Skip to main content

Quick Paneer Masala - 15 minute Paneer Gravy - Easy Paneer Masala

Quick Paneer Masala - this homemade restaurant style paneer masala is one of my most frequently made gravy recipes. It's perfect with chapathi, poori, nann and also for pulao varieties. Fresh tomatoes help to  make the best gravy, especially when you use red ripe tomatoes. What makes this quick paneer masala easy to make and why it calls for 15 minute gravy is because instead of pureeing the tomatoes, it's made with ground tomato paste. For paneer butter masala, we blanch the tomatoes and then made into puree. But I want to prepare a quick gravy with simple process. During the summer season, I like to prepare gravy and sambar with a shortcut.This quick paneer masala is one of the best 15 minute gravy recipes for beginners and also for busy mothers. I am actually really excited about this gravy because this paneer masala is made without any artificial colours, fresh cream. It has a delicious flavour with a smooth, creamy gravy. 

 

Tips for the best Paneer masala
  1. Use fresh ingredients. Do not use store bought ginger garlic paste and tomato paste. 
  2. I always like broken cashew nuts for gravy dishes which has the exact flavour and perfectly enhances the taste. 
  3. Allow the milk to cool before pouring it to the gravy and add little by little. If you are using thick milk reduce the quantity. If the gravy appears thin, add some more milk in the final stage. 
  4. Dried kasuri methi leaves is the best flavouring ingredient for gravies, so do not omit it. 
  5. Taste the gravy after you have added the milk and add salt and chilly powder if needed. 

Check out my other Gravy Recipes

 Here is a short video for Quick Paneer Masala



Quick Paneer Masala Recipe Details
 
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cook time : 15 minutes
Serves : 3
Category : masala / gravy
Author : Muthulakshmi Madhavakrishnan

Ingredients

  • 200 grams paneer
  • 1 onion
  • 1 green chilly
  • 4 tomato
  • 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
  • 10 to 15 cashew nuts
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cinnamon
  • 2 cloves
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp red chilly powder
  • 2 tsp garamasala powder
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp dried kasuri methi leaves
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • salt to taste

Preparation works
 
Cut the onions and grind it nicely without water and transfer it to a bowl. 
Wash the tomatoes. Grind the tomatoes without water and transfer it to a  bowl. 
Grind cashew nuts to a smooth paste. You can add milk for grinding cashew nuts. 
 


 
 
Cooking Directions
 
Take a broad kadai or pan and melt the butter and oil. Add the bay leaf, cinnamon and cloves.
 

 
Next, add the onion paste.  Saute the paste on low flame. Do not brown them.
 

After a few minutes, add the green chilly and ginger garlic paste. Stir well and saute on low heat.
 
 
Next, add the tomato paste and stir it well with the onion ginger garlic mixture.
 

 
 
Let them cook for few minutes on low flame, stir them in between. Now add the red chilly powder, salt and turmeric powder. 
 
 
After a few minutes add the garamasala powder and mix well. 
 
 
When they are mixed well with the tomato paste add the cashew nut paste. Stir it continuously.
 
 
Cook for a another few minutes and add the kasuri methi leaves. Next, add the sugar and mix them well. Now this is the time to check your seasonings. Add if anything required. 
 
 
Reduce heat to low and add the milk. Add the paneer cubes to the gravy. Mix them gently.  
 
 

If the gravy appears thick add some milk.  Boil for 2 minutes and add chopped coriander leaves and turn off the heat. Transfer it to the serving bowl. 
 

 Easy and Quick Paneer Masala is ready to serve. 
 

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mushroom Gravy With Curd - Mushroom Curd Masala

Mushroom Gravy with Curd recipe with full video and step by step pictures. This mushroom gravy preparation is little different from other gravies. As the name suggests this gravy is prepared using thick curd and the ground masala paste is made with onions, green chillies, garlic, ginger, poppy seeds, pepper and whole garam masala. The addition of whole garam masala cinnamon, cloves, fennel and cardamom makes the gravy aromatic. This gravy is a good variation from our usual kurma and masala. For this gravy there is no need for tomatoes, cashew nuts and red chilly powder.  This is a quick and easy gravy recipe with a few ingredients.  Spices - you will need bay leaf, cumin, kasuri methi leaves and coriander leaves. For the masala paste onions, ginger, garlic, green chilly, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, cardamom and poppy seeds. Poppy seeds are added to give thickness for the gravy.  In the final stage, half teaspoon garam masala powder is sprinkled for flavour but you omit it. 

