Shahi Paneer

Shahi paneer is a sumptuous north Indian dish that is made with tender pieces of paneer floating in a gravy made with pureed cashews and almonds. It's rich creaminess is redolent of the lore of the ancient royal mughals that ruled India during the 16th through 19th centuries.The word "Shahi" means royalty perhaps meaning that this is a dish curated for ancient royalty and has been passed down to us through the centuries. The addition of whole spices like cardamom and cloves adds another dimension to the aromatic flavors of this dish. The mild and subtle texture of the gravy is made further rich through the inclusion of plain yogurt. Cooking the paneer in this foundational gravy base causes it to be bursting with magnificent sensations and a succulent texture.

I got inspired to make this today because I came across an Indian actress called Sanjana Sanghi who was asked a question about the secret of her bouncy hair.

She said the secret of her bouncy hair is eating a lot of food. In a world where people are careful about what they eat she unabashedly says she likes to eat a lot.

She has such a flawless skin and her hair is so beautiful. And she is very slim.

She said she eats lots of mughlai food and her favorite food is butter chicken. Just listening to her talk of food reminded me of the attitude of lot of North Indian friends towards food. I studied in Delhi university for a year and her conversation reminded me of that time. So I decided to search for mughlai food recipes. I decided to make shahi paneer.

While working in press trust of India, my first job, there were lots of restaurants that served mughlai food. I don't know much about mughlai food other than the fact that some dishes have the prefix shahi. Like Shahi Paneer or Shahi something else. Shahi means royalty. This is what I learned about Mughlai food while living in New Delhi.

And the weekend section of the newspaper such as Times of India or Hindustan Times has restaurant and food reviews. Remembering how some of food writers wrote about food I was inspired to write the first paragraph of this post the way food journalists wrote about food. I hope you enjoyed this post and hope you have a lovely day!

Paneer is a type of Indian cheese that can be made at home but I bought this from the Indian store. I dont know if this dish is magnificent but I just wrote it to sound like a typical foodie column in newspapers.