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> > The first dish that comes to my mind on listening paneer is Shahi Paneer ,i.e. “Royal Cottage Cheese”.
> This is one of the tastiest ,richest and delicious savoury.It’s an easy to follow recipe.The main ingredient is paneer ,so i prefer the home-made paneer ,which is softer and of the exact texture as desired for this dish.
> The store bought is usually very tight and needs thawing before the preparation.Here is the link for my home-made paneer :home-made paneer
>

Ingredients:
1. Paneer (cottage cheese) – 250 gm.For this quantity we need 1 litre of milk approx.
2. Heavy whipping Cream or malai – 4 tbsp
3. Finely chopped onions – 1 cup
4. Finely chopped tomatoes- half cup
5. Tomato puree – half cup (optional)
6. salt -1 tsp
7. red chilli powder – ¹⁄₂ tsp.
8. coriander powder(dhania) – 1 tsp
9. fennel powder(saunf) – 1 tsp
10. turmeric powder ( haldi) – ¹⁄₄ tsp
11. cumin seeds(jeera)- ¹⁄₂ tsp
12. vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
13. asafoetida (hing) – a pinch
14. Grated ginger – 1 tsp (optional)
15. cilantro or coriander leaves (dhaniya) – for garnishing

Method:
1. Take a wok or a pan.Add cooking oil and heat it.

1. When the oil is hot, add jeera and hing and let them cook for 1 min.

2. Now add the onion paste ,grated ginger and saute them on medium heat.

3. Once the onions have changed their colour to dark pink , add tomato paste and puree and saute them.For adding more richness and colour to the gravy,we can grind the onions roasted paste in the mixer and then add pureed tomatoes to the wok.
   

4. At this point you may add the turmeric,dhaniya and saunf powder to the gravy. Let the spices blend well in the mixture.I usually use less turmeric in this gravy to bring the orangish yellow colour to the curry.

5. Now add the paneer ,cut in cubes.

6. Once the paneer is swelled up ,then add the whipping cream little by little and keep stirring constantly.Always use fresh cream and continue stirring ,else the cream might get curdled .Hence we will add salt and red chilli powder in the end to avoid curdling of cream in the gravy.

7. Once the cream is finely blended in the gravy add,salt and red chilli powder to the curry.

8. Add some water to maintain the consistency you desire. I sometimes avoid water.

9. Cover it let it cook for 3-5 mins.
   

10. Garnish it with cilantro and its ready to serve.