An easy and restaurant style main course dish, very close to my heart – Paneer Butter Masala. When I say easy, yes! it means minimum ingredients and full of flavours; this dish exemplifies that. Paneer or Cottage cheese is relished by all, and for vegetarian people in India, it’s a king of all dishes, my Jugnu sometimes calls out: it’s a vegetarian butter chicken, haha! and it somehow tastes like that too, so his humour does have some sense. 🙂
Thanks again to Kunal Kapoor for sharing this amazing recipe which is so simple, I have shared a link to his youtube video. I did a few Jugni(healthier options) changes by replacing cream with milk and butter with oil (Although I added a lil amount of butter, just couldn’t resist).
Ingredients for Paneer Butter Masala
1. 150 gms paneer
2. One chopped onion
3. 2 chopped tomatoes
4. 1 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp butter
5. 1/2 tbsp chopped ginger and garlic each
6. 1/2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
7. Salt as per taste (1 tbsp)
8. 1 tsp kasuri methi
9. Coriander leaves for garnish
10. 1 cup milk ( or you can use 1/2 cup cream to get richer flavor)
11. Magic ingredients – one bay leaf and one chopped green chilli
Preparation Paneer Butter Masala
1. Heat oil + butter in a pan.
2. Add onion, bay leaf and let the onion go brown.
3. Then add chopped ginger, garlic, green chilli and saute it for 45 seconds.
4. Then add Kashmiri chilli powder, saute it for another 15-20 seconds, and add tomatoes in the mixture.
5. Add salt and put the gas on low medium flame, and let the mixture cook for 15-17 mins ( it will turn brownish and might look bad, but don’t worry, we’ll fix it).
6. Add paneer cubes and stir it for 30 seconds.
7. Add milk and let it blend with the mixture. Wait for a minute and then add kasuri methi. (Jugni’s tip – you can also add cream to make it richer, but milk is a healthier version and it tastes exactly the same).
8. Switch the gas off and garnish it with coriander leaves.
You can enjoy this Paneer Butter Masala with roti, naan, white rice or just have it like that, Jugnu says its finger licking good!
After having an amazing Paneer rich meal, Jugnu and I sip ginger tea (which is our favourite) to digest. Give it a try if you like :).
There are a lot of Paneer dishes but the day I learnt this recipe, it became my favourite for two reasons: easy to make and amazingly delicious.
Let me know if you like this recipe, by hitting the thumbs up button, also share it with your loved ones. 🙂
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