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Experiments in KitchenLunch/DinnerRecipes

[Experiments in Kitchen #5] Honey Sriracha Paneer with Rice

written by Megha September 11, 2017

****This is one of my failed experiments****

 

Two weeks back I posted about one of my experiments in kitchen on Honey Sriracha Tofu with Vegetables. This recipe involves marinated tofu accompanied with noodles and lightly tossed vegetables. I mentioned about cooking the same recipe but by replacing tofu with paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) and noodles by rice. This weekend I did just that. It didn’t turn out as expected. Let’s see what went wrong and why.

 

experiments-kitchen-3-honey-sriracha-tofu

Honey sriracha tofu with vegetables

 

The Preparation

 

Rice and Vegetables

I started with cooking rice in my pressure cooker. Meanwhile, I chopped scallions, onions, green chilis, carrots, cucumber, ginger, and garlic. After heating oil in a pan, I added the vegetables and half of ginger and garlic. Once vegetables started leaving some moisture, I added soy sauce and little water. Then added the sauteed vegetables and salt to the rice. Mixed them well.

 

Honey Sriracha Sauce

I poured sriracha into a bowl, followed by garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, green onions and black pepper. Then mixed it thoroughly. 

 

Grilled Paneer

I brushed my grill pan with some oil and placed the chopped paneer pieces on it. Kept rotating them to ensure uniform grilling from all sides.

 

experiments-kitchen-5-honey-sriracha-paneer-with-vegetables: Before Grilling

Before Grilling

 

experiments-kitchen-5-honey-sriracha-paneer-with-vegetables: After Grilling

After Grilling

 

Honey Sriracha Paneer

Added paneer and the sauce into the sauce pan, with some water. Brought it to boil once. Then added the roasted sesame seeds and closed the burner.

 

experiments-kitchen-5-honey-sriracha-paneer-with-vegetables: Honey Sriracha Paneer

Honey Sriracha Paneer

 

Putting in all together

In a plate, first put a layer of rice and vegetables. Then top the rice with marinated paneer.

 

experiments-kitchen-5-honey-sriracha-paneer-with-vegetables

Honey Sriracha Paneer with Rice

 

How it tasted?

 

It was eatable. And we did finish it. Although it didn’t taste as I was expecting. The taste of paneer over-powered the taste of sriracha sauce and rice. It should have tasted sweet and hot because of honey and sriracha sauce, but it tasted dry and flavorless.

 

What went wrong?

 

Here’s my observation on what went wrong:

  1. The sauce was watery. I added extra water thinking rice would need some extra sauce. This diluted the tanginess of the sauce, diminishing its overall flavor. I needed to add more sriracha sauce to increase the quantity instead of water.
  2. I forgot the difference between tofu and paneer. Tofu is porous, watery and tasteless. It absorbs the sauce flavor quickly. Paneer, on the other hand, is opposite. It has its own taste which is very prominent. Also, paneer takes time to absorb the flavors from the sauce. And I gave only one boil. This along with the watery sauce was insufficient in adding the required tangy flavor to the paneer.

 

Next time

 

I am not giving up on this recipe still. I have thought of few changes that might make this recipe work next time: 

  1. Use less quantity of paneer. Less paneer in the given one cup sauce might balance the taste of sauce and paneer.
  2. Marinating paneer before grilling. This will makes sure paneer absorbs some of the sauce. Grilling closes any chance of paneer absorbing the sauce.
  3. Make more sauce instead of just one cup.

I have included the exact ingredients and steps in the recipe below.

 

Honey Sriracha Paneer with Rice

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Serves: 2 Prep Time: Cooking Time:

Ingredients

  • 340g paneer
  • 2 Carrots roughly chopped
  • 1 capsicum roughly chopped
  • 1 cup chopped green onions/scallions
  • 2 green chilis chopped
  • 1 onion roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 2 tbsp chopped ginger
  • 2 tbsp chopped garlic
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup sriracha sauce
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 1 cup rice
  • 4 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

Honey Sriracha Sauce

  1. Take a bowl. Add sriracha sauce. Followed by 1 tbsp ginger and 1 tbsp garlic.
  2. Then mix soy sauce, honey, black pepper and around 3 tbsp scallions.

Honey Sriracha Paneer

  1. Drain excess water from Paneer and chop into small pieces
  2. Pour little oil in the grill pan and transfer all the chopped paneer to it.
  3. Keep on rotating paneer to grill it from all sides. Once it has turned brown from all sides, remove it from the burner.
  4. In a sauce pan, add prepared Honey Sriracha Sauce. Then add the paneer. Mix them. Add salt. Add water, give it one boil.
  5. Now sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds and mix them.

Rice and Vegetables

  1. In a pan, add oil. Add ginger, garlic, and all the chopped vegetables.
  2. Saute for around 5 minutes. Vegetables will leave some water by now. Add one cup water and 2 tbsp soy sauce. Mix well. Close the flame.
  3. Add one cup rice and two cups water in a pressure cooker. Wait till two whistles. Then remove from burner. Wait for all the pressure cooker to open.
  4. Add vegetables to rice and mix well.

Serving

  1. Add rice and vegetables, followed by honey sriracha paneer onto a plate.
  2. Sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds and green onions and serve.

 

Have any more suggestions about how could I improve upon it?

 

experiments-kitchen-5-honey-sriracha-paneer-with-vegetables: Honey Sriracha Paneer

[Experiments in Kitchen #5] Honey Sriracha Paneer with Rice

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Hi, I am Megha. I like to experiment with recipes and read novels. Here, at delightfulldiscoveries.com, I share my love for cooking and books. Some of my travels and thoughts too. I am also a Software Engineer. And in my other blog letscodethemup.com, I like to share tutorials on what I am currently learning. I am here to make new friends and share with you all what I have and do. In this process, I am getting to know myself better. If you have any suggestions for my blogs or posts, do share them through comments. You can also reach me on any of the below social links.