Panir cheese, which has no counterpart in Western cuisine, is made by adding a curdling agent to boiling milk and collecting and draining the resulting curds. In this recipe, the cheese is cut into cubes and fried in ghee or vegetable oil. Panir cheese is a surprisingly healthy food. A half cup (120 ml) provides twenty-five percent of the protein that an average adult needs in one day. In this easy-to-make pilaf, savory rice is embellished with cubes of juicy panir cheese and succulent pieces of zucchini and tomato. Try it with a chilled salad, such as Creamy Potato Salad Surprise, Minted Cucumbers and Strawberries or White Radish Pickle , and a cool beverage.
Preparation time (after assembling ingredients): 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35–40 minutes for white rice, 45–50 minutes for brown rice
Serves: 5 or 6
• 1 cup (95 g) Calmati or other brown basmati or long-grain white rice
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) ghee or peanut oil
• 1½ teaspoons (7 ml) minced seeded hot green chilies (or as desired)
• 1½ teaspoons (7 ml) scraped, finely shredded or minced fresh ginger root
• 1¼ teaspoons (6 ml) cumin seeds
• ½ teaspoon (2 ml) black mustard seeds
• 1 large black or 2 large green cardamom pods, slightly crushed
• 8–10 curry leaves, preferably fresh
• fresh panir cheese ( page 313 ) from 4 cups (1 liter) milk, cut into ½-inch (1.5 cm) cubes (about 4 ounces /115 g)
• 1 cup (240 ml) zucchini or other summer squash, cut into ½-inch (1.5 cm) cubes
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) turmeric
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
• 1⅔–2 cups (400–480 ml) water
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) chopped fresh herbs (coriander, parsley, basil, oregano and marjoram leaves) or 1 tablespoon (15 ml) mixed dried herbs
• 1 medium-sized firm ripe tomato, cut into 8–10 pieces
1. If basmati rice is used, clean, wash, soak and drain as explained on page this blog .
2. Heat the ghee or oil in a 2-quart/liter heavy nonstick saucepan over moderate heat until it is hot but not smoking. Add the green chilies, ginger root, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and cardamom pod or pods. Fry until the mustard seeds turn gray and sputter and pop. Drop in the curry leaves and fry for a few seconds, then add the panir cheese cubes. Fry the cubes for 5–7 minutes, gently but continuously turning them with a spoon until evenly browned on all sides. Add the squash and stir-fry for 1–2 minutes.
3. Add the rice, turmeric, salt, water, mixed herbs and tomato pieces. Raise the heat to high and quickly bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low, cover with a tight-fitting lid and gently simmer without stirring for 30–40 minutes for brown rice or 20–25 minutes for white rice, or until the rice is tender and fluffy and all of the water is absorbed.
4. Remove from the heat and let the rice sit, covered, for 5 minutes to allow the fragile grains to firm up. Just before serving, remove the cover and fluff the piping-hot rice with a fork .
