Paneer Lababdar
 
 
Author:
Recipe type: Entree, Lunch, Dinner
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 200 grams or 7-8 ounce paneer, cubed , fried and soaked in water for 4 hours or overnight.
  • 1 tsp of oil
  • 3 tbsp butter, divided
  • 4 cardamom
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 inch cinnamom
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • ½ onion, red onion
  • 2 tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 inch ginger, slied
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 3 tbsp melon seeds
  • 10 cashews or 15 almonds
  • 7-8 red chilies(depending on how spicy you like your curry to be)
  • ½ tsp salt
for frying
  • 1 tsp red chili pdr (red kind, degi mirch)
  • ½ tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp daniya or coriander pdr
  • ½ tsp good quality garam masala
  • ½ tsp crushed kasoori meethi
  • ⅓ cup Grated paneer
  • 2 tsp jaggery or sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
tadka or tempering
  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • ⅓ tsp cumin seeds
  • pinch of hing or asafoetida
  • ⅓ tsp red chili powder
Instructions
  1. Cube the paneer, fry in oil until it browns all sides. Put in a box which has a lid and pour water to cover it fully. Cover and leave it in the refrigerator overnight or atleast 4 hours. This step is a must for soft spongy paneer.
Spice Paste
  1. In a pan, add 1 tbsp of butter. Melt it. Add the whole spices and ginger garlic. Fry for a minute. Later add the tomatoes, melon seeds, onion, cashews or almonds, red chilies. Pour 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil for about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and grind it to a smooth paste. Set aside.
To fry
  1. In a large thick bottomed pan, add 2 tbsp of butter. add the masala paste to it. One cup water. Add red chili powder, cumin powder, daniya or coriander powder, garam masala. Mix it well with salt and bring it to a simmer for about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the jaggery, grated paneer, paneer cubes with 1 cup of the water it was soaking in. Check for salt and bring to a simmer for another 7 -10 minutes. Crush the kasoori meethi with your palms and add it to the masala.
Tadka or tempering
  1. In a small tadka pan, add the ghee, cumin seeds, chili powder and let it cook for 30 seconds, pour this in the paneer masala, cover and let it soak all the flavors in.
Serve it with naan or peas pulao.
Enjoy!
Recipe by Food Fashion Party at https://www.foodfashionparty.com/2020/11/06/paneer-lababdar/