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Paneer butter masala – a quintessential dish we all have had in our fav restaurants on our family dinner nights. So much so that even today when we place dinner orders, our non veg friends would just guess without even asking what to order – the standard order we grew up having of dal makhni, paneer butter masala and breads of choice 🙂 

Made essentially with tomatoes (tanginess), cashew (sweetness), butter (richness and flavoring), cream (creaminess) – this makhni gravy is typical to one of the most popular dishes of Indian cuisine. This can also be make vegan with oil replacing butter, tofu replacing paneer and coconut cream replacing cream.

Ingredients:

• 250 gm paneer
• 4 tomatoes
• 15-20 cashews soaked in milk for appx for an hour
• 1 green chili
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 6 garlic clove minced
• 1sp kasuri methi
• Cinnamon stick
• 1 bowl fresh cream
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp MDH shahi paneer masala
• Salt
• 1/2 bowl butter

Procedure:

1. In a pan heat 2 tbsp of butter, roast cinnamon stick, garlic, chili and ginger paste. Add the tomatoes and cook it for 3-4 minutes until the skin of tomato starts peeling off. Switch off the gas and let it cool
2. Put the cooled off mix in a grinder and blend it smooth
3. Make a paste of the soaked cashews by using a mixer
4. In the pan heat 2 tbsp of butter and add the tomato puree. Cover it with a lid and let it boil for 2 minutes
5. Add garam masala, chili powder, coriander powder. Mix it well and add the cashew paste and bring it to a boil and then add shahi paneer masala. Cover the pan for 2 minutes and let it boil at sim
6. Now add 1 tbsp of butter and fresh cream and mix it well
7. Finally add the diced paneer and give a gentle mix
8. Sprinkle roasted kasuri methi on top

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Points to note:

• One can add roasted onions too before making the tomato puree, but onions are optional
• Butter paneer masala as a dish is a bit on the sweet side
• We have used baba red chili powder as it not only gives the right spice level but also give the desired red color. Kashmiri red chili powder is another option
• To make paneer cubes more soft, boil it in water with salt for 10 minutes before adding to the gravy
• Thickness of gravy will depend upon how finely the tomato puree is blended and how well the gravy has been cooked and boiled. For super smooth gravy, you can sieve through this puree before adding