Paneer in White Gravy sauce

Hi all, its been a while since I posted. Things have been busy at my end. Anyway, I had to make something quick but delicious on a relaxing Sunday evening. So I decided to make Roti's and this yummy side dish using Paneer as the main ingredient. 

INGREDIENTS

Paneer: 1 cup diced into cubes

Onion: 1 large chopped

Ginger-Garlic: 1 Tbsp each

Cashews : 10-12 cashews soaked in water for at least 10 minutes

Green Chillies: 3 slit

salt as required

oil and butter: 1 Tbsp each

1/2 cup cream or full fat milk

Water 1/2 cup

Spice Mix

1/2 Tsp of Fennel seeds, Jeera, Coriander seeds, pepper corns. 2-3 cloves, small piece of cinnamon stick, 1 medium bay leaf.

Paneer in White Sauce

Roasted Spice Mix Powder

Lightly Sauteed Golden Brown Paneer

MAKING

Dry roast the spices above and grind them into a coarse powder and set aside In a kadai, add butter, once melted, add in the chopped ginger and garlic , onions. and the soaked cashews Saute until it turns translucent and the raw small is gone. Take it off the gas and set aside to cool.

Grind the above mix into a nice paste using 1/2 cup full fat milk or cream.

Take the same kadai, add oil, once heated add the slit green chilies and then add in the paneer to allow it to shallow fry until light brown on the outside. Keep the gas in low flame and pour in the white sauce into it. Saute for a minute before adding in the dry roasted spice powder ( 1 Tsp), salt and required water. Allow it to cook for about 7 mins until the paneer is well mixed in with the gravy and spices.

Switch off the gas and delicious Paneer in white sauce is ready to be served with hot Rotis / Naan's or Chapathi's.

Garnish with a sprinkle of Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder on top.

TIPS/VARIATIONS 

I used full fat milk instead of cream

I also sauteed the paneer first with the green chilies before adding the gravy. You could do it the other way around as well. First add the gravy then add in the paneer.

Do not overcook the white sauce and make sure to keep the gas in low flame.

Paneer in White Sauce Gravy

Hi All, due to constraints in ingredients, had to come up with something with no tomatoes or garlic and surprisingly this one came out really well. Even though it did not have the usual "Masala" ingredients to make a typical Paneer Side, this was refreshingly mild and different. My kids absolutely loved it so, here it goes

Paneer in White Sauce Gravy

INGREDIENTS

Paneer: 1 Cup diced into medium cubes

Green Chillies: 2 slit

Onions: 1 medium chopped

Dhania seeds: 1 Tsp

Black Cardamom: 1

Star Anise: 1

Bay leaf: 1 medium

Cinnamon Stick: 1 small

Cashews: 10-15 soaked in 1/2 cup Milk

Milk: 1/2 cup or full fat 1/4th cup

Kasoori Methi: 1 Tsp crushed

Garam Masala: 1 Tsp

Butter and salt as required

Water: 1/4 cup

Black Pepper: Crushed 1/2 Tsp ( if needed)

Paneer in white Sauce Gravy

MAKING

Heat Butter in a kadai or pan. Once heated, add the Dhania seeds, Green chilli's, Star Anise, Cinnamon stick, Bay leaf and Black Cardamom. Once this mix turns aromatic, add in the chopped onions. Keep sauteing, until the onions turn translucent and the raw smell is gone. Switch off the gas, remove the cinnamon stick, bay leaf, star anise, and black cardamom and grind the rest into a fine paste using a blender.

Now heat the same pan/kadai again, add butter. Once heated, add in the onion gravy paste and saute it for a couple of minutes in low flame. 

Meanwhile, grind the cashews in milk such that the cashews has been ground fine with milk and is now a semi-liquid cashew milk. 

Once the onion gravy has been sauteed, add in the paneer cubes, cashew milk and required salt. Allow this to cook for at least 5-10 minutes in low flame with 1/4th cup water. This allows the gravy to cook into a thicker consistency. 

Finally, add 1 tsp of Garam Masala and mix it well. Switch off the gas, add in the crushed Kasoori Methi and Crushed Black Pepper (if needed).

That's t, delicious Paneer in white sauce gravy is ready. Serve it hot with Naan's or Rotis. 

TIPS/VARIATIONS

Adding Black Pepper is optional.

You could make it without onions as well. 

Fresh Cream will make it more tasty and the right consistency

I used 2% milk and it came out well

KADAI PANEER

Hi all, hope and pray that the covid situation in India becomes better and things start looking up with more vaccinations and safety protocols in place. Now, last weekend, wanted to make this popular Paneer dish, never thought it would be this complicated to make. Even though the process was tedious the end result was worth it Here it is,

KADAI PANEER

MASALA STEP 1

Dry Roast in low heat, 2 Red Chillis, 2 Tbsp Cumin, 2 Tbsp Peppercorns, 2 Tbsp Coriander seeds, 1 Tsp Methi seeds. Once cooled, grind this into a coarse powder and set it aside.

KADAI PANEER

MASALA STEP 2

Oil and Butter: 5 Tbsp

Onion: 1 medium finely chopped

Tomato: 2 medium finely chopped

Ginger-Garlic: 2 Tbsp chopped

Turmeric: 1/4 Tsp

Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder: 1-2 Tsp

Coriander-Cumin powder: 1-2 Tsp

Bayleaf : 1-2 medium

Salt as required only for Masala 2

Heat Oil and butter in a pan, once heated, add in the bay leaf, chopped onions, chopped ginger-garlic. Saute it for a few minutes until it turns golden brown. Add in the chopped tomatoes, turmeric, Red chilli powder, Cumin-Coriander powder. Saute for a few minutes with a little addition of water and salt, until the masala is well mixed and the oil starts leaving the sides. Switch off the gas.

STEP 3: PANEER-VEGGIE MIX

Paneer: cut into cubes

Onion: 1 medium diced

Tomato: 1 medium diced

Capsicum: 1 medium diced

Oil: 1 tbsp

Salt as required

In a pan, add oil. Once heated add in the diced Onions, Tomatoes, and Capsicum. Saute it for a few minutes before adding the Paneer cubes. Now add in the Dry roasted Masala 1 powder. Mix it well into the paneer mix with enough salt. Saute it for a few minutes until the paneer and veggies are well mixed with the roasted masala powder. 

Finally, add this dry paneer mix into the prepared Masala 2 gravy. Saute in low heat, until all the masala is well blended. 

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander, and delicious Kadai Paneer is ready to eat. serve it hot with Rotis' or Naans or Paratha's

TIPS/VARIATIONS

In Masala 2, you could also add Tomato puree to take away the spice.

You could dry roast the methi separately and grind it into a powder and add it along with the dry roast masala 1 into the paneer mixture.

As I mentioned, the process is tedious but well worth it.