Paneer Makhani

Hiii,

Paneer has been my all time favourite and Paneer Makhani is one dish I order regularly when I go to restaurants. I googled the recipe and found few and tried few. Recently I made this with my own twist and I can say it almost tasted like I have it in restaurants. That is the reason why I thought of sharing this recipe in my blog.

The main taste for this dish comes from kasuri methi/ dried fenugreek leaves. Also using good quality fresh paneer is recommended.

So, lets begin with the instructions.

Ingredients

For the makhani gravy:

• Onion - 1 cup , sliced
• Tomato - 1 cup , chopped
• Cashews - 1 tblspn
• Almonds - 1 tblspn (Optional)
• Melon seeds - 2 tsp (Optional)
• Cinnamon - 1 small stick
• Red Chillies - 4 to 6 nos (Preferably kashmiri chillies)
• Cloves - 2
• Cardamom - 2
• Water - 2 cups

  Other Ingredients:

• Paneer - 200 gms , cubed
• Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tblspn
• Bay leaves - 1
• Butter - 1 tblspn
• Tomato puree -   tblspn
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Dried fenugreek leaves / kasuri methi - 1 tsp, crushed
• Coriander powder - 2 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (Optional)
• Salt - as per taste
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Honey - 1 tsp (Optional)
• Cream / Yoghurt - 1 tblspn
• Coriander leaves - to garnish

Method

For the Makhani Gravy:

• Bring water to boil and add onion, tomato, cashews, almonds, melon seeds, Red chillies, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Boil it for 15 minutes to 20 minutes in a slow flame.
• Cool it and discard cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and grind the rest in to a very fine paste along with the water. Make sure to grind everything really well inorder to get the right texture on the gravy.
• Keep it aside.

How to Proceed?:

•  In a pan heat butter and oil. Add bay leaf and ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw flavor of ginger and garlic goes. 
• Add in the prepared paste, tomato puree and water and bring it to 1 boil. 
• Then add coriander powder, cumin powder and crushed kasuri methi.
• Keep the flame in low and boil it for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring it occasionally. Add water in between if the mixture becomes too thick. 
• Now add garam masala, salt, sugar and honey. Add the cream / Yoghurt also. 
• When it starts boiling, add the paneer pieces and cook it for another 2 minutes and switch off the flame.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and Cream / Yoghurt
• Serve it hot with Paratha / Chapathy / Naan/ Phulka or anything of your choice. 

Notes

•  Almonds and melon seeds are optional. Adding cashews will give you nice texture and flavour to your dish and adding almonds and melon seeds will make your gravy thick.
• If you do not have cream, you can also add condensed milk / Evaporated milk. After adding cream or condensed milk or yoghurt, make sure not to cook it for long time. 
• You can add the paneer cubes just like that or you can shallow fry them in oil / butter and then add it to the gravy.