(Shallow-fried paneer in mildly -spiced cashew butter gravy)

It is believed by some that ‘Paneer’ was introduced to Indians by the Persian and Afghani rulers.

Indians considered cows as holy beings. Thus, souring cow milk was considered an unholy practice in ancient times. However, when the Afghani rulers invaded North- India, their food found its way into Indian cuisine. This is how Paneer came to India. Today, paneer is an indispensable part of Indian cuisine. We use paneer in so many different ways and we love it in all those forms!

So, let’s make Afghani paneer today- a curry that will remind us of the history of paneer! Afghanistan produces some great nuts like almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, and cashew nuts. So, it is no surprise that cashews are used extensively while making Afghani food. This recipe also uses cashew paste. It is a royal dish… creamy, velvety, and loaded with fats. This delicious aromatic gravy can be served with naan/roti/lachha paratha. Without further ado, let us get to its recipe.

RECIPE VIDEO

Ingredients

• 250g cottage cheese/paneer

• 2 medium onions

• 6-7 garlic cloves

• 1-inch ginger

• 1 small tomato

• 2 tbsp oil

• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

• 10-15 cashews

• 1/4 cup full-cream milk

• 2 tbsp heavy cream

• 1 tsp clove powder

• 1 tsp cardamom powder

• 1 tsp black pepper powder

• 1/2 tbsp garam masala powder

• coriander leaves chopped

  
  

Method

• Cut the paneer into the desired shape.

• Shallow fry paneer using little oil till it turns golden brown. Set it aside.

• Cut the onions, tomato, ginger, garlic, and green chili roughly.

• Heat oil in a kadhai. When the oil gets hot, add butter and chuck in the chopped onions. Sauté the onions for 1-2 minutes.

• Add garlic-ginger-green chilies. Sauté for a minute.

• Add tomatoes, cashews, and milk. Mix well and let the mixture cook properly. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down.

• Transfer the mixture to a blender jar. Add cream and blend to a smooth paste.

• Transfer the mixture to the kadhai and add the shallow-fried paneer pieces to it. Start heating the mixture on a medium flame.

• Add little water and salt as per your taste. Stir it well.

• In a small tadka pan, heat some oil. When the oil gets hot, reduce the flame to low. Add pepper powder, garam masala powder, cardamom powder, and clove powder. Sauté for 10 seconds and add the tadka to the gravy. Mix well.

• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

AFGHANI PANEER IS READY TO BE SERVED!

SERVE HOT.

Notes -

• Be careful while shallow frying the paneer pieces. They get burnt easily on high flame. Keep the flame on low-medium.

• You can add raisins to this curry if you like.

• Some people like to use melon seed paste in this curry. If you like it, you can use it too(I personally don’t like it though).

• This is a thick gravy dish. So, don’t add too much water to it.

Did you make this recipe?
Kindly let me know in the comments section below, snap a pic, and tag @bitesandbokeh on INSTAGRAM.