Shahi Paneer - Cottage Cheese cubes in rich tomato based Gravy

Time moves so fast …it seems just like yesterday that we were looking forward year 2009, and here we are well into the year with one month almost gone. But as they say “good times fly…” so in a way I am happy that time is flying away :-) . Coming back to our New Year eve’s celebrations this time around we had decided to welcome 2009 in a quiet peaceful way. Unlike the noisy and boisterous New Year countdowns we have every year we stayed at home and waited for 2009 to come. We had a sumptuous home cooked meal, which included shahi paneer, sindhi dal and lacchedaar roti. We welcomed the new year with warm doughnuts and bubbling cold drinks .

The menu for the dinner was decided on the last minute after we came back from office. So I did a quick research for the recipe of shahi paneer and finally decided on a mix of Sanjeev Kapoor’s and Tarla Dalal’s recipes. The paneer turned out soft with the gravy rich and creamy, and it tasted even better the next day. Surprisingly it did not take much time to prepare also. After dinner, I got thumbs up from hubby dear and a quick photo of the remaining dish was taken and I was instructed to blog it as soon as possible : -D

So here is my recipe for Shahi Paneer: -

Ingredients –

Cottage cheese / paneer – Approx 250 gms

Tomatoes -3,Large sized, chopped
Onion – 1 medium sized, chopped

Handful of cashew nuts and almonds, ground to fine paste – the original recipe calls only for cashew nuts, but I added some almonds too.

Ginger, garlic, chili paste – 1 ½ t sp

Tomato paste – 1 tb sp

Garam masala powder – ½ tsp

Red chili powder – ½ t sp
Turmeric powder – ½ t sp
Coriander powder – 1 t sp
Salt – as per taste
Oil – 2 tb sp
Kasoori methi / dried fenugreek leaves – 1 tsp
Coriander leaves – chopped finely for garnishing

Fry chopped onions, in oil till soft. Add ginger, garlic and chili paste, fry till its brown. Then add the tomatoes and fry for 6 to 8 minutes till they turn mushy. Cool the sautéed masala and grind to a puree add tomato paste to it along with 1/2-cup water. Now bring it to a boil and simmer on low flame.In the meanwhile cut the cottage cheese / paneer into medium size pieces. Shallow fry the paneer in oil without browning them. Keep it aside.
Now add all the dry masala to the puree .Add the cashew nut – almond paste in the puree. And cook it on low flame till the gravy is thick. Add the paneer pieces and cook till they become heated too.
I added dry roasted and crushed kasoori methi/ dried fenugreek leaves also for more flavor and aroma (this was not mentioned in the original recipes) Before serving garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with chapatti, paranthas or rice and enjoy !! :-)