Malai Paneer

Ingredients-
Serves 4

Paneer - 10 cubes of 2 inches each
Tomato Puree of 3 large tomatoes
cashew – ½ cup
Poppy seeds – 1 ½ tbs
Milk – 1 cup
Coriander powder – 1tbsp
Cumin powder- 1tsp
Aniseed/Saunf powder – 1tsp
Red chili powder – 1tsp
ginger paste – 1tsp
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Bay Leaves- 1-2
Black cardamom – 1
Green cardamom – 1
Cinnamon stick – 1 inch
turmeric powder- ½ tsp
salt to taste

Note- You can deep fry paneer cubes too. If the paneer is hard soak them in warm water after frying with pinch of salt for 5-10 min.

Method-
Soak cashew nuts and poppy seeds separately in lukewarm water for 30 min. Gind them with ½ cup milk in mixer in a smooth paste (if required u can use remaining ½ cup of milk too). If you want to make the recipe rich, you can add ¼ cup of heavy cream too.

In a pan take 1 tablespoon oil and roast the paneer cubes, keep them aside. Now in the same pan take 2 tbsp oil/ghee/butter. Add bay leaves, black cardamom, green cardamom, cinnamon stick. After approx 10 seconds, add the tomato puree. Cover it and allow it to cook till it reduces half of its size and becomes deep red in color. Now add salt and all the powdered spices one by one. Stir it well, cover the pan and cook it on medium flame till the oil starts separating from the pure. Now add the cashew-poppy seed paste/ mixer. Stir it well. If it’s too thick use some more milk. Allow it to simmer on low flame for almost 2 min. Now add the paneer cubes and cook it on medium-low flame for another 5 min. Keep it stirring from time to time to avoid it burning. Garnish it with either cream/coriander leaves and serve with rice, paratha or nan.