Ridge Gourd Kootu - Peerkangai Kootu

Ridge gourd kootu - one of my favourite kootu dish for lunch. Naturally ridge gourd has a soft texture which is suitable for kootu dishes. Mostly we don't add onions, tomatoes and garlic for kootu dishes. For this ridge gourd kootu I have added both chana dal and moong dal. As the ridge gourd has soft texture, it gets cooked easily in a vessel so need for pressure cooking. The dals must be cooked in pressure cooker for the smoother consistency which will be perfect for kootu dishes. My Grandma gave me this idea to include both chana dal and moong dal for this kootu because ridge gourd has high water content moong dal gives thickness to it. After cooking the ridge gourd, the kootu is followed by adding the dals and the coconut paste. The coconut based kootu dishes are popular in most Tirunelveli districts. We all like any  kootu with the combination of dals and coconut small onions cumin paste. In my opinion any kootu dishes must have a mild flavours with a medium thick consi

Collection of Kuzhambu varieties for lunch

KUZHAMBU RECIPES, 20 KUZHAMBU RECIPES FOR LUNCH Kuzhambus are the foundation for a good lunch in South Indian cuisine. Although there are many rice varieties in South Indian cuisine, a bowl of rice and kuzhambu with any vegetable side dish makes our tummy happy. In this collection, I have shared many traditional Tirunelveli kuzhambu recipes. I have suggested authentic ingredients and spices in my kuzhambu recipes. If you find any spices are inconvenient, you may change according to your taste. Now let's see the collection of kuzhambu recipes here. Click on the pictures or the recipe here to view the recipe details with step by step instructions.   Collection of Kuzhambu varieties for lunch 1. Sodhi - Sodhi is one of Tirunelveli's traditional and popular kuzhambu.This kuzhambu is a special menu on the next day of marriage. A Tirunelveli wedding meal would not be complete without this Sodhi, potato poriyal and ginger chutney.  RECIPE HERE. 2. Pulikuzh

Easy Milk Sweet - Instant milk sweet with kova, condensed milk and sugar

Easy milk sweet - prepared with condensed milk, unsweetned kova, powdered sugar and ghee. You can easily prepare this milk cake within 30 minutes. Traditionally milk sweets are prepared with milk, which will take more time. We like almost any sweets based on milk products, but most of the milk sweets require some time and patience. So for a change, I planned to prepare an instant and easy milk sweet for this Diwali with unsweetened kova and condensed milk. The taste is similar to the regular milk sweet, and my son Siva enjoying it very much. Sure to become your favourite milk sweet also. To make this easy milk sweet you need unsweetened kova, condensed milk, cardamom powder, powdered sugar, chopped pistachio nuts and ghee. The  kova are sauted in ghee for a few minutes and then mixed with the condensed milk. The kova dough will look like milk halwa and when it gets thick the powdered sugar are mixed well. We have to mix the powdered sugar in two stages so that the sugar will be e

Seppankizhangu Poriyal - Taro Root (Arbi) Fry

Seppankizhangu Poriyal  - this poriyal is prepared with taro root, chilly powder, small onions cumin garlic paste and perfectly roasted in an iron kadai. The best cooking method for this taro root poriyal is to cook the taro roots in an open vessel for 10 minutes on medium heat with a good amount of water. No one likes a mushy taro root, so just keep an eye on it and check them for doneness by inserting a knife. If you cook taro roots in a pressure cooker, it will be too soft and turns mushy. For these types of roast dishes, low heat and long cooking times are important for its texture. The small onions cumin garlic paste, adds flavour to the taro roots. Roasting the taro roots in an iron kadai creates an excellent flavour and texture.   Similar recipes Vazhaikkai Thuvattal -  Raw Banana (Plantain) Stir Fry   Mithi Paavakai Poriyal - Baby Bitter Gourd Stir Fry  Vazhaikkai Poriyal - Raw Banana (Plantain) Poriyal  Brinjal (Egg Plant) Stir Fry -  Kathirikkai Poriyal  Elephant Foot Yam  St

