Shahi Paneer

Ground cashews and cream are emulsified into the sauce, and no whole spices go in.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (double cream), dairy (ghee), dairy (paneer), dairy (whole milk), dairy (yoghurt).

Ingredients

• 300 g Paneer, as on its own page, in cubes
• 80 g cashew nuts, soaked 30 minutes
• 400 g tomatoes, chopped
• 2 onions, chopped
• 150 ml double cream
• 3 tablespoons ghee
• 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red chilli
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 200 ml water

Method

1. GROUND CASHEWS AND CREAM ARE EMULSIFIED INTO THE SAUCE, AND NO WHOLE SPICES GO IN. Its article gives the method as EMULSIFYING tomatoes, onions, GROUND CASHEWS, ghee and cream into a smooth, rich curry, then simmering cubes of paneer in it -- and then draws the comparison itself: paneer butter masala uses WHOLE SPICES where this one does not, and this one is the sweeter of the two. So everything here is ground and blended to one texture, with nothing left in the gravy to bite on, and that smoothness is the dish rather than a refinement of it.
2. THE CASHEWS ARE SOAKED AND GROUND WITH THE GRAVY, NOT SPRINKLED ON. Half an hour in warm water, then blended in. They are the body of the sauce and they are what makes it rich without flour.
3. THE WHOLE THING IS BLENDED AND THEN PASSED. Cooked onions, tomatoes and cashews blended smooth and pushed through a sieve. Its article says smooth and that means no tomato skin and no cashew grit.
4. THE SPICES ARE ALL GROUND, WHICH ITS ARTICLE IMPLIES BY CONTRAST. Coriander, cardamom and chilli as powders. No cassia bark, no whole cardamom pods, no bay -- those belong to the other dish.
5. THE SUGAR IS DELIBERATE AND ITS ARTICLE EXPLAINS WHY. It records that shahi paneer is generally sweeter in comparison, so a teaspoon of sugar is part of the dish rather than a correction to it.
6. THE CREAM GOES IN OFF THE BOIL. A hundred and fifty millilitres stirred in with the pan barely bubbling. Boiled, it splits and the emulsion breaks.
7. THE PANEER IS SIMMERED IN IT, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SAYS. Simmered -- not fried first and not stirred in at the end. Four or five minutes at the gentlest heat.
8. IT IS THICK, AND WATER NOT MORE CREAM IS WHAT THINS IT. Two hundred millilitres of water during the cooking. More cream to loosen it just makes it heavier.
9. ITS ARTICLE NAMES ITS TWO NEIGHBOURS. Paneer butter masala and kadai paneer, both close and neither this.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes