Cottage Cheese In Silky Sauce (Paneer Butter Masala)

Paneer butter masala is the most requested dish in Indian restaurants. It is actually a vegetarian version of butter chicken, which originated from Northern India. I will share more about that some other time...

 

I have had a lot of people request this dish from me. What’s special about this one is that it has no onion or garlic at all. However, I do hope I have not misled you with that, because actually it tastes better without onion and garlic- I know because I have tried it in restaurants.

There is nothing better than the creamy overtones of a good paneer butter masala with naan, so here's the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nurUdsk70&t=258s

 

Ingredients:
For paneer
500 ml full cream milk
Less than 30 ml vinegar
1-2 tsp butter or oil
Pinch of turmeric powder
Pinch of red chilli powder
Salt to taste

 

For gravy
2-3 tbsp oil
2 large tomatoes (do not peel), cut into quarters
12 pcs cashew nuts
½ inch ginger (peeled), cut into thin juliennes
2 green chillies, deseeded and cut into thin juliennes
-          Julienne is just a fancy way of saying “shred”
1/2 -1 small stick cinnamon
Pinch of mace
4-6 pcs green cardamom
2 cloves
3 peppercorns
2 tsp butter
Salt to taste
½ tsp sugar (or just to balance salty & spicy with sweet)
½ tsp red chilli powder
1-2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) (I normally like to roast this a little beforehand)
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
1-2 tbsp cream
2 tbsp coriander leaves for garnish

 

METHOD

For paneer

1.      Prepare your paneer first. You can follow my palak paneer recipe for paneer; have attached that as well, otherwise you can use frozen paneer.

 

2.      When paneer is completely ready for use, cut into cubes. Heat oil or butter in a pan, add paneer cubes, salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Grill till just about done.

For Gravy

1.      Heat oil and add tomatoes, cashew nuts, cinnamon, mace, cardamom, cloves and peppercorns. You may add a tiny bit of salt to help the tomatoes cook faster. Cook till tomatoes are soft.

2.      In a blender, add the tomato and cashew mixture and blend with a little water till smooth.

3.      Strain your mixture into a separate container.

4.      Heat some butter into a pan, add ginger and green chilli. Saute well.

5.      Add tomato mixture and cook for a while. 

6.      Add salt, red chilli powder and sugar.

7.      Crush the fenugreek leaves into your gravy and mix.   Cook for 2 more mins.  

8.      Before serving, add paneer, garam masala and cream; and garnish with coriander leaves.

9.      Serve hot with roti or naan.