Paneer Butter Masala- Restaurant Style Paneer Butter Masala or Paneer Makhani | Dry Butter Paneer Masala

Paneer which is also known as cottage cheese is an ingredient which is very bland so it becomes very easy to give it nice flavours. Also, if you’re new to cooking and would like to try something Indian, I would highly recommend this recipe since it is very simple and doesn’t require any major skills.

I am soon gonna add more of our Indian cuisine and I am also very keen on adding some French bakes but that could only be possible once I get a new oven. So till then, enjoy this recipe 🙂 

• Paneer/ Cottage cheese- 120g/ 1 cup (cubed)
• Tomato puree- 1 cup  OR  Tomatoes (roughly chopped)- 2
• Onion- 2 medium sized (1- roughly chopped; 1- thinly sliced)
• Garlic- 1 tsp (finely chopped)
• Ginger- 1 tsp (finely chopped)
• Milk- 3/4 cup
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Salt- according to taste
• Butter- 2 tbsp
• Malai/ Fresh cream- 2 tbsp
• Olive oil- 2 tbsp
• Garam masala powder- 1/2 tsp
• Red chilli powder- 1 tsp
• Paprika/ Degi mirch- 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Black pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1/2 tsp
• Coriander leaves- finely chopped 

• Take a pan, add in olive oil and then add in garlic and sauté it until it turns translucent in colour. Then, add in ginger and sauté that too. 
• Then, add in some roughly chopped onion and sauté that until translucent in colour. After that, add in 1/2 tsp of paprika/ degi mirch, 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder. Mix it well. The, add in tomato puree or chopped tomatoes.
• Keep stirring the tomatoes and cook them for 2 minutes while stirring. After that, stop stirring the tomatoes and let them cook for another minute or so.
• Once the tomatoes are all cooked and all the water has evaporated, transfer them to a blender and blend them with 4 tbsp of milk.
• The paste formed after blending should be very thick like that shown in the video. Meanwhile, roast the paneer on the same pan because the pan would be greasy and that will make the paneer golden brown and crispy. Toss the paneer in the pan so that it roasts evenly. Roasting the paneer is optional but it helps prevent breaking of the paneer and enhances the taste. Roast the paneer and keep it aside.
• Then, take the same pan, add in butter, cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp paprika/ degi mirch, 1/2 tsp garam masala powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper powder, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Also, adding the spices to the butter enhances the colour of the curry. Stir all the spices well.
•  Add in sliced onions and sauté them in the butter. Then, add in the tomato paste we made earlier. I added some milk to the blender so that any paste stuck on it gets dissolved in the milk and then added it to the pan.
• Stir it well and cook the gravy until it is starts to develop an orangish colour tone. Then, add in salt and 1/2 cup of milk. Cook it with the milk for another minute and add in malai/ fresh cream. Cook for a minute or so.
• Finally add chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.