Paneer Masala

Whenever am discussing dinner menus with my friends, the common topic will be “what curry to make for chapathi/roti”. Since everybody has become health conscious these days, chapathi has become a staple dinner food and ladies of the house are worried how to make it more interesting with different varieties of side dishes.

Having said that, I should say this dish is a perfect one for roti/chapathi and also with white rice. This recipe is adapted from malayalam women's magazine Vanitha. The title of this curry instantly caught my attention, they named it very aptly “chapathi currykal” (curries for chapathi). This is originally a butter chicken recipe and I have modified it into a paneer masala :)

You can see other Paneer recipes here


Here is the recipe…

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Paneer Masala

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Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 3 -4
Author: Maria Jose Martin

Ingredients

  • 200 gms Paneer cubes
  • 2 medium Onion (chopped)
  • 1 small Capsicum (cubed)
  • 2 small Tomato (cubed)
  • 1 tbsp Chopped Ginger
  • 1 tbsp Chopped Garlic
  • 1 tsp Chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp Pepper corns
  • 1 small piece Cinnamon
  • 3 Clove
  • 3 Cardamom
  • A pinch Jeera
  • 6 Cashew
  • 1/2 tsp Poppy seeds (optional)
  • Oil
  • Salt

Instructions

  • Soak cashew & poppy seeds in 2 tbsp hot water for 10 minutes & grind into a smooth paste. Heat oil in a pan and fry ingredients from ginger-jeera. Once it is fried, allow it to cool. Grind the cooled ingredients with 1-2 tbsp of water to a coarse paste.
  • In the same pan saute onion & capsicum till it becomes soft. Add the ground masala and combine well. When oil starts appearing, add tomato pieces and cook. When tomato becomes soft add paneer cubes, mix everything. Add 1/2 – 1 cup hot water and cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on low-medium flame. Once the gravy becomes thick add cashew paste and cook for 2 more minutes. Serve hot with roti/rice.

Notes

Suggested improvements:
Fry the paneer cubes before adding to the gravy.
Add 1 tsp of butter or ghee before adding tomatoes and in the end before adding cashew paste.
Add tomato puree instead of raw tomatoes.
Tried this recipe? Let others know by…mentioning @mariasmenu or tagging #mariasmenu
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21 thoughts on “Paneer Masala”

  1. This recipe is very Simple to follow..I tried it and it turned out very well..absolutely yummy.. I made a small change. sauted onion and then tomato along with masala and grinded.. Also I din fry paneer cubes instead soaked it in hot water for a few minutes.. It came out well.thanks for the recipe. My husband loved it..

    Reply
  2. Hello Maria,
    Yesterday I wanted to make a pander dish and I googled found a lots but the lazy me found everything complicated.then suddenly ur site struck my mind which has never disappointed me with easy tasty recipes.I was happy to find this paneer masala,while frying the no 5 ingredients I put more oil so I fried onions also in it and ground the whole thing together.it came out very good.thanks Maria.

    Reply
  3. Hi Maria!
    Your dishes are an absolute YUMM!! and actually easy to follow for people like me who are still amateurs in the kitchen :)

    i was actually looking for paneer recipes and came across this one and again found it easy! i jus wanted to know if we can substitute the raw tomatoes with tomato paste? if yes, then how many tblsps?

    Love,
    Beena

    Reply
  4. Hi Maria!

    Your dishes are an absolute YUMM!! and actually easy to follow for people like me who are still amateurs in the kitchen :)

    i was actually looking for paneer recipes and came across this one and again found it easy! i jus wanted to know if we can substitute the raw tomatoes with tomato paste? if yes, then how many tblsps?

    Love,
    Beena

    Reply
    • Hi Beena,

      Thanks a bunch dear! Though I havent tried it with tomato paste, I guess you can do it. Since readymade tomato paste tends to be stronger, you can start with 1 tbsp and then add more, after taste testing.

      Hope you could try this soon and like it too..

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply
  5. Tried this recipe and it tured out to be a great success! Thanks Maria, your recipes have made me wanting to cook more :) and even my hubby is interested in cooking now :)

    Reply
  6. Dear Maria,

    I think when you don’t fry the paneer, it tastes better, because frying causes it to become rubbery.

    Love,
    DG

    Reply
    • Hi Donna,

      You can also use paneer without frying. Some people find it raw, if paneer is not fried. So its your choice :)

      Btw,w hen you fry the paneer, be careful not to over do it. In that case it will become rubbery. It has happened to me in the past. Just fry it till it gets a golden brown color.

      Cheers
      Maria

      Reply
  7. Hi Robs & Shyla

    It’s number 5 ingredients that is to be fried and ground,sorry for the confusion. I’ve corrected the recipe also. Thanks for pointing it out.

    Reply

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