There are several popular Indian preparations
for Paneer or cottage cheese like paneer butter masala or shahi paneer or kadai
paneer or matar paneer. They all look almost same, but they differ in taste and
the spices. This one is medium spicy one and is very common household
preparation in North India. It is a semi dry dish but you can increase the
amount of gravy by adding water and the spices in proportion.
Preparation Time: - 10 min
Cooking Time: - 30~35 min
Servings: - 3~4 persons
Ingredients:
- 250 gm Paneer or cottage cheese.
- 1 big Onion chopped
- 1-inch Ginger chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic crushed (You can use 1 tbsp Ginger
garlic paste instead of chopped ginger and crushed garlic)
- 2 medium Tomato finely chopped
- ½ cup Green Peas
- 1 Green Chili deseeded (you can have more according
to your taste)
- 10 Cashew Nuts
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1-inch Cinnamon
- 2 Cloves
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2 nos. Red Chilli or 1 ½ tsp Kashmiri Red Chili
powder (again you can increase this as per your taste)
- 1 tsp crushed and dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasuri
Methi)
- ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 3~4 tbsp Fresh Cream or Malai
- 2 tsp Garam Masala powder
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tbsp Butter / 2 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter)
- 3~4 tbsp Vegetable Oil ( I used Sunflower oil but you
can use Canola or any vegetable oil )
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped
Preparation: -
- Cut the Paneer into medium
cubes. The preferred size is 4 cm. x 4 cm. x 1 cm.
- Chop onion and tomato. Keep
aside.
- You need to chop and crush
garlic & ginger if you do not use ginger garlic paste like me.
- Boil the Cashew nuts in
little water and blend it to have smooth paste. Keep aside.
- If you use fresh peas, then
make sure to boil for 5~7 minutes in water to make it soft. Keep aside.
This step is not required if frozen peas are used as that one is already
soft.
- In a Kadai or deep bottomed
frying pan, heat 4 tbsp oil in high heat and turn the burner to medium.
- Add Bayleaf, cinnamon, cloves
and cumin seeds in it and let the spices crackle.
- Add finely chopped onion and
sauté till they turn translucent.
- Then add crushed ginger
garlic and keep stirring till the aroma of garlic goes away.
- Add a deseeded green chili
and finely chopped tomatoes, stir and cook for 3~4 minutes till the juice
of the tomato evaporates and start to leave oil.
- Now add turmeric powder,
Kashmiri Chilli powder and coriander powder in the mixture and stir for
1~2 min.
- Use a grinder to make a
smooth paste of the above mixture.
- Use the same frying pan and
pour the Ghee or butter. Pour the above paste in it and fry for 2 minutes.
- Add green peas and paneer
cubes – stir continuously so that the spice paste is coated on every
paneer cubes and peas.
- Pour ¼ cup water and cook for
about 3 minutes.
- Add Fresh cream and cashew
nut paste and stir to mix properly.
- Now sprinkle dried fenugreek leaves
(Kasoori Methi) by crushing in hand.
- Sprinkle garam masala.
- Mix everything well and
continue cooking till the gravy becomes according to your liking.
- Turn off the burner – garnish
with chopped coriander leaves and a green chili.
Serve hot as Side dish to Roti,
Paratha or flavored/jeera rice. In fact I can eat it with plain steamed rice as well.
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