Pakistani cooking lesson

In November, we had a friend over at our place and I learned how to cook some Pakistani dishes from her. She is a wonderful cook and I always love her food. I have learned from her how to make Shrimp Briyani and Chicken curry before.

This time, I wanted to learn some new dishes so I asked her to teach me how to make Bhindi Masala (Okura dish), Palak Paneer (Spinach Curry) and fish curry.

I prepared Fish and Spinach then our friend brought all the other ingredients including Paneer.

Paneer is cheese which is in Spinach curry. I only saw this cheese in Indian grocery store so when I talked to her before hand, I told her that I don't know where I can get Paneer so we can either not use it or use tofu instead. But my friend told me that it is super easy to make it at home and she will make it at home and bring it with her 

I was so surprised I had no idea that you can make your own paneer at home with just whole milk and lemon!!! This is a great information. This is great to know. 

Anyway, the dish I love and always wanted to learn was this Bhindi Masala. It is now easy to find good looking fresh okura in regular supermarket around here but if I find some, this is the dish I want to make. I love this dish. I order this at restaurants all the time but never really know how to make it at home.

This one came out really good. I think the point is to cook the onion really well until its kind of crispy and sweet. I love this dish. 

Then, Palak Paneer was easier than I thought. Well, my friend already made paneer and we used frozen spinach. We boiled spinach and sauted them with some spices and pureed. Then added some heavy cream. That's basically it. 

Then, fish curry. I used to eat fish curry when I was living with an indian lady in California. She makes a killer fish curry. She always used salmon and we used salmon this time also. The result was wonderful. It really reminded me of her fish curry. I hadn't had fish curry for so long. It brought back all the memory and it kind of made me nostalgic. This is something I would love to cook again and again. The julienned ginger made it taste even better!

For dessert, I made banana cream pie but it didn't looks so great so I didn't take any photos. 

Anyway, it was so much fun and educational to learn some Pakistani dishes from her. I love learning how to cook new dishes especially when they are my favorite food! I always think that Indian and Pakistani food are too complicated to make but once you have all the spices and how it works, it is not too difficult. I am so fortunate to be able to learn those dishes from some one who is originally from there. She is such a wonderful person and she always give a lot to others. I wish I could do something for her. I think she should be spoiled once in a while. I think I should invite her again and I should cook for her!