Paneer curry

Serves 4

3 tsp vegetable oil ½ tsp cumin seeds 1 bay leaf 6 green cardamom pods 1 onion, finely chopped 1 tsp salt ½ tsp ground white pepper 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2cm piece ginger, peeled

and grated 1 tsp chilli powder 1 can pureed tomatoes or

chopped tomatoes 80g ground almonds 500g paneer (we use Gopala paneer from New World), cut into rounds or 2.5cm cubes 1 tsp fried fenugreek leaves (optional, found at Indian grocers) ½ tsp garam masala ½ tsp sugar 3 Tbsp single cream 2 Tbsp (25g) cold, unsalted

butter, diced Juice of ½ lemon Handful of fresh coriander,

to garnish 1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan (with a lid), add the cumin, bay leaf and cardamom. Once these crackle add the onion and cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Do not let the onion colour. Add salt and cover the pan with its lid. Reduce the heat and let the onion cook slowly for 10 minutes. 2 Uncover the pan and increase the heat to medium. Add the pepper, garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for 3 minutes.

3 Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced by half and you see the oil leaving the sauce. 4 Add the ground almonds (this will thicken the sauce further and give it texture). Cook another 3 minutes. 5 Add the paneer and stir gently, making sure you don’t crumble the paneer, paneer will soften the more sauce it absorbs. Stir in the dried fenugreek if using, followed by garam masala, sugar and cream. Lower the heat and simmer for a 2 minutes. 6 Remove from the heat, add the butter slowly, a couple of pieces at a time so you emulsify the sauce. Add lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander. 7 Serve hot with parathas, roti or naan (we use Kawan frozen wholemeal roti from New World) and basmati rice. “Hospo”, short for hospobaby, is a term used regularly in the hospitality industry. Chand and Sid own the restaurants Sidart and Cassia, so Zoya has been part of the hospitality industry from day one, hence the term “hospobaby”.