Mint & Paneer Pulao

Mint and paneer - such perfect companions to each other. We love mint in our household. I add mint to chocolate, juices, cakes, teas, to make pizza sauce (mint chutney and marinara go so well together), and in all manners of food. When our mint plant dies every Fall, we are usually dependent on the measly few sprigs of mint that come prepackaged and yellowed in plastic strips. It's quite rare to find bunches of fresh mint at the grocery stores near our place. But I keep looking for them, regardless. During a recent visit, I happened to get a fresh bunch and I was over the moon about it. 

My husband and I love this version of pulao. It is tenderly spiced with mint, coriander, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Since he's been asking me to throw in some paneer along with it (throw in paneer with anything and he's game), that's what I did this time.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1. 1.5 cups, uncooked Basmati rice
2. 1 medium onion, sliced or chopped
3. 2 cups mint leaves / pudina
4. 3 cloves of garlic
5. 1 inch block of ginger
6. 1/2 cup cilantro / coriander leaves and stems
7. 2 green chillies
8. 2 tablespoons yogurt
9. 330 grams paneer, cubed
10. 2 teaspoons dried mint leaves (optional but recommended)
11. 7 green cardamoms
12. 5 cloves
13. 2 inch piece of cinnamon, broken into two
14. 1 bay leaf
15. 1.5 + 1 tablespoons vegetable oil / olive oil
16. 1.5-2 teaspoons salt or as needed

Preparation:

1. Wash and soak the basmati rice in water for about 15-20 minutes.
2. Grind together: mint, garlic, ginger, coriander leaves and green chillies with 1/4 - 1/3 cup of water or as little as needed to make a smooth paste similar to the consistency of chutney. This is an awesome chutney by itself (makes a great dip and spread and all around side dish). Set aside.
3. Heat 1.5 tablespoons oil in a pan. Add cardamom, clove, cinnamon and bay leaves and wait for the spices to get aromatic and sizzle in the oil. 
4. Add sliced onion and saute until translucent
5. Add the ground mint paste to the onions and fry on low-medium heat for just 2 minutes, just to remove the raw smell of the herbs. Add yogurt and continue to cook on low heat for 2 minutes until well incorporated. Remove from heat.
6.  In the remaining heat of the pan, add salt and the drained rice and stir to mix in. Remember to add enough salt for the rice.
7. Transfer this to a rice cooker, add 2 cups of water (the ratio of water to add for every 1 cup of soaked basmati rice is 1.25 cups) and cook until done. 
8. While the rice is cooking, use the same pan (in which the spices and mint were cooked), add 1 tablespoon oil and pan fry the paneer until slightly golden brown. Remove from heat and add dried mint leaves and give a stir. 
9. When the rice is cooked, add the pan-fried paneer to it and gently mix.

Serve immediately with raita (yogurt mixed with salt and chopped onions/tomato).

Variations: 1. If you are making biryani or another version of this pulao that uses vegetables, marinate the paneer cubes and diced vegetables in the mint-coriander paste along with yogurt, salt, and garam masala or biryani masala. I marinate for up to 8 hours. Then saute them along with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, onion and follow the remaining steps to cook the rice. 

2. Else, make a yummy side-dish by just sauteing the marinated paneer and vegetables with the mint paste, onion and whole spices until the veggies cook. Have this alongside roti for a heavenly fragrant and delicious side dish.

I hope to remake all of this several times in the coming wintry weeks and months. Hopefully the stores have some mint in stock and I don't have to wait until June!