Check out my other popular paneer based gravies
Paneer lababdar Shahi paneer
For marination Paneer cubes 2 cups Red chili powder 1 tsp Coriander powder |dhaniya 1/2 tsp Cumin powder | jeera 1/2 tsp Tandoori masala 3/4 tsp Thick yogurt 2 tblsp Salt as needed Kasoori methi 2 pinches For the gravy Onion 4 Garlic 5 pods Cashew 10 Oil 1 tblsp Tomato puree 1/2 cup Red chili powder 1 tsp Coriander powder 1/2 tsp Cumin powder 1/2 tsp Garam masala 1 tsp Salt as needed
Bring the paneer to room temperature. In a wide bowl add the paneer, hung curd, kasoori methi, red chili powder, tandoori masala (or garam masala), salt, cumin powder and coriander powder. Mix this well and ensure the masalas are evenly coated.
Marinate this paneer for 30 minutes. You can marinate for 2-3 hours too. While marinating keep this inside the refrigerator.
Chop 2 onions finely. Take out the skin of the garlic. In a pan add 1 tblsp of oil and add in the onions, garlic and cashew nuts. Cook in a medium flame till the onions gets nicely browned. Be careful not to burn this.
Allow this to cool completely and grind this into a smooth paste. Keep this aside.
In a pan add 2 tsp of oil and add in the chopped onions (2 onions) Cook till they turn translucent.
Add in the ground paste to this. Add in the tomato puree to this.
Add the red chili powder, jeera powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, salt and mix well.
Add 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup of water to adjust the consistency. Since we have added cashew nuts and also the addition of paneer in the last will make the gravy thicken. So add water accordingly.
Boil this for few minutes in a low flame and stir this in between. Switch off the flame. Or you can either do the paneer tikka side by side. Grease a tawa and cook the marinated paneer. Alternatively you can do it in the oven. But i have no experience on cooking paneer tikka in oven. Cook this on a medium flame on all sides till you get them nicely browned.
Add the cooked paneer tikka to the masala and add the kasoori methi to the gravy. Bring this to a boil. Check for the consistency.
Add the fresh cream or milk (room temperature) to the gravy and mix well.
If you have charcoal, you can go ahead by heating the charcoal on open flame and keep it in a small bowl and put a tsp of butter on it and immediately close the pan with a lid. Keep the flame very small and cook for 5 minutes. Switch off.
If you do not have charcoal, just switch off the flame after adding the milk or cream. If using charcoal, i highly recommend to use it , just before serving the gravy. In this way it retains the smoky flavour and gives nice taste of dabha style paneer tikka masala.
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