PANEER TAWA MASALA

Source of the recipe & acknowledgement:
http://www.ticklingpalates.com

Dear Radhika,
Thanks a lot for this lipsmacking recipe. Little changes I have made according to my taste and choice.

This is a such cottage cheese gravy which is absolutely lipsmacking. Very flavorful, delicious & fabulous gravy with tomato and cream, with grilled spicy cottage cheese, tempts anyone's attention. Grilled tasty paneer cubes, itself a very good appetizer and goes well with soft/hard drinks. Caraway seeds, carom seeds and dry fenugreek leaves give an ultimate delightful touch in it. So, enjoy this Paneer Tawa Masala!  

INGREDIENTS:
400 gm Cottage Cheese (paneer)
1/3 tsp Caraway seeds (shah jeera)
1/3 tsp Carom seeds (ajwain)
2 medium Onions (finely chopped)
4 Tomatoes (pureed)
2 tsps Ginger paste
2 tsps Garlic paste
4 Green Chillies (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
3/4 tsp Red Chilli powder
1 tbsp Coriander powder
2 tsps Chaat Masala
3/4 tsp Garam Masala
2 tbsps Dry Fenugreek Leaves (kasoori methi)
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup Milk
4 tbsps Vegetable Oil
Salt to taste

METHOD:
Make puree of tomatoes. Chop onions finely. Keep aside.

Cut cottage cheese in cubes.

In a bowl, marinate cottage cheese with 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp ginger paste, 1 tsp garlic paste, chaat masala, 2 tbsps dry fenugreek leaves, 1 tbsps oil and little salt. Mix thoroghly, so that cottage cheese cubes are coated well with the spices. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Cover a baking tray with alluminium foil. Spray little cooking oil on it.

Spread cottage cheese cubes on the foil, keep a little room between every cube.

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Bake the cottage cheese for 12-15 minutes. You can see the cottage cheese would be dried up. Keep aside. (You may also shallow fry these cubes on griddle, instead of baking, but it consumes more oil).

Now heat oil in a pan. Add caraway seeds and carom seeds. When it crackles, add onions and fry till it turns golden brown. Now add remaining ginger-garlic paste, chopped green chillies, remaining red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and garam masala to it. Saute for 2 minutes. Add tomato puree and salt in it. Fry till tomatoes leave oil from the side of the pan.

At this time add 1 cup of water in it. Mix well.

When water starts boiling, add cream in it. Fold well.

At this time add baked cottage cheese cubes in it. If the gravy is too thick, add milk in it. Fold nicely for 2-3 minutes. Remove pan from heat now.

Garnish with dry fenugreek leaves. Serve hot with rotis, naan or pulao.

 

TIPS: This grilled cottage cheese cubes also a very good snacks or appetizer. You may use this as a
         flavorful starter with any type of drink.