Kashmiri Lal Paneer recipe

Kashmiri Lal Paneer recipe | kashmiri paneer chaman recipe | how to make Kashmiri lal paneer with step wise pictorial and video recipe is such a cottage cheese recipe which has literally a tendency to make you lick your fingers.

WHAT IS KASHMIRI LAL PANEER?

Lal means red and paneer is cottage cheese. So it is a deep fried golden brown cottage cheese cooked in gravy having a redness in its colour due to kashmiri red chilli. As this dish belongs to the land of kashmir, so given a named Kashmiri lal paneer.

WRONG NOTIONS ABOUT LAL PANEER

To begin with, let us point it out very loud & clear that in TRADITIONAL Kashmiri Lal Paneer recipe, there is no place for Tomatoes at all. So this is completely a wrong impression that lal paneer gets its redness from tomatoes.

You may use tomatoes but then don’t call it Traditional kashmiri lal paneer but only Lal Paneer. Traditional recipes bind us not to make any major changes or experiments with them. Here lies their beauty.

CHOICE OF OIL

If you are going to cook a kashmiri recipe, you don’t require to consult anyone or to even google it that which oil needs to be used. Mustard oil is the only oil in which every kashmiri food is cooked & none else. So as this kashmiri lal paneer.

Furthermore, oil in kashmiri recipes is used in extra quantity than the other recipe methods. So don’t take the quantity of oil by surprise if you come across kashmiri food.

REDNESS IN PANEER

As the name of the recipe itself has a colour name in it, so you can well imagine the importance of colour in this recipe.

But if tomatoes are not there, then what makes this paneer red?
The answer to this simple question is “kashmiri red chilli”.

Yes, kashmiri red chilli is less spicy but more of the colour oriented. In whatever food you add, there is always a vibrant redness in that particular food.

This is the only chilli, which gives an inviting colour to Kashmiri dum aloo too. So don’t underestimate the importance of chilli in this recipe. Use only kashmiri lal mirch or degi mirch which gives good red colour.

USE OF GINGER, GARLIC & ONION

There’s hardly any kashmiri recipe in which we have noticed the use of fresh ginger. It’s been heard that kashmir being located at height between mountains where temperature remains extensively cold, it was difficult to produce or retain ginger for long. As a result, most of the kashmiri cuisine relies on dry ginger powder instead of fresh ginger.

Also, this recipe doesn’t require garlic & onion to be used as it is made without them traditionally.

GRAVY AND THICKNESS

This is obvious thought that if this recipe doesn’t use ginger, garlic, onion or curd, from where it gets its gravy and requisite thickness, which generally every gravy has.

Water and Fennel powder are there to fulfill this need.

Lal paneer gets its gravy from water & addition of fennel powder make the water thick. This is how dum aloo too gets its gravy though curd is used there but in less quantity.

FORGOT TO ADD HALDI/TURMERIC

If after reading the ingredients list & detailed method, you have felt that we have forgot to add turmeric, then its not true. Haldi is not to be added in this recipe because it may dimnish the redness of lal paneer.

HOW TO SERVE?

In kashmir, kashmiri lal paneer is served with rice only. This engagement is not with respect to lal paneer only, but in kashmir there is no trend of eating fulka or roti. So either it is this paneer recipe or dum aloo, nadru yakhni, methi chaman or kashmiri kadam, they are served with rice only.

For few more recipes made using paneer/cottage cheese, click here

Step wise pictorial method of kashmiri lal paneer recipe

Cut paneer into big sized cubes as shown in picture. For better understanding, do refer to video. Such a size is the traditional followed one. Keep aside.
Add mustard oil in a pan and let it smoke.
Add paneer cubes & deep fry them till brown on both sides.
When turned properly brown, off the heat & take the paneer cubes out & dip them into a bowl carrying 2 cups of water. Keep aside.
In the meantime oil must have been turned cool. If not, then let the temperature of oil come down otherwise spices will burn. Now add cloves, black cardamom, dry ginger powder & fennel powder.
In a small bowl, mix red chilli powder with 2 tsp of water.
Transfer this chilli paste into pan and then switch the heat on to low and just saute for few seconds. Don’t overdo, otherwise chilli will burn & your dish will be spoiled. Whenever feel that heat is going high, immediately off the flame.
Pour the water in pan in which paneer is soaked.
Add salt & when the water begins to boil, add paneer cubes.
Let it simmer on low to medium heat for 10 minutes or for as much time as you need to keep the consistency of gravy.
Your kashmiri lal paneer is ready. It is served with only rice in kashmir. You accompany it with whatever is your choice.

NOTES

In the ingredients list, you will find quantity of paneer as 300 grams but actually we took 400 grams. Reason being, as mentioned earlier too, kashmiri lal paneer cubes are quite big in size and they are reasonably thick too. So while cutting paneer, there is a left out portion not suitable to be used as a lal paneer slice.

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Kashmiri yellow paneer recipe