Paneer masala

Paneer masala

by Hb ~ Monday, July 13, 2009

When I made chicken curry, I liked the spicy yet not so pungent flavor. I wished to make something similar for my roomy. She is a vegetarian, sigh! So I thought paneer would be the best option(After considering mushrooms and baby corn!) I have to admit that I am not really friends with paneer. I didn't get to experiment much with it.
I liked the marinade concept so much that it went in for this one too. It somehow didn't stuck to me that I have to fry paneer cubes so followed soaking paneer in all the spices and let it absorb every bit of essence method :D My north-Indian friend(Kashmiri) knows quite a few of the paneer recipes. So you will see few Kashmiri recipes here very soon.
It is paneer cubes soaked in spices and then cooked in onion-tomato based gravy.

For the marinade:
Curd - 1 cup(150ml)
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tb spoon
Garam masala - 1/2 tea spoon
Coriander powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Jeera/Cumin powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Lemon juice - 1tb spoon
Salt - 1/2 tb spoon
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tea spoon
Turmeric powder - 1big pinch

Paneer - 150gm(cubed)
Onions - 2
Tomato -2
Green chillies - 2(sliced)
Ghee - 1/2 tb spoon
Oil - 1/2 tb spoon
Cloves -2-3
Cinnamon stick - 1 tiny piece
cardamom -2
Salt - 1/2 tb spoon(adjust)
Chilli powder - 1/2 tb spoon

Coriander - for garnishing

Procedure:
1. Mix all the ingrdients under marinade section and drop the cubed paneer in the mixture. Coat the paneer pieces and set it aside for 20-30minutes.
2. In the meanwhile, fry finely chopped onions.Do not let them turn brown. Make a paste out of the fried onions. Blanch the tomatoes and puree them.
3. Heat oil+ghee in a kadai and when it is piping hot add cardamom,cinnamom and cloves. Fry them for a few seconds.
4. Now add onion mixture and green chillies and saute for 2 minutes.
5. Add the tomato puree and mix. Now cook this mixture till it turns to a nice red and doesn't appear watery. It will take 2-3minutes.You can add salt and chilli powder at this point.
6. Now add paneer pieces along with the marinade and combine.
7. Let this mixture cook for about 12-15 minutes till it forms a thick gravy. You may adjust according to desired thickness of gravy. Paneer would have been properly cooked by now.


Just curl a chapati/roti over paneer cube and savor it away!