Last Updated on June 8, 2023 by Chef Mireille
Paneer Chaman – Fennel scented paneer dish from Kashmir is a great Vegetarian meal. Perfect for Meatless Monday.
Having a big block of paneer in the refrigerator to be utilized, I went on a search for North Indian paneer dishes to go with my BM theme this week and I came across this tantalizing curry infused with the fragrant flavor of fennel.
This dish comes from the politically tumultuous but breathtakingly stunning North Indian state of Kashmir. Located on the border and once part of the Mughlai Empire, there is a lot of influence of Middle Eastern cuisine on the plates of the Kashmiri’s. Abundant use of fennel, cardamom, saffron, dried fruits and nuts characterizes this cuisine.
Living in NY, one thing that was very important to my parents was exposing us to different cultures. Coming from a multi cultural family, my parents thought it was important to be able to adapt and interact comfortably with different people and different cultures. Without a crystal ball, there is no way of knowing where life will take you and you are not always going to be able to stay in your comfort zone around your own people. It would have been very easy for my parents to pick a Caribbean neighborhood to live in since they both are born on Caribbean islands, but they wanted us to learn about other people so that we would always feel comfortable no matter where we were employed or lived. I have never lived in a Caribbean neighborhood or any neighborhood that was predominantly one race or another. I have always lived in culturally diverse neighborhoods. I have always had friends of many different cultures.
Therefore, things like paneer, pierogies and sancocho are things I have been familiar with since I was a child and I wrongly assume anyone growing up or living in NY would know what these are. I was very surprised when I catered a one year anniversary of a health and wellness center last week and everyone was going ga-ga over the Paneer Lababdar I made and wanting to know what were the white cubes inside and where they could purchase them. Especially since so many of the people in attendance were Vegetarians, it really shocked me that they didn’t know what paneer was.
So for those who don’t know, paneer is an Indian fresh cheese that you can purchase from Indian markets or high end supermarket like Whole Foods, Fairway or Trader Joe’s. It’s a firm cheese that can be fried or grilled because it will not melt. Many recipes and Indian restaurant menu’s translate it as cottage cheese, which I think does it a disservice as you couldn’t pay me to eat cottage cheese but I will gladly devour paneer no matter how it is utilized. Paneer is a wonderful option for Vegetarian meals. Check out some of my other paneer recipes for more ideas.
Paneer Recipes
- Malabari Coconut Paneer
- Paneer Lababdar
- Manipuri Paneer Curry
- Paneer Mirch
- Paneer Potato Chickpea Samosas
- Spinach Paneer Rice
- Raisin Paneer Pulao
IN THE MAKING – HOW TO MAKE PANEER CHAMAN
This is such a fragrant curry with the perfume of fennel. It’s a perfect accompaniment to roti.
Paneer Chaman
Ingredients
- 5 to matoes chopped
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- 4 tablespoons oil
- 9 oz. paneer chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- a pinch of asoefetida
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed ground
- 1 teaspoon red chile powder cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Instructions
- Using a food processor, grind tomatoes, onion, garlic and ginger to a fine paste.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil, and fry the paneer until golden brown. Remove from the pan and add the rest of the oil.
- Add cumin seeds and asoefetida. Once the cumin starts to change color, add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaves. Add the tomato-onion paste and cook for 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are well softened.
- Add fennel, chile, turmeric, sugar and salt. Cook another 3 minutes.
- Add paneer and garam masala. Cook another 3 minutes.
- Serve with rice or roti (Indian flatbread).
Mir, I have always enjoyed reading your posts and the different cuisines you bring on. It's so wonderful and nice of your parents to want their children to learn and adapt so many different cultures and cuisines. Even more than the parents wanting it, I guess it majorly depends on the kids being receptive to it as well…this is one delicious curry and as you know paneer in any form is my favorite…good one..
I have never seen a more multicultural person than you. I am so amazed nd love the way yo write about your experiences. The subzi is so delicious. I remember making it for Kashmir during the mega BM and we all loved it.
I ditto Sandhya's and Valli's words! Kudos to your effort!! Lovely gravy!!
Hi Mireille, great dish! How about adding it to the Food on Friday: Cheese collection over at Carole's Chatter? Cheers
Nicely done. The dish looks awesome and I love the smell of fennel in gravies. Jayanthi(www.sizzlingveggies.com)
I second both Valli and Sandhya's comments, paneer chaman looks stunning, who can resist to it.
Hi Mireille, great dish.. Full of flavor. Nice writeup
I would happily eat paneer but cannot stand cottage cheese. I am so glad I've found someone else who feels the same way. Loved reading about how your parents wanted you to meet and interact with people from different cultures.
Paneer with the spicy gravy looks really good.
yes – it is such a fragrant gravy – so delicious
I am sure this must have had an amazing aroma… looks delicious too…
yes it was as delicious as it was fragrant
so much of masalas going on…….always on the lookout for paneer recipes…………:)
yep me too – paneer is one of my fave ingredients to cook with
The paneer looks fabulous and full of flavours . Kashmiri dishes are named Chaman , which gives a pleasant ring . And my my you have a number of Paneer dishes on that list .
yes – paneer is one of my fave ingredients to cook with
Paneer is my family’s favorite and being vegetarian we love eating it almost alternate days. This Kashmiri chaman looks yummy.
though not a vegetarian, paneer is still one of my fave ingredients to cook with and eat 🙂
The Dish looks sinfully delicious !! My family is a paneer-fan. I would love to try this recipe for them .
I also love paneer and am sure they would love this version!
You made every recipe so perfectly.. awesome output. Perfectly done.
thank you Preeti
This Paneer Chaman recipe looking absolutely divine with rice. I am sure with rice or roti this fennel seed curry will taste superb.
thank you – yes it’s perfect with rice
Wow!! amazing recipe for sure I am going to cook paneer chaman by following your instructions thanks for sharing!! 🙂
I am sure you will end up loving the recipe as much as I.