Paneer Butter Masala / Cottage Cheese in Rich Tomato Gravy

Who doesn’t love paneer butter masala? My family is not an exception for this. Except my mother-in-law, everyone in my family likes this gravy much. My recipe doesn’t imitate the restaurant style Paneer Butter Masala, but it tastes like heaven and you’ll love it.

I prepare this gravy with milk every time instead of cream. I like this gravy very much when milk is added, makes me feel less guilty while eating this high fat rich food. Once in a while, I use cream if I have any left over cream after using it in any other recipes. When I planned to cook paneer butter masala for the blog, I had some cream sitting in my refrigerator and I made use of it. It is your choice to choose either milk or cream. Both tastes equally good and you only see slight change in texture.

Basic Information:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Oil- 1 tablespoon

Butter – 1 tablespoon

Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon

Onion – 2 nos., chopped

Tomato – 3 nos, chopped

Ginger – 1 inch thick piece, finely chopped

Garlic – 4 cloves, finely chopped

Green cardamom – 3 nos, crushed

Roasted cashew nuts – 1/4 cup or 8 big cashew nuts

Kashmiri red chilli powder – 2 teaspoons

Coriander powder – 2 teaspoons

Salt – to taste

Turmeric powder – a small pinch

Garam Masala – a pinch (optional)

Cream – 1/2 cup (see notes)

Milk or water – 2 cups (use full fat or low fat milk if cream is not used, otherwise add water) (See notes)

Paneer – 200 grams, cut into cubes

Kasoori methi / Dried fenugreek leaves – a big pinch

Coriander leaves – 2 tablespoons, finely chopped

Sugar – a big pinch (optional)

Method:

1) Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. Add chopped onions and fry till the onions are soft and translucent.

2) Add ginger and garlic and fry about a minute.

3) Add tomato. Stir and cook till the tomatoes are soft and mushy.

4) Add crushed green cardamoms and roasted cashew nuts to it.

5) Turn the flame off and allow this to cool down.

6) Grind it to a smooth paste with enough water.

7) In the same pan, add butter. Add ground paste. Mix well.

8) Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt. Stir again and cook for 1-2 minutes.

9) Add cream and mix well. Add water slowly to the pan. Cook the mixture till it attains the consistency of a gravy in low flame.

10) Add paneer cubes and cook for 3 minutes.

11) Add sugar and kasuri methi. Mix again and turn off the heat after a minute.

12 Garnish with coriander leaves.

Notes:

1) I didn’t  fry the paneer cubes before adding to the gravy. I used Milky Mist paneer which is usually very soft and it can be added to the gravy directly. If you go for other brands, fry the paneer and keep immersed in water till you use them.

2) If you are using cream, then add only water. If you are not using cream then add 2 cups of milk but don’t add water.

3) Add red food color if you prefer. Addition of sugar and garam masala is optional.