Paneer Butter Masala

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Sometimes you have to overcome your culinary fears, and Indian food, as much as I enjoyed eating it, was always somewhat scary for me to cook. It seems (and still does) as a complex cuisine, so wide spread, interpreted differently in multiple regions, containing a million traditions, spices and methods. So naturally I was always intimidated to approach it.

How I fell in-love with Indian food

This all changed quite a bit when my good friend Shaina, told me her mother is coming to visit her from India. She came for a visit in The Netherlands and I was lucky enough to taste her amazing cooking together with my husband. We both fell in love and I decided to get out of my comfort zone! I was invited to join a workshop with Spice Trip with Paulami that gave me some good background and motivation, and on a whimp, I got a block of Paneer and asked in Amsterdam Cooks what I should do with it. I got a lot of great suggestions! But I went for this below recipe and method from my friend Manasi from Tasty Talks, a food startup in Amsterdam that brings people together over delicious meals.

Easy Peasy weeknight dinner

Funny enough, this recipe goes under the category of “easy weeknight meals”, but also under “impress my friends”. The dish itself is so easy and quick. Paired with some aromatic rice, it makes an amazing dinner. But If you have an extra hour, combine this with my incredibly soft homemade butter garlic naan recipe. Swiping up that smoky sauce with some soft butter naan is just what life is about, trust me.

How to make it

In a wide pan on medium heat, add a knob of butter and sauté onions for a few minutes until translucent, but not browning. Add garlic and ginger and give it a couple more minutes. Finally, add tomatoes and cashews and cook until the tomatoes release water and become fully soft and falling apart.

Transfer into a food processor (or use a blender stick) and process until completely smooth.

In the same pan, add some more butter, as much chili powder as you like (I use 1/2 a tsp because my kids eat it too) and garam masala spice blend. Let the flavors take over the butter for about 1 minute over medium-low heat.

Transfer the tomato onion mixture back into the pan with the spices and add 1/4 cup water.
Mix well and simmer for a few minutes. Add a bit more water if needed to loosen the texture. Taste and adjust salt and spices. Cut the Paneer into bite sized pieces of your liking and add the the sauce.

Let it heat for 5 more minutes until the paneer cubes are soft, stir gently to avoid burning of the bottom, add water when needed. be gentle to avoid the paneer from crumbling down.

Be Extra!

Ok here’s the deal, this extra step is a bit extra. But it’s brilliant and adds such an amazing smoky flavor to this dish. I am so happy Manasi showed me how tom do this!

You basically take a little heat proof dish and place a little piece of charcoal in it, after you made sure it is completely lit up.

On that add a bit of ghee or butter and a dash of this spice called Asafetida, which is widely used in the dishes and eases the stomachs ability to digest the heavy spices. But in this specific case, we will use it on the charcoal only, as it produces a really nice thick smoke. If you don’t have it (and you probably don’t..) then using a bit of butter and ghee is certainly enough!

When the smoke starts to spread, quickly cover the pan with a sealed lid, use an extra towel if needed to trap all the smoke inside.

After just a few minutes it should have stopped smoking and then we’re good to dig in! If you like, you can add some dried fenugreek leaves on top and garnish with cream and coriander.

This dish goes so well together with cumin seed rice, and some butter garlic naan! If you end up making it, please tag me on my Instagram profile, I’d love to see and hear how you liked it!