Tirunelveli Kootanchoru - Mixed vegetables rice with dals and spices

Kootanchoru is a popular lunch dish from Tirunelveli. This is our family favourite rice and it is rich in nutrients as it contains lots of vegetables and dals. We prepare this rice frequently for special events and family get togethers.  In most of Tirunelveli dishes we use small onions, garlic, coconut and generous amount of jeera. In this dish also we have used coconut small onion paste and good amount of fresh vegetables. We add commonly used vegetables such as raw banana, brinjals, drumsticks, carrots, beans and potatoes. I have learned this recipe from my grandma. She taught me with her some useful tips and techniques about how to cook, when to add the ingredients and how to choose the correct vegetables. My son named as Tirunelveli biriyani for this rice.  Now let's see how to prepare this kootanchoru with step by step photos.   Here is a short video for Tirunelveli Kootanchoru

Mixed Vegetable Rice with Dal - One Pot Protein Rich Rice Recipe - Modern Kootanchoru

Mixed vegetable rice with step by step photos and video. Quick one pot rice within 30 minutes. Apart from kootanchoru and thuvaram paruppu sadham we make this mixed vegetable rice for weekend lunch and family get togethers.  During our childhood days, my Karthi mama makes this rice for dinner and always one of our favourite rice dishes for our whole family. During his bachelor days in Delhi, they prepared this rice frequently with whatever vegetables available in their kitchen. Making of this vegetable  rice doesn't involve any grinding or soaking and bachelor's can easily cook this rice. When it comes to any rice with dals, it must be slightly mushy with soft texture. But I do not like mushy rice, so I have reduced the amount of water. You can change it according to your preference. Allow the rice to cook on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or pressure cook for 2 whistles. Cooking time may vary depending on the quality of the rice and the pressure cooker.  To make this healthy

Collection of side dishes for lunch

Collection of side dishes for lunch Here is a collection of vegetable side dishes like thuvaram, kootu, aviyal, pachadi, puttu etc for your everyday lunch. All the dishes are very easy and healthy.

Easy Tiffin Sambar - Quick Hotel Style Tiffin Sambar for Idli, Dosa and Ven Pongal

Easy tiffin sambar with full video and step by step pictures. This tiffin sambar is a simple, easy, quick and delicious sambar for idli, dosa and ven pongal. You can easily prepare this tiffin sambar for festivals and other family occasions because it's easy and quick without any complicated steps.  This tiffin sambar includes moong dal, carrots, potato, brinjal, onions, tomato and green chilly. You can also include vegetables like capsicum, yellow pumpkin for this sambar.  I prefer to use moong dal for this sambar. When compared to moong dal, toor dal requires more time to cook so I omitted it. Instead of moong dal you can also use masoor dal .  To keep this recipe simple, I used sambar powder and there is no need for any dry  roasting and grinding works. A handful of fresh coconut is ground along with cooked tomato and sambar powder which gives a nice colour for the sambar. If you plan to prepare sambar in advance make the sambar in thin consistency because moong dal sambar thick

Wheat Rava Kichadi With Vegetables - Samba Godhuma Rava Kichadi - Healthy Breakfast

A healthy diabetic friendly kichadi recipe made with wheat rava. You can start your breakfast with a cup of this healthy kichadi as it includes carrot, green peas and beans which blend together beautifully with wheat rava. A handful of fresh green peas gives a slightly sweet taste for the kichadi.  There are two main varieties of wheat rava - medium coarse and fine coarse. Fine coarse wheat rava is my favourite for kichadi and upma dishes. Medium coarse wheat rava is perfect for sweet pongal and payasam. Both types require more time to cook when compared to regular white rava. Fine coarse wheat rava doesn't need to be roasted for this kichadi. To cook 1 cup fine coarse wheat rava you will need 3 cups of water. After preparing the kichadi you should let it stand for 15 minutes, covered and undisturbed for a perfect fluffy texture. And once you find how to cook wheat rava perfectly, you will be making it regularly for your breakfast.  Check out my other tiffin recipes here Idli Black