Paneer Butter Masala / Makhni (Cottage cheese in creamy tomato gravy)

This dish needs to no introduction in Indian cuisine. While dining in a restaurant, no special meal is complete without a paneer butter masala. I had earlier posted a healthy paneer butter masala recipe which is super for a regular dinner at home. But if you want to serve finger licking food to your guests or impress someone special, nothing beats this dish. No one will ever guess how little time you spent making this special meal, as the end product looks straight out of a gourmet restaurant! And for those chefs who fuss so much over paneer butter masala - your secret is out! :)

You need:

Paneer/ Cottage Cheese – 200 grams ( cut into triangles or cubes)

Tomato – 3 Large (should be super ripe and red)

Onion – 1 Medium (roughly chopped)

Cashew nuts – ¼ Cup

Butter – 2 Tbsp

Oil – 2 Tbsp

Kashmiri mirch/ Paprika – 1 tsp

Ginger paste – 1 Tbsp

Garlic paste – 1 Tbsp

Tomato paste – Approx. 2-3 Tbsp (superior quality organic, adjust as per taste as paste of one brand is different from another)

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

Garam Masala – ¾ tsp

Honey – 1 tsp (adjust to taste as one brand sweetness differs from another)

Kasuri methi – 1.5 tsp

Salt

1. In a pan heat a tablespoon of oil and add cashewnuts, onion and tomatoes. (put them all together). Once the tomato becomes soft and pulpy, blend it a very fine paste. Sieve through a mesh to remove all the fibre and coarse ingredients. You should now have a very smooth pulp. Keep it side.
2. In a pan, add the butter with a tbsp of oil (to avoid butter from burning). On a very slow flame, saute ginger and garlic paste till you get a nice aroma. Don't let it brown as this is done just to get rid of the raw taste and smell of the ginger, garlic.
3. Now add kashmiri mirch and stir for 3-4 sec. Don't let it brown. Add the tomato pulp from step 1 and tomato paste. Adjust the quantity of the tomato paste based on how tangy is the tomato puree prepared earlier. This is also done to get the bright red color. Cover and cook for 7-8 min, till the raw taste is gone.  
4. Now add the cardamom powder, garam masala, paneer, salt and honey. Mix well and cook for another 2-3 min.
5. Add the cream and give it a stir .
6. Crush dry roasted kasuri methi between your palms to make it into a fine powder and, add to the gravy. Switch off the flame. Serve hot!!!

* No matter how red the tomatoes are, somehow when I blend them, they turn orangish in color, so I used a fine quality tomato paste along with fresh tomatoes. This gives a nice taste and a deep red color. When you add the cream later, it gives the perfect butter masala color.

* You will have to adjust the salt, garam masala and honey as per taste since most of these ingredients vary from one brand to another. I always use home made garam masala.