Prep time- 30 min

Cooking time- 45 min 

Total Time: 1 hour 15 min

Ingredients

  • 1 Large onion
  • 2 Large tomatoes
  • 250 Gram paneer, cut in cubes
  • 4-5 Cloves of garlic
  • 1 -inch ginger
  • 15-20 Cashews, soaked in water
  • 1 Tablespoon cream
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 Teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
  • 2-3 Green Cardamoms (choti hari elaichi)
  • 1 Inch Stick of Cinnamon (dalchini)
  • 3-4 Cloves (laung)
  • 1 Bay Leaf (tej patta)
  • 1 Teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
  • 2 Teaspoons coriander powder (dhania powder)
  • 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt or as per taste
  • 1 Teaspoon Sugar or 1 Teaspoon Honey, optional
  • 1 Tablespoon Crushed Dry Fenugreek Leaves (Kasuri Methi)

Method

  • Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a pan. Add cumin seeds and fry them on low heat till they start to splutter.
  • Add green cardamom (choti elaichi), cinnamon (dalchini) and cloves (laung) to butter. Fry on low flame them for a minute.
  • Add chopped ginger and garlic cloves to the pan and cook for a minute.
  • Add chopped onions and fry them till they turn translucent. There is no need to brown the onions.
  • Add chopped tomatoes and cook them till they become soft.
  • Add cashews to the mixture. If you want you can roast the cashews separately before adding them.
  • Add 1 teaspoon salt along with 1 cup of water.
  • Cover with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes till the mixture becomes soft.
  • Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and make a smooth fine paste. You can pass the paste through a sieve to remove the skin of the tomatoes and any other chunks.
  • Again heat 1 tablespoon butter in a pan and add a bay leaf (tej patta) and 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.
  • Add garam masala, coriander powder (dhania powder) and turmeric powder (haldi) to the mixture.
  • Also, add some sugar to the gravy. Adding sugar is optional but it gives a nice taste to the gravy. You can also replace sugar with honey.
  • 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 little crushed dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi). Finally, now it’s time to add the paneer cubes and cook everything for 3-4 minutes. If you want you can fry the paneer cubes very slightly before adding them.
  • Paneer butter masala is ready. Serve it any bread like naan, missi roti, lachha parantha or with some rice preparation like jeera rice.