Paneer

Have recently been experimenting with paneer (Indian cottage cheese, which comes in a block, similar in look to tofu, and in texture to halloumi cheese). A couple of days a go, I used it as the main ingredient in a coconut curry with aubergine and onion, and tonight, I finished off the remainder by making Paneer Shashlik (or 'kebab'). I cobbled together a recipe from various online sites, tailoring it to the ingredients I already had (not intending on going shopping for a few more days). It was pretty good, even if I do say so myself:

Paneer Shashlik

Makes two kebabs

1/2 a block of paneer
Red onion
Red Pepper
1/2 red chilli
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garam masala
splosh of lemon juice
clove of garlic
piece of ginger
kebab sticks/skewers

Finely dice the chilli and mix with the cumin, grated garlic and ginger and a good splosh of lemon juice. Cut the paneer into large cubes. Place in a dish and coat well with the chilli, ginger, garlic and lemon and marinade in the fridge for at least a couple of hours (the longer the better).

Cut the onion into quarters and the red pepper into about eight regular pieces, retrieve the paneer from the fridge and skewer onto the kebab sticks, alternating each piece of paneer with onion and pepper.

Place on a baking tray and cook in the oven at a fairly high temperature until the paneer is sizzling and starting to go brown on the edges.

Serve with a green salad and wholemeal chapattis.