Paneer Lababdar | Side Dish for Chapathis / Naan ( Step by Step Pics )

 Its been a while since I posted vegetarian gravy dishes and so this post is dedicated to all my vegetarian friends and of course the non vegetarians too if they love paneer. Paneer (cottage cheese)dishes are always a big 'YES' in my family and kids love it. But I prefer making paneer from scratch at home, you can see the homemade paneer recipe here. However, store brought paneer also works fine for this gravy and its only a matter of personal preference.This gravy is not very spicy and goes well with rumali roti or butter naan or chapathis. This is a crowd pleaser recipe so you can always try this for your guests.It hardly takes any time to put together and the ingredients list is easily available at home. Do try this out and enjoy !!!

Preparation time~15 minutes
Cooking time~20 minutes
Serves ~5-6
Ingredients
paneer /ricotta cheese cubes 260 g(aprox 250g or 1/2 lb)

for masala
onion  1cup finely chopped or 1medium sized
ginger paste 2tsp
garlic paste 2tsp
turmeric powder 1/2tsp
garam masala 1 tsp
tomato 2.5 cups chopped or 3 medium sized
cumin seeds 1tsp
coriander powder/coriander crushed 1tsp
kashmiri chilly powder 1/2-3/4tsp
lemon juice 2tsp
salt to taste
oil 2tbsp
sugar a pinch

to garnish 
kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) 1tsp
coriander leaves (cilantro) chopped 1 tbsp

Method

• Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds when hot.When it crackles,add onion and saute until the onion turns slightly browned.Now,add the ginger and garlic paste.Saute again till raw smell disappears.
• Add the spice powders,turmeric powder,coriander powder,chilly powder, garam masala and salt.Saute on low flame until the raw smell disappears.
• Add in chopped tomatoes and saute until tomatoes gets cooked and is mushy.Switch off flame and wait to cool to blend.

• Add this mixture in the blender with  a little water and grind until smooth.Add the paste(reserve the blender cleaned masala water) to the same pan and saute on low medium flame.
• Cook for 2mins and then add the reserved masala water.Add in salt if required and add lemon juice(add more water as per the consistency of the gravy desired). Add salt if required and add a pinch of sugar to balance tastes.

• Add the paneer cubes and cook for a minute. Rub kasoori methi in your palm and add to the gravy.
• Finally garnish with some chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve warm with butter naan / chapathis /  rumali rotis.

Add caption

NOTES
* You can use chilly flakes instead of chilly powder.
* If you wish to make the gravy more rich then soak a tbsp of cashews in water for 2hours.Grind along with the onion tomato mixture.OR you may even add a spoon of butter or garnish with heavy cream.However,the gravy tastes delicious and is creamy without any added calories.I haven't added any of the listed.
* You can leave out kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) but my family loves it and so I add to these kind of garvy;gives a nice aroma.
* I have followed Chef Vikas Khanna's recipe and have tweaked here and there slightly.

RELATED POSTS
* Paneer Korma( Kurma)
* Mattar Paneer Curry
* Palak Paneer  Masala
* Paneer Khurchan
* Mushroom Paneer Pulao