I
was finally done cooking all Paneer recipes from my recipe book for the blog. I
decided to Google ‘Paneer recipes’ and hundreds of recipes popped up, each one
similar to the other. After a bit of research, I found one that looked
interesting and different from the ones I had already cooked – the Masala
Paneer (Dhaba Style).
The
Dhaba style of cooking is higher in fat content and while I have mentioned the
quantities as mentioned in the original recipe, you may reduce the quantity of
the oil and ghee as I have.
The
gravy is chunky and rich and slightly on the sweeter side (due to the onions).
You may reduce the quantity of onions and add more chilli powder to suit your
taste. I coarsely ground the onions (unlike the other recipes where I grind it
into a fine paste). This adds to the chunkiness in the gravy.
This
one definitely goes into my recipe book. Enjoy it with some piping hot
Paranthas or Phulkas, a side of raw onions and if you can afford to, go ahead
and drizzle some ghee on the gravy just before you serve it. The gravy has the
authentic Punjabi Dhaba flavour to it. It’s spicy and sweet and very masaledar.
MASALA PANEER (DHABA STYLE)
Ingredients:
Paneer : 250-300 gms
For the marinade:
Salt – 1 tsp
Kashmiri Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Water – 2 tbsp
For the gravy:
Oil – 3 tbsp
Ghee- 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds (Jeera)
– 1 tsp
Cardamom
(crushed) – 3-4
Cinnamon – 1
inch
Cloves (crushed)
– 4-5
Onion (finely
chopped/grated/pureed) – 3 medium sized
Ginger (chopped)
– 1 inch
Garlic (crushed)
- 4-5 cloves
Chilli powder- 1
tsp
Black pepper
powder – ¼ tsp
Kasoori Methi- 1
tsp
Cumin powder – ½
tsp
Coriander powder
– ½ tsp
Garam Masala
Powder – ½ tsp
Gram Flour (Besan)/
Wheat Flour (Atta) – 1 tbsp
Coriander/Mint
leaves (chopped) – 1 tbsp
Tomatoes
(pureed) – 4 medium sized
Method:
1.
Cut paneer into cubes and sprinkle the spices on it. Add
water and give the cubes a good mix. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2.
Heat Kadai. Add oil plus 1 tbsp ghee.
3. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds, cardamom,
cinnamon and cloves. Mix for 1 min on low flame.
4. Add the chopped onions to the above mixture. Increase
flame to medium.
5. Once onions are half cooked, add the ginger and garlic
and cook until the onions turn golden.
6. To this, add chilli powder, pepper, kasoori methi,
cumin-coriander powder garam masala and besan/atta.
7. Cook all spices on low flame for 2 mins.
8. Add the mint/coriander leaves.
9. Add the pureed tomatoes and give it a good mix.
10. On low flame,
cover and cook for 3-4 mins.
11. Increase flame
to high and cook masala till it starts leaving the sides of the pan (about 6
mins).
12. Heat a separate
pan, once the pan is hot, add 1 tbsp ghee and add the paneer cubes and warm
them for a minute.
13. Add the softened
paneer cubes to the above gravy and add 1 cup water. Mix well.
14. Cover the pan
and cook for 2 mins on low flame.
15. Done.
Recipe
Notes:
· The
dish has thick gravy. Add a bit more water towards the end, if you want the
consistency of the gravy to be thin.
· If
you don’t want the gravy to be on the sweeter side, reduce the quantity of
onions to 2.
· Adding
Besan/Atta to the gravy thickens it. You may skip this step if you don’t want
your gravy to be thick/chunky but I would recommend you add it for the
authentic Dhaba ‘look’.
· While
heating the paneer, ensure that the pan is pre-heated before adding the paneer
cubes to it. This process is only to warm and soften the paneer and not to fry
or brown it.
Look what I found 15000 feet above sea level:
Lots of Cotton Candy!!!
😋
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