MAYAPUR ISKCON TEMPLE STYLE CHANA PANEER MASALA
Mayapur ISKCON temple is situated in Mayapur town in Nadia district of West Bengal, India. In this region , it is believed that Lord Krishna appeared as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with his brother Lord Balaram as Nityananda Prabhu. In this sacred land of Mayapur, the global headquarters of ISKCON is situated. Many devotees from all over the world visit the sacred Mayapur Chandrodaya Temple of ISKCON throughout the year. Daily bhog mahaprasad is distributed among thousands of devotees. It is needless to say that the food offered as bhog prasad as a major influence of Bengali cuisine. All the food items like rice, dal, curries, savories, sweets etc. are completely vegetarian and no onion and garlic are used in the preparation of the ISKCON temple prasadam. Daily different variety of dal or subzi or savories are offered to all the deities and then served among the devotees.
Chana Paneer Masala is a without onion and garlic kabuli chana (chole) paneer curry where the boiled chole and fried paneer cubes are cooked in a mild spicy rich gravy . It is served as a side dish in the mahaprasad thali. This chana paneer masala is very delicious and is a very popular Bengali dish served in weddings and other special occasions. Hare Krishna.
HOW TO MAKE ISKCON TEMPLE STYLE CHANA PANEER MASALA (STEP BY STEP RECIPE)
- First, soak 1 cup of chickpeas or kabuli chana (chole) in water for 8 to 10 hours or overnight. Then boil the chickpeas or chana or pressure cook for 2 whistles. Discard the water and keep the boiled chickpeas or chana aside.
2. Next, we will prepare a special masala for the curry. Take the below mentioned ingredients in a grinder jar. Add little water and grind together into a smooth paste.
- 1.5 inch Ginger
- 3 Green Chillies or as per taste
- 8 Cashew Nuts
- 1 tsp Black Peppercorns (kalimirch)
3. Heat sufficient oil in a cooking pan. Cut 200gm of paneer into small cubes and sprinkle turmeric powder on the paneer cubes and fry these till golden brown in color from both the sides.
4. Next, cut 2 large size potatoes into small cubes and fry in the existing oil till golden brown in color.
5. Take out the excess oil from the cooking pan and retain around 1 tbsp of oil. Temper the oil with the below mentioned spices and fry for few seconds till cumin seeds starts to splutter.
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 2 Dry Red Chillies
- 1 tsp of Cumin Seeds
Next, roughly chop 2 large size capsicums and then fry for 2 mins in the oil. Then add all the below mentioned ingredients one by one :
- 1 tsp of Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp of Red Chilly Powder
- 2 medium size Tomatoes, roughly chopped
- Salt as per taste
Stir in together all the ingredients and cover with a lid. Cook till tomatoes turn completely soft.
6. Open the lid after 5 minutes or so, you will find the tomatoes are very soft and oil has come out of the masala as shown in the image. Then, add the below ingredients one by one :
- 1 tbsp of Butter
- the prepared Masala paste
- 1 tbsp of Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp of Kasuri Methi
Nicely mix these above mentioned ingredients with the curry. Cover with a lid and cook for few minutes. When you see oil has separated out and floating on the top of the masala then masala is nicely cooked. Cooking the masala properly is very important for a delicious dish otherwise it doesn’t taste that good due to the raw smell of masala.
7. Add the boiled chickpeas or chana and fry with the masala for a minute. Add 500 ml of water and bring the curry to a boil. Add the fried potato and paneer cubes and bring the curry to a full boil. Cover with a lid and simmer the curry for about 15 to 20 minutes. The potato cubes are fried so will get cooked quickly and the paneer cubes will also soak the gravy and become soft and juicy.
8. Finally, add 1 tsp of garam masala powder and simmer the curry for 5 minutes. Switch off the gas and keep the chana paneer masala covered for 5 minutes before serving.
Very delicious and divine ISKCON Temple style Chana Paneer Masala. Enjoy with roti, puri, rice and vegetable pulao.
