Paneer Curry

I'm a pretty big fan of curry in all its forms (and there's a lot of em, from red curry, to green curry, Indian curry, and Thai curry, and so on), but one of my favorites involves Paneer, a type of Indian cheese. Unfortunately, it's not the sort of thing I tend to have on hand. Hell, I haven't the foggiest idea where to even buy paneer. In an attempt to imitate it, I came up with this alternative: fried mozzarella cubes. The soft, mild mozzarella cheese worked wonderfully in the following red curry recipe.

-=Red Curried Beef with Fried Mozzarella=-

First off, the fried Mozzarella--

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 egg

Mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Vegetable oil

In a small pot, heat up the oil. Combine the flour, water, bread crumbs, and eggs and stir until even. Coat the Mozzarella cubes in the mixture, and fry one at a time for 5-6 seconds each. Make sure to remove the cheese quickly, or else it will melt too much and fall apart completely. Once done set the Mozzarella aside. The fried cheese can also be served by itself with a bit of salt as an appetizer

Next up: Rice

1.5 cups Basmati Rice

2.5 cups water

In a medium pot, combine the water and rice, and heat, covered, on HIGH. When the water begins to boil, turn heat down to LOW, stir, and let sit, covered, for 10-15 minutes, until water is all absorbed. Rice should be soft and fluffy.

Finally: The curry

4-5 small Russet potatoes, cubed

2 large carrots, sliced

1 head broccoli, chopped

4-6 oz cooked steak, cubed

2-3 oz red curry paste

1 can (14 oz) coconut milk

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp garlic powder

1-2 tbsp garlic salt

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp cinnamon

In a large wok or pan, heat the coconut milk and regular milk. Add the curry paste, garlic powder, garlic salt, paprika, and cinnamon, stirring until even. Add the potatoes and carrots, and simmer until potatoes are cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. When the potatoes are soft, add the steak, broccoli, and cheese, and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve over the rice when done.