SHAHI PANEER

"Shahi" means royal. As its name suggests, this is a Mughlai royal dish made with cashews, almonds, spices, yogurt and saffron along with Paneer. It is a semi sweetened gravy, using less spices, aromatic & creamy. Here, I have prepared a white gravy, just to differentiate from other Paneer dishes. 

INGREDIENTS:
Paneer cubes - 1 cup
Tomato - 1/2
Kasuri methi - 1/2 tsp
Yogurt/Curd - 1/2 cup 
Coriander leaves - little (optional)
Ghee - 2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp 
Sugar - 1 tsp

To grind
Onion -2
Ginger - 1 inch stick
Garlic pods - 3 
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1
Fennel/Sombu - 1/2 tsp
Poppy seeds/Kasakasa - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Cashew - 5
Badam - 5 
Green chilly - 2
Saffron - 5 strands

METHOD:

1. Soak all the ingredients given to paste for few minutes, after partly dry roasting cloves, cinnamon, fennel, poppy seeds & coriander seeds. Grind to fine paste along with ginger, garlic, a green chilly, cashew, badam and saffron and keep aside.

2. In a pan, boil water, add chopped onions and close the lid. After it cools, grind to paste. Do no throw away the water, it can be used while preparing gravy. 

3. In a thick bottomed tawa, heat ghee and oil, add the onion paste and cook well until raw smell goes off.
4. Add finely chopped tomato, a slit green chilly, a pinch of salt and stir well.
5. Add the paste and cook on medium flame till oil leaves the sides.
6. Add chopped Paneer cubes, onion stock (water used for blanching onion), mix well and lower the flame and close the lid. Allow to cook for 5 minutes.

7. When the gravy is fully cooked, add whipped yogurt, sugar and kasuri methi, stir well and switch off the flame. Add coriander leaves if preferred.
8. Tasty and Semi sweetened Shahi Paneer is ready to be served with Naan, Chappathi, Roti, Rice, Pulav etc.

Note: 

• Instead of green chillies, red chilly powder can be used.
• If tangy taste of tomato is preferred, yogurt can be avoided and a whole tomato can be used.
• Tomato puree can be used along with onion paste, here chopped tomato is used to avoid colouration due to tomato, resulting a white gravy.