Paneer Makhani Recipe (Easy & Tasty)
Paneer Makhani entails succulent cubes of cottage cheese, expertly cooked and immersed in a velvety sauce crafted from tomatoes and cream. This luxuriously textured sauce is delicately seasoned, boasting a subtle interplay of tanginess and sweetness.
Ingredients
- 200 grams Paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
- 250 grams tomatoes or 4 to 5 medium-sized
- 2 to 3 tablespoons light cream (low fat 25%) or whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste or ½ inch ginger + 3 to 4 small garlic crushed to paste in a mortar
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or kashmiri red chilli powder or cayenne pepper or paprika
- 1 to 2 green chillies slit or sliced
- ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala or tandoori masala powder
- ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar – add as required
- ½ to 1 inch ginger – julienned
- ½ teaspoon dry fenugreek leaves – kasuri methi, crushed
- 1.5 cups water
- salt as required
Instructions
Making Tomato Puree
- First rinse and chop the tomatoes. Use the tomatoes that are ripe with a sweet tangy taste and not overly sour.
- In a blender or grinder make a smooth puree of the chopped tomatoes. No need to add any water while blending the tomatoes.
- Keep the tomato puree aside.
Making Paneer Makhani
- Melt butter in a pan. First add the tej patta (Indian bay leaf) and saute for a few seconds till aromatic.
- Then add the crushed ginger-garlic paste and saute for a few seconds or till the raw aroma of the ginger-garlic goes away.
- Add the tomato puree and stir well.
- Now add the red chili powder and saute this mixture till the fat begins to leave the side of the tomato paste. Takes about 14 to 15 on a low heat. Keep on stirring often.
- When you see the tomato mixture clumping together and the fat leaving the sides, then add water.
- Stir and simmer till the gravy or sauce thickens a bit. Takes about 7 to 8 minutes on a low flame.
- Then add the slit green chilies and ginger julienne. Stir and simmer for a minute.
- Add sugar, salt as required and crushed kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves).
- Stir and then add the paneer cubes.
- Mix gently and switch off the heat. No need to cook the paneer as then they can get hard or chewy and won't taste good.
- Lastly add cream and gently stir. Switch off the flame and then sprinkle with garam masala. Give a gentle stir again.
- Serve the paneer makhani with roti, naan, paratha or jeera rice or saffron rice or biryani rice or plain steamed basmati rice.
Nutrition
Calories: 314kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 10gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 475mgPotassium: 221mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 1130IUVitamin C: 13mgCalcium: 343mgIron: 1mg
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