Baked Butter Paneer

Method

1. 1

   Paneer

2. 2

   Preheat oven to 425° and line a deep baking sheet or baking dish (roughly 12x8") with nonstick parchment paper. Brush paper with a little canola oil. Put 17½ oz. hard paneer, cut into 1" cubes, into a large bowl and add 3 garlic cloves, crushed, half of one ¾" piece ginger, finely grated, and then 1 tsp. Kashmiri chile powder, 1½ tsp. fresh lemon juice, ¾ tsp. salt, ½ tsp. ground turmeric, and 5 Tbsp. plain Greek yogurt. Mix well, tip onto baking sheet, and bake 25 minutes, or until paneer is crisp and starting to blacken ever so slightly at the edges. Take baking sheet out of oven and very carefully remove parchment paper, leaving the paneer on the baking sheet.

3. 3

   Butter Sauce and Assembly

4. 4

   Add 3 Tbsp. canola oil, the remaining 3 garlic cloves, crushed, and remaining half of one ¾" piece ginger, finely grated, stir to coat the paneer in the garlicky oil, then add 1 tsp. Kashmiri chile powder, 1 tsp. garam masala, 1 tsp. ground cumin, ½ tsp. ground cardamom, ¾ tsp. salt, and 2 Tbsp. honey. Stir to mix, then tip in two 14-oz. cans chopped tomatoes, making sure the paneer is completely covered, and pop back in oven for 30 minutes.

5. 5

   Remove baking sheet from oven, stir through ⅔ cup heavy cream, crumble over 1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. kasoori methi, then stir again and pop back in oven for 10 minutes. Remove baking sheet once more, stir in a pat of butter now if you’d like, then serve straight from pan with hot naan.

Reviews