Salgam Paneer - Turnips cooked with homemade paneer

Taking a page our of my own book I gave turnips a try. What I mean by that is that for some reason, I have never given turnips a chance, for no particular reason, just felt that they were too similar to potatoes. I personally love potatoes and often to do make room for any other starch...

How similar are turnips to potatoes? Well, looking though the web, it turns out they are actually much lower in carbs than potatoes, if that is your diet issue of concern.

Well, there are purple top turnips a plenty around our place, this time of the year. This recipe is exceedingly simple, with the exception of the fact, you do need to make the paneer at home, not a huge issue, but just needs some planning time.

So, to make the paneer, this is what I did, I brought about 1/2 a gallon of 2% milk to a boil, squeezed in a whole juicy lemon and waited for the milk solids to separate. Then I drained and gathered the cheese in a cheesecloth and set aside to drain.

Salgam Paneer - Turnips cooked with homemade paneer

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients

8 small to medium trimmed white turnips

2 onions

1 large (about 1-inch) piece of ginger

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground fennel

1 teaspoon red chili powder

3-4 cloves

2-3 cardamoms

1.5 cups of beaten yogurt

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup of very finely chopped turnip greens (optional)

1 cups of prepared crumbled paneer

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Chop the turnips into eights.

2. Peel and thinly slice the onions and grate the ginger.

3. Heat the oil and add the ginger and the onions and cook for 7-8 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently till the onions soften, wilt and then softly turn golden brown.

4. Add in the turnips and the turmeric, salt, coriander, fennel and the chili powder cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. By now the kitchen begins to smell quite glorious.

5. Add in the cardamoms and the cloves and the yogurt and bring the liquid to simmer. Reduce the heat and add the salt and the turnip greens and cook covered lightly for 15 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and stir in the paneer and cook for another 3-4 minutes, check the seasonings and stir in the cilantro and serve immediately.