If I had to pick one meal as my last it would 100% be Paneer Tikka Masala and Garlic Naan. This carefully crafted South Indian classic has been my favorite meal since I remember. My mother would always make it from scratch for my birthday every year. Whenever I go to an Indian restaurant I order it and compare the dish amongst other restaurants. My favorite would have to be from Moghul Express in Edison NJ. It’s Literally the best Indian food in the area.
The steps to make this dish are quite complicated. First, you must make the Paneer, a cottage cheese, from scratch by curdling milk. To do this you need to boil the milk and then pour it into a bowl with yogurt and lime juice, the acid from the lime curdles the milk making the “cheese”, then straining the cheese curds with a cheesecloth. Now shape the cheese into a rectangle because we are going to cut it into cubes later. Your cheese should be strained, shaped, and cubed and now it’s time to pan fry them. Once pan-fried you are done with the Panner. Yay!
Now for the gravy. I actually don’t know exactly how to make it but I’m going to try to explain what I assume it is made with. So first we are going to saute together some garlic, onions, and some Indian spices like I don’t know maybe cardamom and chilli powder. Maybe throw some saffron in there why not? Then add in some tomato paste and simmer on low heat until it becomes a paste. Then we need to blend this paste to make it smooth. Once smoothened you can now add in some heavy cream to make it creamy. And Voila your gravy is done. All you have to do now is mix the Paneer in and there you have it folks. Paneer Tikka Masala.
The Garlic Naan is frozen so just follow the instructions on the packet for heating.
Wow–I’ll have to try Moghul Express. I love framing this as a death row meal, though I hope you manage to stay out of that situation.
I would have loved to have heard a bit more of your story!