order to prevent it from getting overcooked and hard

8. Twist the cloth into a tight knot around the paneer and squeeze any excess water off

9. Place the cloth on a plate, open cloth and mold the cheese into the desired shape

10. Tightly fold the cloth back around the paneer

11. Place a flat object on top of the cheese first and then pile heavy objects on top of that for the paneer to set

12. Let the paneer set for an hour

13. Preferably use asap, otherwise store in the fridge in the moist cloth or water to keep the paneer soft

Palak Paneer

serves 2 people, about 5 small cups

A big bowl of palak/spinach (I use about 10 big bunches, more if smaller)

2 small bunches of fresh methi leaves

Oil (I prefer mustard oil, but choose to your taste buds)

Cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf

Garlic

Onion, 1 medium

Garlic paste, ginger paste

Green chili

Tomato, 1 large

Turmeric, red chili powder, cumin, garam masala, salt

Paneer 200–250g

Honey

Kasuri methi

Note: I don’t give quantities for spices, as that’s a question of personal taste and changes for me daily too

1. Cut off the bad ends of palak and methi leaves and put the leaves in a bowl. Rinse well in water, place on a cutting plate for a minute and pour the dirty water away. Rinse the bottom of the bowl. Put palak back in the bowl
2. Boil max amount of water in an electric kettle and pour over the palak to blanch it. Cover with a lid and let it sit for a couple of minutes
3. Strain the palak leaves and immediately pour cold water over them to cool them down and preserve the green colour
4. Strain the leaves again and put them into a blender. Blend until a smooth puree. I count until 30. No need to add water. Put the puree aside while cooking the gravy base

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1. Heat up the kadai and add about 2tbsp of mustard oil and a generous pinch of cumin seeds
2. When the jeera starts to crackle, add a couple of cloves and whole, green cardamoms slit, a few sticks of cinnamon, a bay leaf and crushed garlic cloves. I like my palak with a sweet and garlic-y aroma to it, so I add about 8 medium garlic cloves. Saute until the raw aroma of garlic goes away
3. Add the finely chopped onion and saute until golden
4. Add one tsp max of ginger paste and garlic paste for some extra flavour, but don’t go too heavy with them. Mix well with the onions and let the raw aroma of garlic go away
5. Add finely chopped green chili. I add about half of a small chili, as I don’t think the palak should be too hot.
6. Add the chopped tomato and mix with the onions. Stir and saute until the tomatoes are softened and the juices and oil have made the mixture almost like a very thick gravy
7. Add the spice powders. Half a tbsp of turmeric, a very careful pinch of red chili powder, one tbsp of cumin powder and generous one of garam masala. Mix well. Add salt to taste. Palak has a somewhat salty taste to it naturally, so be careful not to add too much salt
8. Pour the palak puree into the kadai and mix well with the onion-tomato mixture.
9. Add half a cup of water — or as required — to make the palak gravy smooth, but avoid adding too much as it makes the gravy thin. A thick, smooth gravy tastes better.
10. Let simmer on low flame for 5 minutes in order to let the gravy get thick and let the palak absorb all the delicious aromas of the spices
11. Add paneer cubes and mix gently. Be careful to not break the cubes
12. Lastly add a spoonful of honey to give the gravy a note of sweetness and a generous pinch of kasuri methi. If you’re missing some spices or tastes, this is the time to fix it. I sometimes add a bit more cumin powder, cinnamon powder, honey and/or salt. Mix carefully, cover with a lid and let it sit for a couple of hours to get most of the flavours out.
13. I prefer serving paneer and palak dishes with rotis and this one goes especially nicely together with a sweet Kerala-style pumpkin side, but you can serve it with rice too and any other veg sides you might enjoy. I would steer clear of non-veg and any starchy veggies though, as this is heavy enough for the tummy already as it is!