Ingredients

STEP 1: Preparation

1. To a small grinder jar, combine red chilies, cardamoms, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cloves & cinnamon. Avoid excess cinnamon as it can affect the dish. Grind into a fine powder and set aside. 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, 1 to 2 Kashmiri dried red chilies, 2 to 3 green cardamoms, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 2 cloves, 1/4 inch cinnamon
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. Add onion & cashew nuts. Saute them on a medium high flame until the onions turns transparent or pink. 1 medium onion, sliced, 10 to 12 cashew nuts
3. Add tomatoes and saute until mushy.
1½ to 2 cups (300 grams) tomatoes.
4. Cool this completely and add to a blender jar. Blend to a smooth paste or puree. Set this aside
5. To the same pan, add oil and heat it. 1 to 1½ tablespoon oil.
6. Saute onion and capsicum on the highest flame until half done. They must be slightly tender yet crunchy 1 onion and 1½ capsicum.
7. Add paneer and toss for 1 to 2 mins. Set all these aside. Do not over-fry these. 200 to 250 grams paneer.

STEP 2 Main Steps

1. Heat the rest of the oil and saute ginger garlic paste until the raw smell goes off.
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste 2. Next transfer the ground kadai masala and saute on low to medium heat for 2 to 3 mins until it turns fragrant. Do not burn.
3. Add the ground onion tomato paste and saute for 2 mins.
4. Next add gram masala and red chili powder. Saute for another 2 mins until the masala turns fragrant ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder,
½ teaspoon garam masala.
5. Pour 1 cup water and salt. If you feel the gravy is too thick, pour ¼ to ½ cup more water. Allow it to boil until the gravy thickens and traces of oil appear on top ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt.
6. Then crush and add kasuri methi. Stir well again. Taste the gravy and add more salt or garam masala as needed. 1 teaspoon kasuri methi
7. Add the sauteed paneer, capsicum and onion.
8. Stir well & finally add ginger juliennes and coriander leaves. 1½ to 1 teaspoon ginger,
2 tablespoons coriander leaves. 9. Cover and rest for 2 mins. Transfer to a serving bowl and rest for at least 15 mins for the paneer to absorb the flavors.

Notes

1. Make sure your dried chilis are not too hot else the dish can turn out too spicy. Leave it out for kids.

2. Kadai masala is usually made of coriander seeds, red chilies, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, jeera, sauf, pepper, and a small piece of bay leaf. But coriander seeds are used in higher quantities when compared to any gram masala.

3. Kadai masala can be made using all the above-mentioned ingredients or can be substituted with any gram masala plus additional coriander seeds and dry red chilies.