Paneer butter masala is a very rich and creamy smooth gravy served with naan, roti, chapati, any pulao or jeera rice. Paneer butter masala is prepared by adding cream, milk, cashews and paneer in onion tomato based gravy. Adding kasoori methi/ dried fenugreek leaves adds more flavors and taste to this dish. This delicious gravy is prepared by grinding onion and tomato paste separately to give it thick consistency. Also it is prepared with very less ingredients yet has a restaurant touch due to the cream added in the recipe. If you don’t want to add cream to your recipe you can add more milk in the gravy to match its taste. I suggest making this gravy very rarely due to its richness but once in a while I think its ok to have such a delicious gravy. So lets get to the making!
Beginners Note:
Heavy cream is a thick milk with more butterfat, it is available in any store in milk section. If you don’t find it in store or if you want to skip it in the recipe add milk to it in the same measurement of heavy cream in order to match its taste. the heavy cream used in this recipe is from trader joe’s.
[sam id=”1″ codes=”true”]
Ingredients
- Paneer cubes – 10
- Ginger garlic paste – ½ tsp
- Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
- Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
- Garam masala powder – ½ tsp
- Salt – to taste
- Heavy cream – ½ cup
- Milk – ½ cup
- Kasoori methi/ Dried fenugreek leaves – 1 tsp
- Butter – 1 ½ tbsp
- Chopped cilantro – 1 tbsp
Ingredients For grinding
- Onion – 1
- Tomato – 1
- Cashews – 5
[sam id=”2″ codes=”true”]
How to make Paneer butter masala with step by step images
- Chop paneer into cubes or small squares or triangles and set aside.
- Chop onions roughly. Now in a blender add chopped onion and cashews. Grind it into fine paste without adding any water. Now transfer the ground mixture in a bowl and keep it aside.
- Chop tomato roughly. Now add the chopped tomatoes in a blender and grind it into fine paste without adding water.
- Now heat butter in a pan/ kadai, add ginger garlic paste. Saute well until the raw smell goes.
- Now add the onion cashew paste to it and saute well until the raw smell goes. Make sure to keep the flame in medium and cook the paste till the raw smell is gone completely. This should take about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Now add the ground tomato paste, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and garam masala powder. Mix well and cook in medium flame until the raw smell goes and everything looks combined. Make sure to stand away as lot of spluttering will take place, so I closed it with a lid to avoid it. This should take about 5 to 8 minutes.
- Now when everything looks combined, and when the raw smell has completely gone, add kasoori methi ( always remember to crush kasoori methi in with your finger and then add it to your cooking for more flavors) and heavy cream and milk. Mix well and allow the mixture to boil for 2 to 3 minutes in low flame.
- Finally add chopped paneer cubes and mix well. Put off the flame and garnish it with chopped cilantro and few drops of heavy cream. Serve it hot!