Paneer Butter Masala Recipe / Paneer Makhani Recipe

There are several Paneer Butter Masala recipes on the net. This is how I make it at home. This doesn’t have much cream or butter in it and we can reduce or completely omit it when you make this on a regular basis. Usually when I make it just for us I never add cream and always reduce butter to half; trust me it still tastes great :).... This is a Lakshmi Nair recipe from the Magic Oven show..... in her original recipe she adds 1 cup of peas too; since we don’t like peas much I avoid adding it.... Also I try to avoid using food colours as much as I can, hence my curry is orangish and not red :)...... 

Paneer Butter Masala Recipe / Paneer Makhani Recipe

(Source: Lakshmi Nair's Magic Oven)

Preparation Time- 15 mints

Cooking tome-30 mins

Serves -3 to 4

Ingredients:

Paneer – 2 cups, cut into 1” cubes

Onion – 2 medium, sliced thin

Chilly powder -1 tsp

Ginger paste -1 tsp

Garlic paste -1 tsp

Tomato - 2 big, pureed to a fine paste in a blender

Fresh Cream – ¼ cup

Cashew nuts – 25gm (soaked in little water)

Garam masala – ¾ tsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Roasted Cumin powder / Jeera powder -¼ tsp

Fenugreek leaves /Kasoori methi leaves -1 tsp

Salt to taste

Butter – 2 tbsp

Oil -1 tbsp

Tomato sauce – 2 tbsp

Water – 1 ½ cups

Coriander leaves - ¼ cup, finely chopped

Red food colour – 2 drops (I didn’t use it)

Method:

• Heat 1tbsp oil in a non-stick pan and add sliced onion and sauté until translucent and soft (no need to brown the onions). Grind the sautéed onions along with soaked cashew nuts to a fine paste and keep aside.
• Heat butter in a pan and add ginger and garlic paste and sauté for 5 minutes. Lower the heat and add chilly powder and stir well. Add pureed tomato and tomato sauce and sauté well till the mixture becomes thick and oil starts separates from the masala.
• Add ground onion-cashew nut paste, cumin powder, garam masala and kasoori methi leaves and salt. Add 1 ½ cups of hot water and boil the mixture for 3 minutes. Add paneer pieces and food colour if using. Reduce the heat and simmer the mixture for 6-8 minutes or until the gravy is little thick. 
• Finally add cream and coriander leaves mix well and turn off the heat. 
• Serve hot with Indian flatbreads or rice.

Notes:

You can add 1 cup of cooked green peas along with paneer if you wish.

You can lightly fry paneer pieces before adding it to the gravy.