Paneer Makhanwala Ingredients:

Ingredients: 250 gms Paneer/Cottage cheese,cut into 1" cubes 3 medium ripen Tomatoes 2 medium Onions,sliced 1 tbsp Tomato ketchup 1" Ginger,chopped 4-5 Garlic pods,chopped 12-15 cashew nuts or 1/4 cup Water melon seeds 1/2 cup Milk 1/2 cup fresh Cream(optional) 1/2 tsp home made Garam masala 1 tsp Kashmiri Red chilli powder 1 tsp Coriander powder 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds powder 1/4 Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp Kasuri methi 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds Salt to taste 1/4 tsp Sugar 2 tbsp Oil 1 tbsp Butter

Method:

Cut paneer into 1" cubes and immerse them in a bowl of warm water and cover it with lid until its usage.This process will keep the paneer pieces soft.You can even shallow fry them for a couple of minutes until they turn slight brown and then immerse in warm water. Make a cross on tomatoes and blanch them in hot water for 3-4 mins.Remove the skin and chop them roughly. Blanch the cashew nuts in the same hot water for a couple of minutes and remove them.Ignore this step if you are using water melon seeds. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry ginger and garlic pieces until slight brown,add sliced onions and fry until it is brown in color.Add a pinch of sugar while frying onion,it speeds up the caramelize process of onion.Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for a couple of minutes.Add tomato

ketchup,coriander powder,cumin seeds powder,turmeric powder and some salt and fry for a minute.Let this mixture cool a bit. Grind the onion-tomato mixture to a very fine paste adding water if required. Grind the cashews(or watermelon seeds) to a very fine paste using the same water in which it is soaked. Heat oil and 1-2 tsp butter in a kadai/pan and crackle jeera and then add the pureed onion-tomato mixture into it and fry well until the masala leaves the oil in the edges. Add the finely ground cashew mixture and mix well,let it cook for a couple of minutes.Add more water to get the right consistency. Add red chili powder,garam masala and kasuri methi(slightly roast it on pan and crush it with your hands before adding) to it and mix well. Meanwhile gently squeeze extra water from paneer pieces and keep them aside. Now add paneer pieces to the gravy and simmer for 2-3 mins.Turn off the flame and let the gravy cool a bit. Add milk to it and mix well and switch on the flame and stir in fresh cream and give a stir on low heat and boil for 2 mins.Add milk after the gravy is cooled a bit which avoids curdling the gravy.(Here I did not add cream to the gravy, I added only milk after I removed the gravy from heat) Add 1 tsp butter to it and garnish with coriander.Adding butter at the end will enhance the taste.

Punjabi Garam Masala Powder Recipe: shelf life: 1-2 months Ingredients: 5-6 3" long Cinnamon pieces 2 tbsp Cloves 6-8 Black Cardamom(Mota Elaichi) 20-25 Green Cardamom(Chota Elaichi) 2 tbsp Black Pepper Corns 3-4 Star Anise 3-4 Mace(Javithri ) 10-12 Bay leaves

2 tbsp Caraway seeds(Shahjeera) 1/2 Nutmeg(Jaiphal) 1/2" Dry Ginger(Sonth) Method:

Clean and dry all the spices in the sun for 2-3 hrs.Alternatively you can dry roast them for few minutes,but take care that you would not dry roast them for long.I usually prefer to keep them in sun instead of dry roasting the spices. You can either grate nutmeg and dry ginger or break them into tiny pieces using a pestle. Grind all the ingredients to a powder.You do not need to grind it to a very fine powder,you can keep it slightly coarse.