This Butter Paneer Masala is a super rich creamy dish that gets its flavour from a number of classic Indian spices (whole, dehydrated and powdered) and its creamy texture from added butter, cream, and blended cashews. The recipe involves a decent amount of ingredients but is fairly straight forward. I love this recipe because it is a great vegetarian alternative to Indian classics like butter chicken and is perfect for a dinner of lunch. It keeps really well and in the past, when I wish to prep ahead, I have made the recipe and stopped right before adding cream and paneer. When ready to eat, add cream and paneer to heated sauce and cook until done. Ways you can tweak this recipe to your taste is by adding more or less cream, including or omitting the tomato paste, or increasing the heat in the dish by adding more Kashmiri or perhaps a chili pepper before blending step. Check this recipe out if you are looking for a new Indian recipe to add to your repertoire.
Butter Paneer Masala
Ingredients
For Curry
- 2 teaspoons oil vegetable oil
- 2 green cardamoms
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
- 3-4 cloves minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 large white onion roughly chopped
- 3-4 large tomatoes roughly chopped
- 10-15 whole cashews raw
- 1 cup water
For Paneer Butter Masala
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste optional
- 250 grams paneer cut into cubes
- 2 teaspoons crushed kasuri methi dried fenugreek leaves
- chopped cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- In a medium bottom pan add oil green cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cloves. Sauté for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add ginger paste, garlic paste and onion.
- Sauté for about 3 minute until onion is translucent.
- Add your chopped tomatoes and cashews, cover and let simmer on low for 20 minutes adding a tablespoon of water if the pan starts drying up.
- After 20 minutes, remove whole spices, bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cloves but leave cardamom pods.
- Let mixture cool down slightly then transfer to blender and blend until extremely smooth adding 1 cup of water to assist with blending.
- In the same pan add 2 tablespoons of butter and add kashmiri red chili powder and fry for about 20 seconds.
- Add your blended sauce, tomato paste (if using), sugar, salt to taste and garam masala.
- Cook for 2 minutes, add in cream and mix.
- Add in your cubed paneer and cook for an addition 3 minutes.
- Serve in dish, garnish with cilantro and serve with naan or rice.
