If you decided to make fresh paneer, you need to start a bit earlier and prepare your fresh cheese according to this recipe. After sieving the cheese, place it in a cloth under heavy weight for about an hour so that unnecessary water gets pressed out and the cheese will be in a firm form that you can then cut into small pieces. Of course you would need to cut bought Paneer or tofu, too.

In the next step you wash the mushrooms, cut off the lowest part of the stem and then cut them into medium-sized pieces that fit nicely into the mouth. Wash and cut the tomatoes, too, and keep them in a separate bowl.

Now you can put your wok or deep pan onto your stove and start by heating up the oil. Once hot, you add cumin seeds, coriander, garam masala, turmeric and ginger into it. Mace and nutmeg are only recommended in winter time when you want the dish to have a warming effect. Stir the spices so that they can unfold their aroma in the oil. Add the tomato pieces and keep on stirring. The tomatoes will get warm and soft.

Before they get mashed, you can put the mushrooms into the pan, too. Stir once and place a lid on top of it, adding salt so that the mushrooms can nicely get cooked. In the following five to ten minutes the mushrooms will release water in which they will then cook and from time to time you can stir so that they get evenly soft.

After ten minutes you take off the lid and stir again. As soon as your mushrooms are soft, add the paneer cubes and let them get hot, too, while the extra water in the pan evaporates. You only need to stir a few times more and there is your mushroom paneer dish, ready to be enjoyed with some rice or bread!