simulacrum of life

as a struggling student who is a part time vegetarian and who also happens to like good food, i've had to cook my own food. the recipes i present are relatively easy. the first in the series is scrambled paneer. i prefer to make my own paneer, because (a) i get a nice mushy consistency and (b) more importantly it's cheaper :Þ of course you may use packaged paneer from a shop.

firstly the recipe for paneer. you can use just about any recipe you can find, although i suggest using citric acid over lemon juice for a curdling agent, because lemon juice leaves a sour taste in the curd. and for scrambled paneer, the curd does not need to be strained so much, as a crumbly texture would suffice.

now for the recipe proper.

Scrambled Paneer

ingredients:
250 gm mashed paneer
2 large or 3 medium/small onions chopped fine
1 tsp ground ginger and garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder (amount can be increased or decreased according to preference)
1 tsp garam masala
2-3 chopped tomatos (i use 1/2 a 400gm can of chopped tomatos because i'm lazy)
1 green chilli chopped coarsely
100 gm beaten yogurt
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp chopped corriander leaves for garnishing

method:

1. fry onions in about 1-2 tbsp of oil/ghee (depending on your level of health consciousness)
2. when onions start to brown, reduce heat and add ginger and garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala and stir.
3. add in chopped tomatos and chilli
4. simmer on low heat until tomatos attain a somewhat liquid consistency
5. add in yogurt and 50 ml of water and mix well
6. when gravy has reached a creamy consistency, mix in the paneer
7. add salt and pepper and stir until liquid has evaporated and paneer browns a bit
8. turn heat off and sprinkle corriander and give it a quick toss

scrambled paneer goes quite well in wraps. just add in your salads. you can also make kebabs using this. at step 7, don't wait for the liquid to evaporate completely. when it reaches a mushy consistency, remove from the heat. mold the paneer onto skewers in the shape of a sausage and roast in the oven.

in case anyone thinks the above recipe is hard, it isn't. it just sounds harder than it actually is, so do give it a try and please do tell me how it turns out.