Paneer Tikka Masala Gravy Recipe

Marinating Paneer Prep Time – 21 Minutes

1. Ingredients for Paneer marination should now be ready.
   
2. Add Paneer, Capsicum, Tomato and Onion in a bowl. Now add Ginger, Garlic and all spices designated for marination. Mix well.
   
3. Add lemon juice, 2 Tsp Oil and curd yogurt. Mix well. Make sure that you use thick curd for best results.
   
4. Keep it aside for 20 minutes.
5. After 20 minutes of marination, lets start with making Paneer Tikka.

Making Paneer Tikka Cook time – 10 minutes

1. Paneer Tikka is basically made with exposing the Paneer pieces to direct fire heat on a grill. You can use that method as well if you have the set up.

   We are using a slightly different method of shallow frying the Paneer pieces.
   

2. Take a pan, add 2 Tbsp Oil and heat it on high flame for 2 minutes.
3. We mostly use Olive for our recipes as it is considered healthy for heart. It is also good for people who have high cholesterol problem. You can use any other cooking Oil as you desire.

   Once Oil is hot, Turn the flame on medium and add the marinated Paneer including vegetables pieces in the pan.

   The idea is to roast each piece of Paneer and vegetable just like we do while grilling. Hence, it is advisable to pick a single piece either Paneer or a veggie at a time and add it to the pan. Just fill up the space you have and do not overload the pan.

   You can use a second iteration in case your pan is not big enough to hold all the pieces together in one attempt.

4. The fragrance of roasted vegetables and spices is just awesome. Our cooking stove is electric. Follow the same instructions for high / medium/ low flames even if you use the Indian style direct fire flame stove.

5. Let it roast/shallow-fry on medium flame for 1 minute and then turn the flame on high.
   
   Let it cook until Paneer and vegetables turn light golden brown in color.
6. You would need to flip or turn over the pieces once they turn golden brown from one side. Keep an eye to avoid burning.

   Once you see the colors on both sides, switch off the stove and take it our in a bowl. We will use it later. Lets move on to making Gravy now.

Making Paneer Tikka Masala Gravy Cook time – 10 Minutes

1. Ingredients for Gravy.
   
2. Take a frying pan big enough to hold all the ingredients together. Add 2 tbsp of Oil and heat it on high flame for 3 minutes.
   
3. Once Oil is hot, add Cinnamon, Cardamom and Cloves and roast for 1 minute.

4. Whole spices add a unique flavor and essence to any dish. You can avoid them, if you don’t have them readily available.

5. Now add Tomato Puree and Green chili. Mix well and let it cook for 1 minute.
6. During this 1 minute of idle time, take a separate bowl to dilute CornFlour in 1 Tbsp of water. Keep it aside.
7. After 1 minute, turn the stove to medium flame. Add Tomato sweet Sauce, Kasoori Methi, roasted Cumin powder, dry Ginger powder, Salt, diluted CornFlour and mix well again. Let it cook on medium flame for 1 minute.
   
8. After 1 minute, add cream or Malai and Paneer Tikka. Mix well.
   
9. Now add Coriander leaves and Chat masala.
   

10. Chat masala is optional, if you want to skip it. It gives it a bit of chatpata (tangy) flavor.

11. Switch Off the stove. The delicious and rich Paneer Tikka Masala is ready to serve.