Tawa paneer (paneer tawa masala)

Tawa paneer masala is a simple, easy and quick dish made with paneer, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, spices & herbs. Paneer tawa masala is mostly served in restaurants & is eaten with tandoori roti, naan or even with jeera rice. It also goes well with phulkas or plain parathas. This dish does not have that usual creamy texture like paneer butter masala or paneer makhani. But it tastes delicious.

Tawa is the Indian/ hindi name for a griddle or a flat pan. The name tawa paneer is because the entire dish is prepared on a tawa.

Frying the masala on a high flame on a large tawa makes the dish aromatic and taste special. This is how it is different from the regular paneer sabji. For a home preparation this can be made in a kadai or regular pan as well.

This recipe of tawa paneer is kept very simple and is made with basic ingredients. I have roughly adapted it from Chef Sanjeev kapoor’s recipe of baby corn, capsicum and paneer masala.

So you can play around using your favorite veggies like baby corn or mushrooms.

This recipe needs tomato puree and it is used to speed up the process of cooking tomatoes which would take a little longer otherwise.

So if you do not want to puree the tomatoes you can add them chopped finely or use a ready made tomato puree. Adjust the quantity to match the sourness to your taste.

More Paneer recipes
Paneer do pyaza
Achari paneer
Paneer bhurji
Methi paneer
Paneer jalfrezi

Preparation

1. Add oil to the hot tawa, sprinkle cumin. When it splutters then add grated ginger and fry till it begins to smell good. Do not burn it.

2. Add chopped onions and salt. Keep stirring and fry evenly on a moderately high flame till they turn golden.

3. While the onions are frying, you can add the chopped tomatoes to a blender jar and puree it. If you wish to add few cashews to make the gravy rich, you can add it now.

4. When the onions turn golden, pour the tomato puree. Cook till the raw smell of the tomatoes vanishes. Keep stirring to prevent burning.

5. Add garam masala, red chili powder and capsicums.

How to make tawa paneer masala

6. Mix well and fry on a medium high flame till the mixture smells good of the masala. This usually takes 2 minutes.

7. Pour very little water to bring the gravy to your desired consistency. Mix well and cook till gravy thickens. Then add paneer and kasuri methi.

8. Mix every thing well. Cook till the gravy turns thick. If you like to use cream, skip water. Pour the cream to a bowl and add little tomato onion mixture from the tawa and stir. Then add back to the pan. This helps preventing the cream to curdle. Switch off the stove.

Garnish tawa paneer masala with coriander leaves. Serve with rice or roti.

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Tawa paneer masala recipe