Nuts over Paneer...

You may call it Shahi Paneer or Malai paneer or Shahi Malai Paneer...One of my go to recipes when I am hosting vegetarians...has never failed me...whether they like Paneer or not, they have always liked this...and works well with the kukkad shukkad people as well 

Shahi Malai Paneer

Heat oil in a kadhai and add bayleaf, cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon, black pepper,cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add finely sliced onions and fry till golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes and then add chopped tomatoes + fresh tomato puree. Fry for 5-7 mins.Add coriander powder, red chili powder, kashmiri red chill powder, salt, Punjabi garam masala ,a little sugar and cook on low flame stirring continuously till oil leaves the masala. Remove from heat and let cool.

Add some water and grind the mixture in a food processor/blender. Once done, pass this mixture through a sieve and to get a smooth gravy.

Since the mixture is ground with all the khada masala it has a little bite of the spices- if you don’t want that you can use a potli to add the khada masala and remove the potli before grinding into a paste. 

Soak equal amount of almonds and cashews in warm water for about 10-15 mins and grind it into a smooth fine paste.

Add water to the sieved mixture and bring it to a boil. Lower the flame and add the almond+cashew paste.(thodi zyada not just 1-2 tbsp!!) Mix well and cook for a further 15-20 mins.

The gravy as is rich enough but you can also add fresh cream in the final 4-5 mins of cooking the gravy.

Cut paneer into desired shape and soak in hot salted water for 10 mins.

Drain and arrange paneer in the serving dish. Pour the gravy on top. Do a final tadka/tempering with desi ghee with kashmiri red chili powder.

If u fear that paneer will be kachha , pls. add it to the gravy for about 5-7 minutes in the final stage of cooking