Paneer Lababdaar!!

 Yes!! Its been really long that I have posted any thing new...and am really sorry for the same..kids vacations had started and we went on a long and hearty trip for our holiday this time...!!It indeed was awesome..

But now am back to my base...took a while to settle back at home..and send kids back to school..And then came to my favourite place my kitchen..Started exploring new recipes again...

Had to start with my favourite ingredient Paneer (cottage cheese)..Best part of cooking paneer now is my daughter loves to eat it too...so whenever I try anything new she enjoys it the most....coming to the recipe...Lababdaar means luscious creamy and delicious....and this came out exactly like that...!!

Ingredients:

For the sauce: 

2 tomato chopped

7-8 cashew nuts

2″ piece ginger

4-5 pods garlic

2  cloves

2 green cardamom (choti elaichi)

1/2 cup water

200 gms cubed paneer

2 tbsp grated paneer

1 onion finely chopped

1 bay leaf

1cinnamon stick

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander pwd

1/4 tsp turmeric pwd

1 tsp red chili

1/2 tsp Garam masala

salt to taste

1 tsp honey

2 tbsp pure ghee

1 tsp oil

2 tsp fresh cream 

1 tsp kasuri Methi roasted and crushed

Method:

In a pan, add chopped tomato, garlic, ginger, cashew nuts, cloves & green cardamom and green chili. Cook until the tomatoes have become soft. Add 2-3 tbsp more water if needed to cook them. Once done, cool these and make a fine purée. Set it aside.

For the main dish:

Heat butter and oil in the pan ,add the asafoetida, bay leaf and cinnamon stick, sauté them for a minute. Then add chopped onions and cook until it turns golden brown.

Once it’s golden brown, add the tomato-cashew purée and mix well. Keep cooking these together until the oil separates from the purée. This will take about 7-8 mins. Next add the coriander pwd, cumin pwd,chili pwdr & turmeric pwdr. Sauté them for about 5 mins. Also add salt, honey& 1/4 cup water (if required) at this stage. Mix well and cook for another 5 mins on low flame.

Now add the cubed paneer & the grated paneer. Stir well but carefully so that the paneer cubes remain intact. Cook for 5 mins. Now, add the crushed kasuri Methi(put in a bowl and microwave to roast for 1 min), garam masala & fresh cream. Stir well and serve hot with roti or naan.