CaLDRON February 2014 - Valentine's Day Special | Page 56

RECIPES - LOVE BITES

Paneer Makhani
I met my spouse through shaadi.com. During our first meeting,
he told me that he craved for home cooked food since he lived
overseas for over eight years. So, when he came home to meet my
parents, I decided to cook something special for him – ‘Paneer
Makhani’. He liked this dish a lot and that was the beginning of
our love story!

Ingredients:
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 3 green cardamoms
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 inch ginger, ground to paste
• 6 garlic cloves, ground to paste
• 3 green chilies (remove stem and
slit lengthwise)
• 1 ½ cup tomato puree
• 1 tbsp kasoori methi

by Niti Agni

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Pinch of black pepper powder
½ tsp cumin powder
Salt, to taste
½ tsp garam masala
250 gm paneer, cut into small
pieces
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp fresh cream
• Some coriander leaves, chopped

Method:
1. Heat ghee and butter in a pan. Add cardamom, cinnamon and cloves to it.
Sauté for 10 seconds.
2. Reduce the flame to medium and add cumin seeds. When they start crackling, add the ginger-garlic paste. Fry for few seconds until the raw flavours
are gone.
3. Add the green chillies and the tomato puree. Stir and cover the pan with a
lid. Cook on low flame for 20 minutes.
4. Remove lid, and raise the flame to medium flame. Crush the kasoori methi
using your palms and add it to the gravy.
5. Add Kashmiri chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric, black pepper
powder, cumin powder, salt and garam masala. Cook on medium heat for
another 5 minutes.
6. Now add the paneer pieces to the gravy and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Remove from gas and let the gravy cool completely. Add 1 cup milk and
cook on low heat till the gravy starts boiling. Keep the gravy consistency as
per your requirement.
8. Just before serving, add fresh cream and garnish with coriander leaves.

56

CaLDRON February 2014