Ok, now don’t look at me as if “ohh..cmon, why is she posting this. Don’t we all know how to make paneer butter masala” or “ohh..poor thing, probably she ran out of posts and that is why we have to see this!” Well, I thought about it. Even if someone doesn’t know how to make paneer butter masala, you can always search for it. I just Bing-ed for it and the results have recipes from you tube to blogs to your regular recipe sites like recipezaar and epicurious! And, no, I haven’t run out of posts, infact, i have about 6 of them in drafts waiting to be posted and AJ keeps asking me when im gonna post all of them. I just haven’t gotten around to posting them. 
Its just that, I devised this method, when i started working as i usually had the energy level for a window of half an hour or so to finish making dinner. So, because of that we had stopped eating a lot of good and our favourite food like this. Also, when i started the blog, one and a half years ago, i had never thought that it will become what it is now. I just started it to pen down some of my recipes so that i have a go-to repository whenever i needed it and also so i can share with some of my close friends and relatives. And i also noted that I haven’t posted any Indian recipes in a while as Ive been doing a lot of baking and stuff. There you go, these are the many reasons behind this post.
So, usually I make paneer butter masala, by grinding the onions with some spices, then for the tomato base, I blanch the tomatoes and grind them again with some spices. Marinate and fry the paneer, sometimes. And there is always the cashew paste that goes in with the cream. In this version, I skip all of these steps. I just grated the onion directly into the pan, added readymade tomato paste and just the cream and it still tastes as good as the original one If you don’t believe me, you can go ahead and try this!
Update : I got some questions regarding what paneer is. It is Indian cottage cheese and is available in any indian/asian grocery store. Can be substituted with extra firm tofu, but you just wont get the real taste. You can also make it at home – here a link from Jugalbandi that explains how http://jugalbandi.info/2007/07/how-to-make-paneer-cottage-cheese/
| Cubed Paneer ( Indian Cottage cheese) – 1 1/2 cups Onion – 1 medium, skin removed Garlic – 1 clove Grated Ginger – 1 tsp Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder – 1 tsp Cumin Powder – 1 tsp Kashmiri Mirch ( Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder) – 2 tsp ( this is less hot than the regular red chilli powder and also gives that nice bright red colour) Tomato Paste – 2 tsp – mixed thoroughly in a cup of water Kasuri Methi ( Dried Fenugreek Leaves) – 2 tsp Heavy Whipping Cream – 1/2 cup Salt to taste 1/2 tsp sugar Canola Oil – 1 tsp |
Heat the oil in a pan. Grate the onion and the garlic into it. Add the grated ginger as well. Let it sauté for 2 mins. Now add in the turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and kashmiri mirch and sauté for a couple more minutes. Now add the kasuri methi and the tomato paste mixed in water. Add some more water if required. When it starts to boil, add the paneer cubes. Let it cook in the gravy for a couple of minutes. Add the salt as well. In the end add the cream and sugar and mix well. Don’t let it boil after you have added the cream, just simmer for a while. And there you go, in less than about 20 minutes or so, the paneer butter masala is ready!!
{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
They look so awesome and loved your easier version ….. simple and delicious
Perfect! such a wonderful picture, make me mouth watering.
luscious bowl of paneer,love this quick version (:
I've actually never made this & it looks so good! I'm glad you posted it
I could never have enough of this. Looks so creamy n yumm. Just want to dig in.
Recipe is kind of same but ur bowl of paneer butter masala looks just marvelous. Thank u for sharing.
fabulous….very inviting!
wow! yummy!
Thanks Padma, Ann and Yasmeen!
Thanks Michael /Jessi – try this and let me know how u liked it
Thanks Poornima, Bhawna and Mahimaa
n thanks Mangala
Wow…thats a superfast method, love your idea adding grated onion and tomato paste…looks delicious
Wow looks delicious n tempting. My all time favourite
ok…how sad is this…I am now going to have to research to find out what paneer is LOL. It looks good but what is it? hahaha
thanks Gita and Pooja
Thanks Danielle – I just updated my post with what paneer is, where to get it from and how to make it at home. Hope that helps. Sorry about that. I should have put that explanation in the first place.
always a fave!
Oh the gravy looks perfect.. I post even the most ordinary dishes as long as we enjoyed them because I want to keep track of these recipes for myself as well – so don't worry about posting something that's already out there… our version, our touch sometimes need to be taken note of
Definitely an easy version and looks phenomenally good!!
