This month's Regional Cuisine of India (RCI) event asks us to explore the land of the five rivers- Punjab and come up with some mouthwatering dishes. Now thats not too difficult, right? I had been dying to cook some Punjabi food ever since the sweet and talented Richa of As Dear As Salt announced that she was guest hosting the event, a brainchild of Lakshmi of VeggieCuisine. However, I got caught up with a lot of things and never got around to posting the recipes until today... i know....i am quite the last minute "doer". Without further ado, here go the recipes....

I usually make Paneer Kadhai with some onions added to it too, but this recipe is from the "Taj's Chef's Vegetarian favorites"- a recipe book that i got while visiting Udaipur and staying at the Taj Lake Palace (According to P, my face was lit up like a kid's who had found the secret stash of candies and i was more happy about having found the book rather than discovering the beauty and ancient history of Udaipur and Taj Lake Palace. In my defense, it is the first recipe book that i have owned and secondly- its from the Chefs at Taj). Getting back to the recipe, I quite liked the taste of the paneer sans the onions. The addition of kasuri methi was just the touch that this dish needed.....

Serves 4

Ingredients

600 gms Paneer (cubed)

600 gms tomatoes (finely chopped)

2 medium-sized capsicums ( diced into big pieces)

1 tsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

3 cloves and 2 inch cinnamon stick-coarsely grounded

5 red kashmiri chilies -coarsely grounded

2 tsp cumin-coriander powder

1 tbsp grated ginger

1/2 tsp garam masala

2 tbsp ghee

salt to taste

1. Bring the tomatoes to a boil in one tbsp of ghee till the water dries up and the fat floats up. Keep aside.

2. In a kadai, heat the 1 tbsp ghee and saute the capsicum for 1 minute.

3. Add the coarsely grounded red chilies, cumin-coriander powder, grated ginger and clove- cinnamon powder. Saute for 1 minute and add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, till you can see the fat (ghee) separate from the mixture.

4. Add the paneer and salt, stir and cook it for 5 more minutes. Then add the garam masala.

5. Garnish with coriander and serve hot alongside some parathas or naan. ( i adapted Trupti's recipe for the parathas)

P.S.- The credit for the pics goes to P. Mark the difference between his pics and the earlier ones taken by me- now didnt i tell you that i was technologically challenged...:)