Paneer makhani is a slightly sweet creamy dish of Paneer. The makhani gravy or sauce is usually made up of pureed tomatoes, ginger, garlic, red chili powder and cream. It is very similar to the sauce used for Paneer Butter Masala and Paneer Makhanwala (both of which have an additional ingredient of butter, as their name suggests), infact sometimes the names can be used inter-changeably.
In my recipe, the flavors of this dish are more in line with home style than restaurant style recipe as I have made it healthy by skipping the cream and using milk instead as well as skipping cashew nuts. If making for a party, or otherwise, feel free to use cream and cashew nuts if you are up for the additional calories! Over the years, I have consulted various websites and compiled a recipe which works best for me, so here goes:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- Paneer (cottage cheese) 200 grams
- Oil 4 tablespoons (to make it healthy, I use Olive Oil.)
- 4 Green Cardamoms
- 6 Cloves
- 2 inch Cinnamon Stick
- 7 Garlic Cloves – grated
- 1 1/2 inch Ginger – grated
- 2 medium size Green Chilies – chopped
- 4 medium sized ripe red Tomatoes – pureed
- 4 teaspoons canned Tomato Puree
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric (Haldi)
- 1/2 teaspoon Coriander Powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 2 teaspoons Dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasoori methi)
- 3 teaspoons Honey
- Skimmed milk 2 cups
- Fresh coriander leaves chopped for garnish
Method:
- Cut the paneer into 1 inch cubes.
- Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add green cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, garlic and ginger, and sauté till fragrant.
- Add green chillies and continue to sauté.
- In a separate non-stick pan, cook the tomato puree (both fresh puree and canned puree together) with little salt, till it reduces slightly. Add this to the ginger-garlic masala and continue cooking.
- Add salt, red chili powder, garam masala powder, haldi, dhaniya powder along with kasoori methi, honey, milk and mix well.
- Heat some oil in a grill pan and place the paneer slices on it. Grill slightly till all sides are golden.
- Once the paneer pieces are well grilled, take them off the pan and add these cubes to the gravy and mix.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and your dish is ready to serve!
This dish is best served with Roti, Naan, Kulcha or Parathas, as well as Simple Basmati Rice or Jeera (cumin) Rice. Enjoy and do let me know how you liked it 🙂 I would love to hear!!
raindropstosunshine 
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