Cooking With Swarn - Lentils and Paneer

This week's menu at Swarn's included Palak Paneer, Dal Makhani and roti.

Since the dal we were making included whole black lentils, Swarn conducted her lentil lesson. She shows us a variety of lentils, whole, cut and cleaned, as well as explains the difference among them.

Before beginning the dal, the lentils need to be soaked for at least 3 hours. You do need to be careful that you don't soak them too long (ie, overnight) as they can alter the taste. So basically, think housekeeper comes in the morning, have her soak the lentils, then when cook comes in afternoon she can cook! And no, I don't cook, so I wouldn't be doing this!

Back to the dal...

Drain the water, and add more water, and salt and cook until the grains split and you are able to mash them. Add some tomato paste, ginger paste, garlic paste, green chili and chili powder, and keep cooking. Add butter and cream. At the end, add some garam masala and garnish with sliced ginger, coriander leaves and some more butter. 

Palak Paneer (cottage cheese with spinach) is just as easy. Swarn makes life simple for us, by having already boiled the spinach, and ready for us to use. 

To begin, onions need to be cooked until brown, then add garlic, ginger paste and ginger slices. Meanwhile, blend together some tomatoes, chili powder, and turmeric. Add this to the onions. You'll also need to blend the spinach, and add this to the tomatoes. 

You'll need to thinking it up a little, using corn flour in water. Then add the diced paneer. Garnish with sliced ginger, green chilies, and garam masala.

These are best served with roti.