Being a hardcore non-vegetarian, I don’t even cook vegetarian dishes anymore. That’s a negative. A huge negative. Because I do realize that the body needs vegetarian food more than non-vegetarian to sustain and be healthy. But my tastebuds don’t listen to my body. Thankfully, Saloni cooks brilliant vegetarian food which keeps the balance.
So yesterday, I just realized that I hadn’t cooked Punjabi Paneer Butter Masala in ages. In fact more than 5 years. So I scouted for recipes online and my old recipe diary, and then concocted them with my own interpretation, and voila, I was happy I hadn’t lost the touch. I could still cook vegetarian!
Prep (this is the only time-consuming job, everything else is a breeze, trust me:
Chop 3 medium tomatoes and grind them into a puree.
Chop 2 medium onions, 3 garlic pods and about 1 tsp ginger, add a bit of water and grind them.
Soak about 10-12 cashews in water for half an hour (don’t soak if you don’t have time) and grind them with a little water.
The Real Deal (let’s get cooking):
In a pan, add 2 tbsp oil and 2 tsp butter.
Add the onion ginger garlic paste along with 2 bay leaves, 2 cloves, 1 black cardamom.
As soon as the onion paste starts to brown (in about 5 minutes), add 2 green chillies (slit), 1tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander powder and mix it well for a minute.
Add cashew paste. Cook for another minute.
Add tomato puree. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add half cup milk, half cup water. Boil it for 2-3 minutes.
Add 250gms paneer cubes, 2 tsp kasturi methi, 1tsp garam masala and cook for 2 minutes.
Add 2 tbsp fresh or cooking cream in the end and mix properly for a minute.
And that’s it! You may garnish it with coriander, juliennes of ginger, dollops of butter or cream. Then share the picture on instagram before you hog it, or vice versa, depends how hungry you are!
