Paneer, Carrot and Pea Curry

Tonight sees the final instalment of last week's great carrot mountain and it is a recipe that we haven't tried before.  I was forced to trawl the kitchen library for carroty inspiration, not wanting to serve them only as a side veg, but I drew a blank.  Neither did I want to use lots of them as mirepoix for various stews and sauces.  I resorted to the most natural course of action these days and Googled "carrot recipes".

So rare are dishes where carrots are the star that I found myself five pages through the search results.  Dedicated food sites, chefs and bloggers all let me down.  Fortunately Z is more eagle eyed than I am and found tonight's meal.  Paneer, carrot and pea curry.

For those not in the know, paneer is Indian cheese.  I baulked at the idea of a cheese curry the first time I saw it on a menu but now I'm a convert.  Paneer holds its texture so can be added to wet sauces or grilled. 

The recipe was a long one and as it was the first time I had cooked it, I followed it to the letter*.  First fry some onion and lots of carrots in oil for a few minutes.  Add spices, coriander, cumin, turmeric, chilli, mustard seeds, curry paste, ginger and garlic.  Next add a tin of tomatoes and some vegetable stock and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.  Finally add creamed coconut, peas and the paneer.

Next time (yes it was that good I'll be cooking it again) I'll swap green beans for the peas for a better texture and up the chilli levels, other than that it was pretty spot on.

*apart from where I didn't have the ingredients or where I felt something would work better.