This is my first preference when I go to restaurants…looks perfect dear,…:)
Thanks Richa, Laavanya, Kalai and Prathibha
@Laavanya – yeah, the little difference from our version or our touch makes it worth it
Easy indeed…looks delicious
Um…that is actually NOT what I was thinking AT ALL! I was thinking…what is this luxurious sounding dish!? I seriously want to try making this…I know I would fall head over heels for it…the paneer in all that flavor goodness…oh my goodness woman!
I have never tried cooking a PBM ever!
So there are still people who has never tried it! 
Your version sounds quick & easy!! And I love your header pic! 
Lovely dish and the pic looks absolutely tempting.
First time to your blog and find it really cool. All the recipes are great and the pics are absolutely tempting and super shots. keep it going. will be here often.
Do take a peep of my blogs when you find time.
That looks rich and creamy. Pictures are way too beautiful.
Thanks so much for sharing,sure this is going to help a lot! Looks too gud..
Love new look of ur blog! The header clicks are awesome!!
hi Manju,
hmmm…your recipe puts this dish in the 'fast to cook-good to eat' bracket 
I'll try this one for sure.Great pics.
I love paneer in any kind of preparation…But PBM seems to top my list of favourites
Enjoy the week!
TC
Picture makes me hungry!!wat a gorgeous dish!
delectable recipe dear….nice click
Gorgeous and tempting click!! makes me drool!! dish has turned out fantastic, creamy and those paneer look so soft..melt in mouth!
I love it… looks smacking!:)
Well, *some* of us do not know how to make paneer butter masala. ; D
This looks rich and dreamy. Thanks for the streamlined recipe.
awesome recipe…love to have it with veg pulao
) nice clicks!
Looks fabulous and I love this version, can't wait to try!
Looks very good.
You hgave only 6 posts in your drafts? Lucky you. I have quite a few and am beginning to wonder if they'll see the light of day.
This looks rich and delicious! I'm really glad you posted it with your shortcuts!
Wow.. wat a snap dear… Looks perfect… very tempting.. thanks for the recipe !!..
That dish looks delectable.Looks like a pic out of a posh magazine.
thanks, all you ladies!
Much easier! Looks lovely!
That looks so creamy and inviting, wish I could taste it
Lovely presentation…Paneer Butter Masala was such a standard on our lunch menus at team lunches, that I almost got sick of it…Having started making it now for my son, with less spices…Your pic actually makes me want to make and have some…
Firsty time here … Nice blog …Recipe looks super delicious & yummy …
Oh wow looks creamy and tempting……yummylicious….
Wow ! Nice resepi
this looks and sounds great – it is definitely going into my recipe files…thanks!
thanks everyone
and its always nice to see new visitors 
Paneer looks so divine with that creamy texture……delicious!!
One of my favorite Indian dishes. This would be perfect for a quick but mighty tasty mid-week dinner.
Oh I am sure there are plenty of people who don't know how to make this.
I love how creamy that gravy looks!
There are never enough recipes for a particular meal on the web. Your dish sounds delicious!
thats definitely a yummy dish
beautiful click 
This is one of my fav recipe… Looks delicious!
thank you thank you!!
Hi Superchef!
We've selected you as our Foodista Food Blog of the Day for this Friday, July 10th! Your blog for Paneer Makhani -Paneer Butter Masala will be featured on the Foodista homepage for 24 hours. This is a new feature that we recently launched and are thrilled to post your blog.
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Paneer Makhni sounds tempting!!Serves as perfect combo with rotis!!!
Drop in sometime to my blog.
This looks really really tasty, I don't often see dried methi leaves used on blogs it seems fresh leaves are used more – I can't get fresh so always used dried – it is nice to dried being used.
Heyyy…how r u doin?…Haven't seen you in a while, hope everything is fine at your end.
Thanks for the quick and delicious recipe. I read this recipe this morning & couldnt wait to try it. I made it for dinner (same day)& it was perfect… yum yum yum… I think this is one of the easiest recipe I can make when I have guest over my place. Thanks a ton.
Trupti
I made this last night, and it wsn't very good. It was waayyyyy too spicy, and just didn't have that something delicious that Indian food normally has. I followed the recipe exactly.. what could i have done wrong?
@ Heather
I am so sorry to hear that! About the spice levels, probably it might have been a little too much for you as I tend to add a little more spice when I add cream and sugar to any curry. But still I personally did not find it all that spicy.
About why it was not delicious – well, I really did rack my brains to see why it could be so, but i really couldnt find any reason. A lot of people I know have tried this recipe as is and loved it! Also remember, this is not a traditional way of making Paneer Makhani, this is just an easier way devised by me to cook when I am in a hurry. So the taste is only very similar to the traditional one but not the same!
I really hope you try making this once again with lesser spice and I hope you like it this time
Congratulations Manju.Just saw this recipe as the editors pick in NYT….