Ingredients for Shahi Paneer Recipe:

• Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) - 250 gms
• Ghee - 4 tbsp.
• Onion – 1 (chopped into strips)
• Ginger - 1/2 inch piece (chopped finely)
• Green chillies – 2 (chopped finely)
• Curd -  1/4 cup
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
• Garam masala - 1/2 tsp.
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Tomato sauce - 2 tbsp.
• Tomatoes – 4 (chopped finely)
• Cardamom – 2 (crushed)
• Cashew nuts – 10 (made into a paste)
• Salt to taste

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serving: 4-6 people

Shahi Paneer Recipe Cooking Method:

1. Cut the Paneer into medium sized cubes. Take a pan on medium heat. Add 1 tbsp ghee and fry the paneer cubes for around 3 minutes and keep it aside.
2. Heat 2 tbsp. ghee in  a pan. Add onion,ginger, green chilli and cardamom. Fry for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and cook for 7-8 minutes with the lid covered on the pan.
4. Add curd and cook for 5 more minutes.
5. Add 1/2 cup water and allow the contents to cool.
6. Blend in a blender till smooth.
7. Heat remaining ghee and add gravy.
8. To this add tomato sauce, chilli powder and garam masala.
9. Boil to get a very thick gravy.
10. Now add milk, cashew nut paste and paneer. Mix well and boil for 3-4 minutes.
11. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve the Shahi Paneer hot.

Ingredients for Mutter Paneer Recipe:

• Paneer – 250gms
• Mutter (Peas) – 1 1/4 cup
• Green chilly – 2 no
• Onion – 1 (medium)
• Tomato – 2 (medium)
• Ghee – 2 tbsp
• Butter – 1 tbsp
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Jeera (cumin) – 1tsp
• Chilly powder – 1tsp
• Poppy seeds (Khas Khas) – 1 tbsp
• Garam Masala powder – 2 tsp
• Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
• Cashew nuts – 5 no
• Kasuri methi (fenugreek leaves) – 1 tsp
• Sugar – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Food color (a pinch)
• Salt to taste
• Coriander leaves for garnish

Cooking Method for Mutter Paneer Recipe:

1. Take oil in a pan. Add onion and fry lightly.
2. Then put green chilly, ginger garlic paste, jeera, poppy seeds, kasuri methi, cashew and fry till you get aroma of poppy seeds.
3. Remove the pan from heat and add 1/2 cup of water and set aside for 30 minutes. Now grind the contents in to a paste.
4. Blanch the tomatoes in hot water, remove the skin and make puree out of it .
5. Cut the paneer into cubes and roast them with little ghee in a pan. When the paneer cubes turn light golden brown remove them from heat and set them aside in little warm water so that they stay soft and tender.
6. In the same pan in which you fried the paneer, add the paste from step 3 and sauté for 3 minutes.
7. Then add tomato puree, mix well and cook for 3 more minutes.
8. Now put chilly powder, turmeric powder, garam masala  powder, food color and butter. Mix the contents well.
9. At this stage add mutter. If you are using fresh mutter from the shell, boil them for a few minutes in water and then add them. If you are using frozen mutter, you can add them without cooking. Cook the contents till the oil begins to separate.
10. Then add 1 cup of water, sugar, salt and bring it to boil.
11. Now add paneer and cook for five more minutes and the recipe is done

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with paratha, naan, chapati, poori and any other kind of indian bread. You can also serve it as a gravy item for jeera rice and ghee rice.

As for the health benefits of Palak, we all know that it is considered a rich source of iron and calcium. In fact researchers have identified at least 13 different flavonoid compounds in spinach that function as antioxidants and as anti-cancer agents especially against Prostate and Ovarian cancers. There are many more health benefits of spinach but that's for another time. For now lets get started with the recipe.

