Spicy Fried Potato Curry with Paneer Cheese and Peas

The first step in making this Rick Stein curry from Bangladesh is to make some Garam Masala, which is simply a spice mix. Garam means "hot" and Masala means "mixture". To make this you dry fry cardamom seeds, cloves, cinnamon sticks, blade mace, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns then grind them together in a spice grinder.

You then fry potato slices and paneer cheese cubes until golden brown and set aside. Next you make a thick tomato sauce with fresh curry leaves, cumin seeds, onions, garlic, turmeric powder, green cayenne chillies and tomatoes.

Finally you add the potatoes, paneer cheese and some peas. It is finished off with a spoonful of ghee.

This curry was delicious and I will look forward to cooking with paneer cheese again. It is very like haloumi in texture but quite bland and not salty, unlike haloumi, so works really well in spicy dishes. There was nothing left in the pan at the end of the meal so I would consider this dish a hit!

Rating 8 out of 10.