Paneer makhani is a dish that includes suavoury cooked cubes of cottage cheese in creamy, tomato, sauce. All its ingredients are used to achieve a certain part. Paneer provides the unique bite, cashews make it dense and sweetly tender.
Add salt to the dish as required in a hurry, kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) crushed and cream. Wipe and shut the burner off. Serve with roti, paratha or naan.
Paneer Makhani is a Punjabi food preparation of Indian cottage cheese cooked in a creamy tomato gravy in butter. It is an extremely delicious curry and it is served best with roti, naan or amrit rice. It is perfect as a weekday evening meal when you are not ready to invest a great deal of time coming up with a meal.
Any form of milk can be used to substitute the cream in this recipe. Coconut milk would be ideal or this can be whole milk or a blend of the two to achieve the preferred consistency. You may also add some water to dilute the sauce. Nevertheless, excess water would cause the gravy to be diluted.
In the case of store bought paneer, then you have to ensure that it is kept in hot water, say around 20 minutes just before it is added to the gravy.
This is important to prevent the paneer from becoming hard & chewy. The other option is to fry the paneer in a Tablespoon of oil and put it in the gravy. But there is nothing that gives any additional flavor to the dish by frying it.
The gravy is given a good color by using good quality Kashmiri red chili powder. It can be replaced with the ordinary red chili powder, but the color may not be that bright. Finally, don’t forget to add kasuri methi towards the end of cooking.
What could be added to give that richness and depth of flavours is valuable. The kasuri methi can be crushed in your fingers or simply sprinkled on top of the gravy and then turn off the stove.
Making the Onion-Tomato Base
Paneer Butter Masala or Paneer Makhani is a delicious tomato gravy with Indian cottage cheese ( paneer ) that is a great match with roti, naan or jeera rice. It’s a must-have Punjabi dish.
It is also largely sweet and creamy as opposed to the tikka masala which is mainly spicy. It has cubes of paneer in it which add texture and taste to the curry. This is a very simple yet delicious dish.
Firstly, ensure that you have good quality and ripe tomatoes. Suppose that there is no ripening of the tomatoes, they will be bitter. The next best alternative would be to use canned tomatoes, however, after coring and deseeding them.
Furthermore, a little dash of vinegar or lemon juice can be added to the tomatoes so that it would be neutral in acidity and would produce a more balanced taste.
Then in a blender, add chopped tomatoes, chopped ginger-garlic paste and water and blend until smooth. Once the mixture is smooth then proceed to step 2.
Heat a pan/kadai in the butter. When butter has melted, then add bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cloves. This step should not be used in the case when you do not use whole spices.
Once the spices have sizzled add the tomato- ground onion mixture. This is to be cooked at low- medium temperature of around 10 minutes.
Once prepared onions are fully cooked, then the mixture will fall together to form a nice thick paste. Now you may decide to stir the mixture once more or just take up a spoon and stir it continuously till it is so thick and attains the required consistency.
On seeing the mixture thick, add sugar/jaggery and kasuri methi (supposing that you have them). Continue stirring until the gravy becomes shiny/glossy. Add garam masala, salt and pepper powder to taste and mix.
Provided that you have paneer that is bought in shops, then you need to soak it in warm water before utilizing it in this dish. This will ensure that it is tender and it cooks in gravy. Cook it not too much and it will be leathery. When you feel like serving, cubed paneer, and mix. Before switching off the stove you can add some cream and garnish it with something luxurious.
To give a Smooth Texture
Paneer butter masala is a creamy and thick sauce which is made of tomato- onion base together with spices and Indian cottage cheese (paneer).
This curry is a lip sucking curry which is served with roti, naan or jeera rice. It is a quick and simple-to-cook dish that can be ready within a very short time and is an ideal dish to make on weekday dinners.
This recipe is also referred to as Paneer Makhani and Paneer Tikka Masala. It is similar to Paneer tikka masala with the only difference being that a smooth silky sauce is used to which the raw paneer is placed compared to the paneer tikka masala where the cubes of paneer are cooked in the gravy and hence add texture in the curry.
In case you are a lover of dhaba style cooking then this is the right one that you need to cook at home since it is rich, creamy and healthy with paneer being the key ingredient. You can also put in chicken but ensure that you cook it separately and afterwards pour into the hot gravy.
The cashews have to be ground to make a creamy and fatty gravy. Mortar and Pestle Prepare a nut grinder or chutney grinder, and grind the cashews with water to a fine paste. This is the vital step since it will make your paneer makhani the correct consistency and with an oily smooth feel.
The other thing that needs to be kept in mind is that the tomatoes should be sour sweet and not dry. The tomatoes used should be sour enough, otherwise the curry may end up having bitter taste.
Once the tomato paste is combined with milk it must be cooked some time on low-medium heat. This is because milk will curdle as soon as it enters into contact with tomatoes, too soon because it is acidic.
The remaining ingredients can be added when the milk has been tempered and it should be mixed until the two components are blended. Then add the mashed paneer, simmer some time and then put in the crushed kasuri methi to the curry.
When cooking it at a grand scale then it is better that the paneer masala be made in advance as it will be smooth and creamy. But make sure not to overcook the paneer as it will become rubbery.
Step-by-Step Recipe
Paneer butter masala is an extremely rich, creamy and delicious Indian vegetarian curry dish that matches with either garlic naan or jeera rice.
It is prepared using onion-tomato base, some spices and paneer/ Indian cottage cheese. You can also add peas to this recipe and make palak paneer or add spinach & get matar paneer, the possibilities are endless!
No cream is added in making this creamy paneer masala. Preferably fresh home made paneer, store bought is also good. To maintain the paneer soft, it is best to soak it in water first.
The ingredients may be easily multiplied in case you have to feed more people, only to keep in mind that you should add more spices to give a taste.
The quantity of garam masala you augment should also be done cautiously as it may be overpowering when a lot of it is used. This is a simple recipe that can be prepared even by an amateur.
Heat butter in pan or kadai on medium heat, and add 2 tablespoons of butter. When butter is melted, put in cumin seeds and allow them to crackle. Add the chopped onions and brown.
After the onions have been brown, put the ginger-garlic paste and cook it a minute. Add also cut tomato and saute a minute. Next add the garam masala powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder and mix well.
Add the water to form a paste. Add salt and sugar (where necessary) and stir to mix all the ingredients. Lastly, pour in the cashews and mix once again to get everything mixed up. To make the mixture too thick, pour in more water to the level of consistency that you desire.
At this stage we will prepare a gravy out of the mixture. We will also be adding Kashmiri red chili powder to it so that it attains a nice red hue. Adding some black pepper with it would also be a great idea to add some extra heat and blend all the tastes.
Now place in a pan ready onion- tomato gravy. Bake in medium flame, until the oil crusts along the edges of the pan. This will ensure that the gravy is cooked. Lastly, combine the cubed, paneer and stir to blend the two. Then sprink in kasuri methi which has been crushed and leave hot.