Butter Tofu Masala - without onion and garlic

Well, I was stumped when I heard of this recipe. My sister-in-law's mother had made this for us when we visited her for lunch and I don't think we would've realized if it had not been for her telling us. This butter tofu/panneer masala uses bottle gourd in place of onion and garlic in the traditional recipe.

I did refer this recipe. That blog is worth bookmarking and following as it has really interesting, unique recipes.

Ingredients :

1. 200g tofu cut into cubes - you could use panneer
2. 1 small capsicum cut into cubes of similar size as panneer/tofu
3. 4 medium sized tomatoes
4. 1 tsp cumin seeds
5. 1 tsp oil
6. 1 tsp kasuri methi
7. 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
8. 1/2 tsp cumin powder
9. 1/2 tsp coriander powder
10. Salt to taste
11. 1/2 a bottle gourd grated
12. 1 inch piece of ginger
13. 1/4 cup cashew nuts
14. 1 tsp kasuri methi
15. 2 green chillies
16. 1tsp oil
17. 1 tsp powder made by dry roasting the following 
1. Cinnamon Stick 1 inch
2. Cloves 4
3. Cumin 1/2 tsp
4. Coriander seeds 1.5 tsp
5. Pepper Corn 2 tsp

How I made it :

1. Dry roast the ingredients under 17 and grind them into a fine powder
2. Blanch the tomatoes by immersing in water and bringing to a boil until the skin gets all wrinkled. Drain water and keep aside.
3. In a pan heat oil from step 16.
4. Add the ginger.
5. Add green chillies and kasuri methi. Fry for a minute.
6. Add the cashew nuts.
7. Fry for about 3-4 minutes till the cashews brown.
8. Add the grated bottle gourd. 
9. Fry for about 5 minutes on low. 
10. Cool this mix. Add the tomatoes.
11. Grind to a fine paste.
12. Heat 1 tsp oil from 5. 
13. Add cumin seeds and 1 tsp kasuri method. Fry for a minute.
14. Put in the capsicum
15. Fry till almost done and then put in the tofu cubes and toss till covered. The intention is to stiffen the cubes with little coloration.
16. Put in the ground paste.
17. Add the red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and adjust salt.
18. Fry on low, covered, for 10 minutes. Mix in between.
19. Add garam masala, fry for 30 seconds and cover. 
20. Serve hot with rotis.

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Mom's butter panneer recipe with Methi Rotis

After all my cooking experiments, I wanted to make something the way my mom makes it. All this, only because, I really did not get to eat much of mom made food when I was at home this last time. Butter panneer used to be one of my favorites - absolutely yummy with rotis and sindhi papad. Without any further delay, here goes the recipe

Ingredients (serves 2) : 

1. 200 grams of panneer - cut into cubes
2. 1 large onion - roughly chopped
3. 1 inch stick of cinnamon
4. 3 cloves
5. 3 medium tomatoes - chopped {the key is to have the same quantity of tomato as there is onion, so adjust accordingly}
6. 15 pieces whole cashew
7. 1 tbsp khus khus - add 1 more tbsp of cashew if you do not have khus khus. Khus Khus is also known as poppy seeds. Images of khus khus
8. 1 tsp red chilli powder
9. a pinch of kasuri methi
10. salt to taste
11. water
12. 3.5 tbsp of oil
13. ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
14. garlic - 6 cloves
15. Milk for getting desired consistency

How I made it :
1. Soak the khus khus and cashew in a small quantity of water, enough to at least cover the khus khus and cashew. Heat up the water - a minute in the microwave. Watch the time as the water could over spill.

2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add the onions. Fry till golden brown. Add the ginger and garlic. Fry for a minute and set aside to cool.

3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add the tomatoes and red chilli powder. Fry till fat separates and set aside to cool.

4. Once cooled, add the tomato mix, onion mix and the khus khus and cashew along with the water in which they are soaking into the food processor and blend till smooth.
5. Heat a little oil and lightly fry the panneer pieces till they get a golden tinge on all sides. This step can be skipped if you are sure about the panneer. I had tried heritage panneer for the first time and hence did not want to risk it.
6.Heat 1 tbsp oil. Add the cloves and cinnamon. Put in the kasuri methi. Fry for a minute. Put in the blended mixture. Add salt. Let it bubble away (cover with lid, else your kitchen will be an absolute mess). Make sure to stir as the cashew paste will make it stick. After about 5 minutes, add some milk till you get the desired consistency. Once the fat separates, add the panneer pieces. Turn off heat after 5 minutes. Add a dollop of butter before serving.

Note : In step 4, mom's recipes requires the cashew and khus khus to be ground separately. Since I have a huge mixie jar, in which that small quantity wont get ground to a smooth paste, I add it along with the other stuff to be ground. In case you do grind it separately, add it in step 6 before adding the milk and fry for 3 minutes.

Here's a pic with naans which I made recently.

This tastes best with rotis. We had it with methi roti which tasted good too.

Methi roti recipe :
1 small bunch of methi
3 green chillies
1 tsp of cumin powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
1 handful of besan/gram flour
3 handfuls of atta/wheat flour
1 tbsp oil
Water

Grind the green chillies and cleaned methi to a paste. Add all other ingredients and make a soft dough. Roll out like chapati and roast on a hot tawa with oil/ghee/butter.

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