SHAHI PANEER

Pappa was posted in Lalgarh Jattan Cantonment, Rajasthan in the 90s.  We were there for three and a half years. Every weekend, we would travel to the town at Sri Ganganagar, covering a distance of almost 20 kilometres, to dine at a restaurant called Pagoda. As far as I can recall, every visit we sat at the same table and ordered the same dishes – Naan, Tandoori Chicken and Shahi Paneer. After the waiter had served us our portions, I would scoop a generous portion of the paneer gravy onto a corner of my plate. Once I was done with my Naan, I would eat the gravy plain.

This is one of my favourite dishes but I do not make it too often as it’s too rich. The addition of cashew, onion paste and cream makes the gravy rich, thick, creamy and slightly sweet, just the way I like it. J

This dish ought to be ideally eaten with Indian Breads.

I never fry paneer cubes for any of the paneer dishes (other than Paneer Burji)  as I like them soft. But feel free to fry them if you like Paneer that way.

If you love paneer, this is a must-try dish. And most definitely tastes “restaurant-like”! J

SHAHI PANEER

Ingredients:

Paneer (cottage cheese) – 400 gms

Onions – 2 large quartered

Oil – 2tbsp

Cloves – 3

Peppercorns – 10-12 (ground)

Cinnamon – 2 (one inch)

Saffron – few strands

Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp

Bay leaf – 1

Ginger paste – 1 tsp

Garlic paste – 1 tsp

Cashews – ¼ cup

Milk- enough to submerge the cashews

Yogurt – ½ cup

Cream – ½ cup

Salt to taste

Method:

1.      Soak cashews in milk for half an hour. Grind it into a paste. Keep aside.

2.      Boil onions in ¼ cup water. Drain, cool and grind.

3.      In a pan, heat oil, add cloves, pepper, cinnamon and bay leaf and sauté.

4.      Add onion paste and sauté for 3-4 mins on low heat. (Do not increase the flame else, the onions will brown and the gravy will change colour)

5.      Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté till it loses its smell.

6.      Add cashew paste and stir it for 2 mins.

7.      Add yogurt and stir till its water gets absorbed.

8.      Add cream, then garam masala powder and salt.

9.      Add  cubes of paneer and let it cook for about 5 mins.

10. Done.

Recipe Notes:

·        Do not increase the quantity of the spices as Shahi Paneer ought to be creamy white. Too much of the spice powders will change the colour.

·        I used 200 gms of Paneer and halved the ingredients.