Here's Panneer Lababdar - a Mughal influenced Panneer curry. Google states Lababdar is some sort of strong desire or indulgence and I roughly translated this dish's name to Panneer Indulgence.I could agree with this adjective purely because of the ingredients that go in. While some recipes on the web claim to have a fat free, cholesterol free version - guess what don't bother. If you have to be diet conscious well...you might want to wait until later. ;-) My first introduction to Lababdar was actually Chicken Lababdar at Hilton Garden Inn, Gurgaon. However in the interest of my veggie friends - here's a Panneer version. If you ever wonder how to make a gravy / curry with restaurant style consistency - it's all in the paste. Of course a slight variation in ingredients can turn it into something completely different.
Ingredients:
- Unsalted Butter - yes it all starts here :)
- Panneer cubes
- Cashews
- Red onions
- Tomatoes
- Cardamom seeds (not the entire pod)
- Cream
- Kashmiri Red Chilli powder
- Garam Masala
- Kasuri methi leaves (Dried Fenugreek leaves)
Method
- Heat a pan in medium fire and melt the butter without burning it.
- Saute the Cashews, Onions, Tomatoes and the Cardamom seeds until the onions and tomatoes get a bit mushy.
- Let the mixture to cool for a few minutes and blend it into a smooth paste.
- Re-heat the same pan with a few table spoons of vegetable oil and saute the blended paste until oil separates.
- Add Salt, Kashmiri Chilli Powder, Garam Masala and Kasuri Methi leaves while the paste sautes.
- Once the oil separates add the Panneer cubes and mix it up carefully without breaking the cubes.
- Add a dash of cream (not too much that it doesn't turn into a pale curry) and about a tablespoon of butter (yes again) and let it simmer for a few minutes.
- You may add some water to get your choice of consistency (and quantity).
- Garnish with grated Panneer, another dash of cream and Coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with roti or rice.
Enjoy!!
Happy Cooking
C
