Slow-Cooked Pepper and Paneer Curry

A richly spiced slow-cooked red bell pepper and paneer curry.

Can I tell you my big life achievement of the week?????

Lest you think I saved any lives, resuscitated anyone from the brink of death, etc. Uh, NO.

But I DID get my child to eat asparagus – willingly and with excitement on her face and that is so much more momentous. She actually happily shrieked, “ASPARAGUS!!!!” when she saw it, as if she’d been loving it her whole life (<– false) and then grabbed it by the fistful to shove it in her mouth. It’s not like I’ve served it to her at least eight times in the past month and each time she’s shoved it to the side in disgust.

So that’s basically the only vegetable she’s eaten in the past year. Yay!!!!!

How did it happen? NO IDEA. Repetition? Luck? A full moon?

We will never know. But it’s making me hopeful that someday she’ll eat the food I put in front of her on a regular basis without a constant stream of complaints. Like, maybe when she’s 20????

Despite that, I keep serving up a variety of flavors/textures/colors/veggies. They say that it can sometimes take kids trying things up to FIFTY TIMES before they realize they like it. Exposure therapy or something like that.

So, more curry!!! This bell pepper and paneer curry is great for kid (and adult) consumption because it’s not heavily spicy, has cheese in it, and the major veggie is sweet bell peppers, which I feel are pretty inoffensive, even to kid palates. Plus it’s delicious, so there’s that.

The recipe is titled as “slow-cooked” because you let the peppers simmer for 30 minutes in a spiced tomato broth until they get cooked down into a rich savory/sweet sauce. This is pretty much all hands off time, so don’t let that scare you away. Also, the original recipe calls for frying the paneer separately but I just wasn’t in the mood the day I made this so I threw it in at the last ten minutes of cooking so it could absorb the flavors of the curry and I didn’t feel it was lacking in anything. AND it’s a one pot dish! Love it.

Slow-Cooked Pepper and Paneer Curry

 

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A richly spiced slow-cooked red bell pepper and paneer curry.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 3 tbsp canola oil
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 green chili, minced
• 4 red bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
• 28 oz whole peeled tomatoes
• ¼ tsp kashmiri chili powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1¼ tsp salt
• 1 lb paneer, cut into ½-inch cubes

Instructions

1. In a large pan, toast the cumin and the coriander seeds over high heat until pale gold and fragrant. Pour into a spice grinder and crush into a fine powder. Set aside.
2. Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in the same pan over high heat and add the onions. Fry for 5 minutes then add in the garlic, ginger, green chili, and peppers. Cook until the peppers start to break down, about 5 minutes. Add in the tomatoes, crushing them in your hands one by one as you add them. Stir in the coriander/cumin powder, turmeric, chili powder, and salt.
3. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Stir in the paneer in the last ten minutes of cooking.
4. Season to taste and serve over rice or with naan.

Notes

Recipe adapted slightly from Made In India

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