Creamy, buttery and a flavour bomb in your mouth! This authentic paneer butter masala recipe is a wonderful vegetarian Indian side dish filled with aromatic spices enveloped around mild and milky cottage cheese.
Heat a deep fry pan in medium heat and add 3 tbsp butter. As it starts to melt, add the chopped onion and sauté until it is translucent.
Add chopped garlic and grated ginger and fry until fragrant.
Add cashews and fry for about 2 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and sauté for 1 minute. Turn the heat on low, put the lid on and let it simmer for 3 minutes.
Turn the heat off and let the gravy cool down.
Place the gravy in a blender and puree.
Paneer Butter Masala
Heat the deep fry pan again and add 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of oil.
Add the whole spices; bay leaf, cinnamon stick, green cardamom pods and cloves. Sauté until fragrant and when it starts to crackle.
Add the pureed butter masala gravy and stir.
Add the ground spices; coriander, red chilli, garam masala, sugar, turmeric and salt to taste. Stir for about 2 minutes.
Add the tomato paste. Keep stirring for 2 minutes.
Slowly add some water to the gravy to the consistency you like.
Then add the paneer cubes and 3 tbsp of cream. Gently stir until it is all covered. Place the lid on the fry pan and allow it to simmer on low heat for about 4 minutes.
When done, remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaf.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
Notes
If you don’t want so much dairy in your dish or are not a fan of paneer, you can replace it with firm tofu. If you get firm tofu submerged in water, be sure to try and get rid of the excess water, or the butter masala will be too watery. Place tofu on paper towels and place something heavy on top to press it down. Leave it for 30 minutes.
For a vegan option, substitute butter and cream with a vegan version. You can also use cashew cream if you want a more natural and organic version.
Dried fenugreek leaves are probably the trickiest of all the whole and ground spices in this recipe. The closest substitute would be celery leaves as they both have a slightly bitter taste.