Swetha's Fusion

Paneer Makhani/Butter Paneer & Chicken Makhani

Monday, April 13, 2020

Basically, the gravy I prepare is the same for Paneer Makhani, Chicken Makhani, Malai Kufta curry, Malai Jamun, Veg Makhani. Even for butter chicken only difference is, I add very little cream or no cream. In this post I will 1) focus on gravy, 2) Paneer makhani and then 3) chicken makhani. Don't forget to scroll to the end of the post for other variations and hints. I usually make a big batch of the gravy, or end up with big batch as so many ingredients are added. I freeze a portion of the gravy to make one of the other variation of the curry the week after. In other words, if you are planning for a party, you could make the gravy ahead of time and freeze it to be used the day of the party.

Ingredients for Gravy:

3 - Onions - thinly sliced
1 inch - ginger
6 - garlic cloves
1 ½ tsp - red chili powder or as per taste
4 - tomatoes (or can of tomato puree)
2 tsp - poppy seeds
5 - almonds
5 - cashew
1 inch - cinnamon piece
2 - cloves
¼ tsp - cardamom
2 tbsp - dhania / coriander powder
1 tsp - cumin powder
1 tsp - Kasoori methi
1 ½ cup - fresh cream
3 tbsp - butter/ ghee or oil
Salt – as per taste
fresh coriander leave and 2 tbsp cream for garnish

Preparing Gravy:

Soak poppy seeds in a small cup of warm water. Use very little water.
Soak Almond and remove the skin. A quick way is to microwave almond in water for a minute or so and the skin will peel off easily
In a wide pan, add a tablespoon butter or ghee and heat it on medium flame
To the butter, add crushed ginger and garlic (or paste). Fry them for a minute.
Add half of the cut onion. You could add all the cut onion, but I like some sautéed onion in my gravy.
Once the onion becomes translucent, add turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and cut tomatoes and cook until tomatoes become soft. Turn off the flame and let it cool before transferring to the blender. Note: you could use ready tomato puree.
Now in the mixer/blender, add the sautéed mixture, soaked poppy seeds along with its soaked water, almond and/or cashew. Make it into smooth paste.
Meanwhile in the same pan, heat a tablespoon of ghee
Next add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaves. Fry them for a minute
Now add the other half of the cut onion and sauté it until it becomes golden in color.
Add the ground paste to the cooked onion. Add salt and mix.
Cover the mixture and let it come to a rolling boil on a medium-low flame. Stir the gravy a few times in between to make sure that it does not stick to the base of the pan and burn.
Mix-in slightly whipped cream or low-fat yogurt. Add water if needed, to the consistency you prefer. Cover the gravy and let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
Turn off of flame. Crush Kasoori methi between your palms by rubbing and sprinkle over the gravy and mix it.
Next step is adding and cooking with the following options/variations.
Garnish with fresh cut coriander leaves and cream.
Serve hot with chapati, naan, roti, your choice of bread or rice.

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Ingredients for Paneer Makhani:

14oz – Firm paneer (cut into cubes) 400gms
½ tsp - oil, ghee or butter
¼ tsp - Red chilli powder or black pepper powder
½ tsp - herbs or savory flavor of your choice (optional). I use garlic powder, dry oregano and amchoor
Salt – as per taste

Preparing Paneer Makhani:

In a pan, heat the oil.
Add cut Paneer
Sprinkle salt, chilli/pepper powder and the savory flavor over the paneer cubes.
Roast the Paneer cubes on low flame.
Roasting paneer is optional, but I like the flavor roasted paneer brings. Besides, paneer will not crumble into smaller pieces in the gravy. Yes, it does harden a bit. If you prefer the paneer to be soft, after roasting, soak the paneer in cold water for a few minutes. Squeeze the water out and use it for the curry.
Now add paneer the prepared gravy and simmer for 5 minutes for the paneer to cook along with gravy and absorb the flavors.
Garnish and serve hot.

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In this picture, you may notice that gravy is dry, I used less cream. Basically butter chicken

Ingredients for Chicken Makhani:

1 lb – Chicken 500gms
½ tsp - fennel seeds
3 tsp - ghee, butter or oil
¼ tsp - black pepper powder
1 tsp - Red chili powder
1 tsp - turmeric powder
1 tbsp - ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp - lime juice
3 tbsp - curds / yogurt
¼ tsp - red food color (optional)
Salt – as per taste

Preparing Chicken Makhani:

To marinate chicken, cut chicken into big cubes/pieces.
After cleaning, add turmeric powder, salt, red chili powder, pepper powder and lime juice, and mix it all.
Mix in ginger-garlic paste and red food color
Finally, mix in curds, cover and let the chicken marinate for an hour or so. You may also marinate overnight (in the refrigerator) to let chicken tender and absorb the flavor.
In a nonstick pan, heat ghee.
Add marinated chicken to the pan and let it cook, covered on medium low flame.
Every few minutes flip the chicken around to let it evenly cook. Do not let the chicken burn.
Once chicken is cooked well, most of the moisture is absorbed and oil leaves the sides of the pan. [At this point, this is Spicy Chicken Roast. You may serve as an appetizer with onion slices and lemon wedges on the side]
Now add the prepared gravy over the chicken and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes for the chicken to cook along with gravy and absorb the flavors.
Garnish and serve hot.

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More Variations:

Variations - 1: Vegetable Makhani / Veg Makhanwala

Cook a combination of vegetables - Potato, carrot, string-beans, green peas, cauliflower - cut into cubes, Julianne or florets with salt. Add cooked vegetables to gravy, mix and simmer for 5 minutes.

Variations - 2: Malai Kofta curry

To make Veg-kofta, steam cook the vegetables in a pressure cooker. I use vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, bell-pepper(capsicum), cauliflower. Drain and mash the vegetables.
To the mashed vegetables, add salt, finely cut green chilies and coriander leaves, garam-masala powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and amchoor powder. Mix it all together
You may also add shredded/crumbled paneer to the mix.
Now add besan (chickpeas flour) or corn flour to bind all together.
Form small balls (kofta) of the mixture.
Deep fry the kofta in medium hot oil until golden brown in color.
In a wide serving pan, place the koftas, then carefully pour the hot gravy over the kofta. Cover and keep it for at least for an hour for the kofta to soak the gravy.
Garnish and serve hot.

Variations - 3: Jamun Malai Kofta curry

Use a ready Gulab jamun mix packet. Follow the steps to make the dough, make marble sized balls and then fry them. [ don't follow rest of the instructions on the packet to soak the jamun in sugar syrup]
Now drop the fried jamun into Makhani gravy. It will help to make the gravy less thick by adding more water or cream as the jamun will soak up the gravy. Taste better after letting the jamun in the gravy for at least 5 hours.

Note: This is an easy recipe for parties or potlucks.

Variations - 4: Vegetable-Jamun Malai Kofta curry

This is a combination of Malai Kofta curry and jamun kofta curry.
Instead of using chickpeas/corn flour in STEP 4 of Malai kofta curry, use jamun mix.
Rest of the steps are the same.

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Hints:

Instead of cream, low fat yogurt may be used.
If using the cream or yogurt, whipping it a bit helps
Extra red chili powder is needed in makhani gravy then usual curry as the cream dilutes the spicy-hot flavor.
Instead if cream or yogurt, coconut milk may be used.
Both gravy and kofta may be made ahead of time. Freeze them separately, warm them and add them together on the day of the party.
You may use cashew or almond or both. Some people don't use either for the gravy, so it is optional, but I think it adds a rich flavor to the gravy.

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Labels: Chicken, Curry, North Indian dish, Paneer, Vegetarian