Category: Mains

Things you need:

1. For the marinade:
   1. Paneer -3/4 cup. If making at home, milk 1.5 litres and half a lemon.
   2. Onions: 1/2 cup
   3. Green capsicum: one half
   4. Ginger garlic paste: 1 tblsp
   5. Tandoori masala: 1 tblsp
   6. Yogurt: 1 tblsp
   7. Salt
2. Butter/oil: 3 tblsp
3. Bay leaf:1
4. Cardamom pod: 1
5. To grind into paste:
   1. Tomato: 1 big
   2. Onion: 1 no
   3. Cashewnuts: 8 nos
6. Fresh coriander/kastoori methi – to garnish
7. Chilli powder (I used Kashmiri chilli) : 1 tsp
8. Fresh cream (Optional) : 1 tblsp

Method:

1. How to make homemade paneer: Boil 1.5 litres of full cream milk and add the juice of half a lemon and continue boiling till the milk completely curdles. Strain the water out of the paneer and squeeze out any excess water using any sieve cloth. Optionally add salt and pepper to the mass. Make it into a block and place heavy weight to compress it down and leave it compressed for ~20 mins. Remove the pressed paneer and refrigerate for 30 mins. Then cut into cubes. Fresh paneer is ready to use.
2. Marination: Cut into cubes onion and capsicum and add the cut paneer. Combine yogurt, tandoori masala, ginger garlic paste to them.
3. Pan fry the marinade to turn it slightly brown/cooked with little oil and keep it separately.
4. Gravy Preparation:
   1. Grind together tomato, onion and cashew nuts into a paste. Pour little oil/butter and add cardamom, bay leaf and ginger garlic paste. Saute for a minute to remove the raw smell.
   2. Add the ground paste and saute for around 4 mins to bring it into a mass.
   3. Then add chilli powder, coriander/kastoori methi and mix for a further 1 min along with required salt.
   4. Add 1.5 cups of water to the mixture which forms the gravy and simmer for 1-2 mins.