Punishment, Ponting, and Palak Paneer (Spinach Cheese Salan)

The Indians are taking some bowling punishment from the South Africans!  Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, the SA pace bowlers, have pulverized the India batting line-up in day 1 of the first test.  OUCH!  And of course, the game got delayed 4.5 hours because of the RAIN, so I didn't get to see it.  Today's play should be interesting; I wonder how Harbhajan Singh is going to bowl when it's India's turn to field.  As I said yesterday, anything can happen in test cricket. 

And in Ashes news, Mitchell Johnson scored a big fat 61 runs for Australia yesterday, and the aussies clawed their way back into the match after being at 4/36.  Yes!  Some hope!  However, Ricky Ponting is coming under fire; some say he will lose the captaincy and should retire completely from international cricket.  Talk about punishment!  He's under a heckuva lotta strain; he might become the only Australia skipper who's lost 3 Ashes series under his watch.  What gives, Ricky?  You haven't been following my advice at all, have you?  Anyhoo, we'll see what happens today.  Shoud be interesting...will England get Siddled Silly again?  Would be nice!

And finally, yesterday I started the process of sticking it to the man.  Today we're going to continue our theme of punishing the big cheese corporations by using the cheese we made yesterday and putting it into a delicious home-made spinach salan.  Time to finish what we begun!

Palak Paneer Salan

1 onion, very finely diced
7-9 cloves of garlic, very finely diced or crushed
1 tomato, finely chopped
3.5 cm piece of ginger, very finely diced or crushed
1/2 stick cinammon
5 black peppercorns
5 green cardamom pods
5 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 star anise
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon lal mirch (red chili powder), adjust to personal preference
green chilies
1 large bunch of spinach, washed and roughly chopped
salt
1/2 kg of paneer (see yesterday's entry to make your own), cut into 2.5 cm cubes
fresh fenugreek leaves (optional)

Right!  You can eat this dish without the paneer as well, but if you're going to add paneer, fry the cubes in a large pan for a couple of minutes in a bit of oil first.  Set aside.
In the same pan, fry the diced onion until golden and slightly crispy; while the onion is frying, add the cinnamon, bay leaf, cloves, black peppercorns, green cardamom pods, star anise and cumin seeds.
Add the garlic and ginger, fry for a minute or two, and don't burn the garlic.
Add the turmeric and lal mirch.
Add the tomato and "bhunna":  reduce the tomato until it sticks, then add a little water to lift what's stuck to the bottom of the pan, and repeat this procedure until the mix looks like a paste and the oil "leaks" or separates from the tomato mix.

At this point, because this is supposed to be a "smooth" dish, remove the large whole spices from the gravy and discard.

Add 2 or 3 cups of water and the green chilies, and let come to a boil on high heat, add salt.
Add the roughly chopped spinach and the optional fresh fenugreek leaves, and cook on high heat until it is completely mushy and uniform.  This will take at least thirty minutes.  Add more water if necessary to cook the spinach.

If you want an ultra smooth salan, put the palak in the blender then return it to the pan, but it is not necessary.  One the palak is at the desired consistency, add the paneer cubes, and let simmer for a few minutes.

Traditionally, palak paneer is served with a sort of flat cornbread, like a mexican corn tortilla but rougher.  Feel free to eat this with corn tortillas, roti, or naan from the a tandoor bakery.

There.  Rebel against corporations who take our hard earned cash by eating a delicious home-made meal.  Have a great one today, and let's go watch some punishing yet entertaining cricket!

Happy Cricket, Happy Eating, and Happy Rebellion!