Palak Paneer Recipe Ingredients:

• Palak (spinach) – 2 big bunches
• Paneer – 250gms
• Onion – 2 nos (medium sized; 1 whole used for puree and the other finely chopped)
• Tomatoes – 2 nos
• Coriander leaves – 1 handful
• Ginger garlic paste – 1tsp
• Green chilli – 3 nos
• Oil – 3 tbsp
• Ghee (clarified butter) – 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds (jeera) –1tsp
• Garam masala (cinnamon and clove powder) – 1/2 tsp
• Bay leaf – 1 no
• Cardamom – 1 no
• Fresh cream (Doodh malai) – 2 tbsp
• Sugar – 1 tsp
• Kasuri methi (Fenugreek) leaves – 1 tsp
• Dhaniya powder (coriander powder) –1 tsp
• Chilly powder – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Cooking Method for Palak Paneer recipe:

1. Blanch Tomato: Take a  vessel, add a liter of water bring it to boil. Put tomato and cook for 8 minutes. Take out the tomato and allow it to cool. Then remove the skin and grind it to a paste and set aside.
2. Blanch Spinach: In the same water, cook palak and coriander leaves. Add a pinch of salt so that the color of Spinach remains intact. Let it cook for 3 minutes. Remove the palak and coriander into a separate container. Set the water aside for later use.
3. Make a puree of the cooked spinach with coriander leaves in a blender.
4. Also make a puree of one medium sized onion with 3 green chillies.
5. Take another vessel or kadai on medium heat. Add oil and then when it is hot add paneer cubes. Fry for 4 minutes. Take the paneer cubes out of the vessel and soak in warm water. This ensures that the paneer stays soft and tender.
6. In the same vessel or kadai in which you fried paneer with the same oil, add jeera seeds. When it starts to crackle add one finely chopped onion. Sauté till golden brown.
7. Add onion and chilly paste and fry for 4 minutes on medium heat.
8. Then add chilly powder and coriander powder. Mix well for a minute. Add tomato puree and cook for 5 more minutes on low heat.
9. Then add palak and coriander paste and cook for 6 additional minutes.
10. Add fried paneer, salt to taste and add little water that was used for cooking the palak. Cook for 10 minutes until gravy like consistency. Add more water if needed.
11. Now add cream, kasuri methi leaves, garam masala and ghee. Mix well and cook for 3 more minutes.

Serve hot with rotis, naan or rice.

Ingredients for Paneer Butter Masala Recipe:

• Paneer: 250 gms
• Onion Paste: 1/2 cup
• Tomato Puree: 1 cup (Boil 4 tomatoes, peel the skin and then make the puree)
• Curd: 1/2 cup
• Butter: 5 tbsp
• Ghee: 2 tbsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste: 1 tbsp
• Kasoori Methi: 2 tbsp
• Cashewnut paste: 4 tbsp
• Dhania (Coriander) Powder: 1 tbsp
• Garam Masala: 1tbsp
• Cumin Powder: 1/2 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
• Chili Powder: 1-2 tbsp
• Food Color: 1 pinch
• Green Chili: 4 nos
• Sugar: 1/2 tbsp
• Cream/Malai: 2 tbsp (Optional)
• Salt to taste

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Serving: 4-6 people

Cooking Method for Paneer Butter Masala Recipe:

1. Cut the Paneer into medium sized cubes. Take a pan on medium heat. Add 2 tbsp butter and fry the paneer cubes for around 4 minutes.
2. Now take out the paneer and soak it in a container with 3 tbsp of curd. This is to make the paneer soft. Keep the paneer aside for 15 minutes.
3. In the same pan in which the paneer was fried, add the onion paste and saute for 5 minutes.
4. Add green chili, ginger garlic paste and stir for another 3 minutes.
5. Add dhania powder, turmeric, garam masala, cumin powder and chili powder. Mix well.
6. Add the tomato puree. Cook for an additional 6 minutes. Occasionally stir the mixture and if the gravy in the pan becomes too thick add some water in between.
7. Add the remaining curd and keep stirring the mixture for a couple of minutes.
8. Then add the remaining butter, kasoori methi, ghee, cashew nut paste, sugar, salt to taste and food color.
9. Now add the fried and soaked paneer cubes into the pan and mix the contents. Simmer it for 3-4 minutes.
10. Finally add the cream to the gravy. Remove the pan from the heat and keep it aside for around 15 minutes before serving.

You can serve the Paneer Butter Masala with naan, rotis, chapathis or poori. Try this recipe and let me know how it comes out.

Also don’t miss the other Paneer Recipes: Shahi Paneer Recipe, Palak Paneer Recipe and Mutter Paneer Recipe.