Total cooking time | 40 minutes |
Level | Difficult |
Number of servings | 5 |
Kadai paneer is an excellent side dish for butter naan, garlic naan, lachcha parathas, chapatis and special rice. Paneer is one of my favorite dish and I love preparing and trying out different recipes with it. Bored of having rice on a daily basis, I planned to have chapati last night. But was confused about the best combination vegetarian curry to make along with chapatis. That is when the paneer came to my mind and I ordered a paneer packet from my nearby store.
So, today I will be sharing the recipe of kadai paneer. Kadai paneer is very easy to prepare. We are preparing the ground masala powder by dry roasting coriander seeds, dry red chilli and other ingredients. Dry roasting is the process of heating all the mentioned ingredients in a kadai without using oil. Once the ingredients are roasted, they are then kept for cooling. Once cooled, we can blend them using a blender.
We need to saute the onion, tomatoes snd cashewnuts in oil. They are then blended in mixer to form a fine puree. This puree forms the base of our kadai paneer. They are added to the fried onion and capsicum along with ground masala powder. Cook the curry for 5 to 6 minutes and after sometime the colour of curry changes.
Paneer is basically Indian cottage cheese. In this recipe, paneer is cooked with bell peppers along with freshly prepared spicy ground masala. Kadai paneer can be found in almost all the menu cards of Indian restaurants. It is better to soak the store bought paneer in warm water for 20 minutes before the cooking.
Adding fresh cream and kasuri methi to this curry provides an additional flavour, which makes us to clean up the plate within minutes. Honestly saying, it is one of the best paneer recipe which you can easily try at your home.
Ingredients
1. To prepare ground masala powder
Whole coriander seeds – 3 tsp
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Cloves – 2
Cardamom – 2
Black pepper – 1 tsp
Kashmiri chilli – 3
2. To prepare gravy for Kadai paneer
Oil – 2 tablespoon
Butter – 1 tablespoon
Chopped onions – 2 + 1
Chopped tomatoes – 2
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Cashew nut – 10
Paneer – 200 g
Capsicum, chopped in cubes – 1
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder – 1 tsp
Fresh cream – 3 tbsp
Coriander leaves, chopped – 1 tsp
Green chilli – 1
Kasuri methi – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1/2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Method of preparation
Heat a pan or kadai and dry roast all the ingredients mentioned under (1) for 2 to 3 minutes in low flame
Transfer the dry roasted ingredients to a bowl and allow it to cool
Now heat oil in the same kadai and add 2 chopped onions
Saute for 3 minutes and then add ginger garlic paste to it
Now add chopped tomatoes and salt and cook till the tomatoes becomes soft
Add cashew nuts and saute everything well
Switch off the flame
Blend the dry roasted ingredients to fine powder and keep it aside
Blend the onion tomato mix, such that it forms a puree
Heat butter in a kadai and add green chilli and kasuri methi
Add onion and capsicum and saute for 2 minutes
Then add turmeric powder and Kashmiri chilli powder
Add tomato- onion puree and mix well
Now add the prepared ground masala powder and sufficient salt
Cook for 5 minutes till the oil gets released from all sides
Add 1/4 cup of water as per your required consistency
Add paneer cubes followed by fresh cream and sugar
Cover and cook for 5 more minutes
Mix well and garnish the curry with coriander leaves
Serve hot with naan, parathas, chapatis, etc.