Usha Upchar » Paneer ghee roast recipe

Paneer ghee roast recipe

Recipe Categories: Appetizer - vegetarian,Veg curries /side dish for roti's,Vegetarian curries or Side dishes

Posted by Usha on May 7th, 2020

Preparation Time : 15 mins Marination Time : 30 mins Cooking Time : 15 mins Serves : 3 or 4

Panner ghee roast is a simple paneer starter prepared within minutes using simple flavourful spices and dried red chilies are first roasted in ghee and then ground to a fine paste. Paneer is marinated in a mixture of curd. Paneer Ghee Roast is a fiery red, tangy, and spicy gravy with a flavor of clarified butter or ghee in which the spices are roasted. The color of this gravy turns out to be so fiery red that one can mistakenly think that a red food color has been added to it. Actually, the use of dried red chilies imparts the beautiful red color to the Paneer Ghee Roast Gravy, this gravy absorbs the spices and gives out an excellent flavor, a great option for vegetarians to enjoy as a side dish or as an appetizer or perfect to serve with Neer dosas.

Ingredients:

For marination –

Paneer – 200 gms chopped into medium pieces

Yogurt – 2 tbs

Turmeric – 1/4 tsp

Chilly powder – 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

To fry –

Ghee – 1 1/2 tbs

Coriander – 2 tsp

Cumin – 1 tsp

Fennel – 1/4 tsp

Pepper-corns – 1/2 tsp

Fenugreek – 1/4 tsp

Byadgi or Kashmir chilies – 8 no’s

Cloves – 4 no’s

Cinnamon – 2 no’s

Garlic – 10 cloves peeled

Ginger – 1/2 inch peeled

Tamarind – a small piece

Turmeric – 1/4 tsp

For seasoning –

Onion – 1 medium chopped

Curry leaves – 1 or 2 springs

Ghee – 2 tbs

Salt to taste

Jaggery – 1 tsp (optional)

Method:

In a bowl, take the curd. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, ginger-garlic-coriander paste, and salt as per taste. Mix all the ingredients together. Add paneer cubes to the marinade mixture. Cover the bowl and let the paneer marinate for 30 minutes.

To make Ghee roast masala –

Heat a pan or kadhai on a medium flame. Dry roast the red Kashmiri chilies on the hot pan. As soon as they puff up, remove them from the pan and keep them aside.

In the same pan, heat 1 tablespoon ghee. Add cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, and black pepper. Roast them in the ghee on a medium flame till they give out an aroma. This will take around 3-4 minutes. Ensure to not burn them.

Then, add garlic cloves and roast for another 2 minutes. Remove the roasted spices on a plate.

In a mixer grinder jar, take the roasted red chilies, a small piece of tamarind, and spices. Add some water and grind them to a fine paste. Add more water if required. Keep the ground paste aside.

Making gravy –

In a pan or kadhai, heat 2 tablespoons ghee on a medium flame. Add finely chopped onion and curry leaves into the ghee, saute for 5 minutes till it becomes mildly golden brown in color. Do not brown the onions.

Add the prepared ghee roast masala. Saute it for another 4-5 minutes. When the ghee starts releasing from the sides of the pan,

add the marinated paneer along with the curd mixture. Mix it well with the masala.

Let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Add some water to get the gravy consistency.

Adjust the water content as required. Then, add some jaggery (optional) and salt as per taste. Add less salt as the marinate mixture also contains salt. Taste first and then add salt as per the need. Do not cook the gravy for too long or the paneer will get hard and rubbery. Boil it to a thick gravy inconsistency until the water is absorbed in the curry completely. Remove from the flame. Serve hot.