Paneer Butter Masala

This is a dish which I ordered a lot whenever I went out to eat. One of my all time favorite dishes. At last I tried this out for my little one's lunch box and it came out reasonably well.

So many different varieties of dishes can be made using paneer. This a lovely dish which is loved by many people. In this recipe, cream can be added to make the dish rich, but I omitted as without cream also this tasted heavenly and also that I didn’t want any extra calories to be added.. :-)

This is a perfect dish to be served along with pulav, naan, rotis or phulkas. I made this along with veg pulav. The fried paneer pieces are cooked in spicy tangy gravy. This is very easy and simple to make and can be prepared prepared quickly. Just try this out.

Ingredients:

1. Paneer- 1 Cup (cubed or diced)
2. Salt- as per taste
3. Oil- 2 tbsp
4. Butter- 1 tbsp
5. Ginger and Garlic Paste- 1 tbsp
6. Onions- 2 nos ( Ground)
7. Tomatoes- 2 nos(Pureed)
8. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tsp
9. Cashewnuts- 5-6 nos
10. Green Chillies- 2 nos
11. Garam Masala Powder- 1 tsp
12. Kasuri Methi- 1 tbsp
13. Coriander Leaves (chopped)- 2 tbsp (optional)

Method:

1. Fry the cubed paneer in 1 tbsp of oil and add little salt. Fry till they turn light golden brown colour on both the sides. Keep this aside on a paper towel.
2. Pour the remaining oil and butter in a pan, add the ground onions, fry till the raw smell disappears.
3. Add the ginger and garlic paste. Fry for a while. Add the pureed tomatoes and red chilli powder. Meanwhile soak the cashew nuts in little water and grind them to a fine paste.
4. Add the ground cashews in the above gravy, mix well till all the ingredients are well blended and till the oil begins to leave the sides of the pan.
5. In this add the julienned green chillies, mix. Add the fried paneer and required amount of salt. Stir till the paneer is soaked in the gravy.
6. Add the garam masala powder and crushed kasuri methi to the gravy. Mix well and atlast add coriander leaves.
7. Serve hot with rotis, phulkas or pulav.