Paneer butter masala

Paneer Butter Masala is one of India’s most popular paneer gravy recipe. This rich and creamy dish has pieces of paneer tossed in a tomato and cashew based curry. It has a mild sweet taste and pairs beautifully with naan or jeera rice.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 large tomatoes
• 250 gm paneer, cubed
• 4- 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 15-20 cashews, soaked in water
• 1 tbsp cream /milk (optional)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• 2-3 green cardamoms
• 1 Inch stick of cinnamon
• 3-4 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric Powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp kasuri methi

Method

• Heat oil in a pan on low flame. Add cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Fry on low flame for few seconds. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and sauté for a minute.
• Further, add chopped onions and fry them till they turn translucent. Then add chopped tomatoes and cashews, sauté till the tomatoes become soft. Add salt to taste. Transfer the mixture to a blender and grind it into a smooth paste
• Heat butter in a pan on low flame add red chilli powder to it. Fry it for a few seconds. This will give a nice color to the gravy.
• Add the onion tomato paste to the pan and mix it with the red chili powder. Cook for a couple of minutes.
• Next, add garam masala, coriander powder and turmeric Powder to the mixture fry for 2 minutes. Also add some sugar to the gravy. Adding Sugar is optional but it gives a nice taste to the gravy. 
• Now add cream to the gravy and mix everything well. The cream will give a richness to the gravy. If you want to skip it you can use a little bit of milk instead.
• Sprinkle some crushed kasuri methi. Finally add the Paneer Cubes and cook everything for 3-4 minutes.
• Garnish it with chopped Coriander, shredded Paneer or a drizzle of Cream. Serve hot with any Indian bread like Naan, roti, or with flavored rice like jeera Rice.