Paneer Makhmali Gravy

I think, by far, this has been my best dish for a party :-) Its a painstakingly long process, but the taste and the presentation of the dish stands out. Believe me girls (& guys too :-) ) this dish is definitely worth a try. But a disclaimer for the health freaks, this dish is full of calories. I had made this recipe recently at a small dinner party, and it was an instant hit! And the best part about this dish is that you have to do something grossly wrong to mess up the taste.

Ingredients:

• Stuffing:
  
• Paneer 400 gms
• Walnuts - 2 tablespoons
• Raisins - 2 tablespoons
• 1/2 cup palak finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon grated cheese
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• pinch of salt
• Gravy:
• 4 large tomatoes
• 2 medium sized onions
• 2 tbsps cream (optional)
• 2 tbsps kasoori methi
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• Masala for gravy:
• 2 cloves
• 2 cardamoms
  
• small piece of cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ajwain seeds
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  
• Oil for tempering and frying
• Salt as per taste
  

Effort: 1 hour

Serves: 4 persons

Stuffing:

- Cut the paneer in thick slices - approx 4x6 cms sized pieces. If the paneer is hard, marinate the slices in thick curd-masala mix for approx 15 mins, but make sure that the marination is not watery
- Mix the remaining stuffiing well, and arrange the mix between two paneer slices. Press the paneer slices gently
- Shallow fry the paneer sandwiches. Paneer will melt and the two slices will stick together well


Gravy:
- Roast the spices and grind them well
- Make tomato puree and keep aside
- In a kadai, heat some oil and add finely chopped onions and fry till they are golden brown
- Add red chilli and ground masala and cook for a few minutes
- Grind the entire mix, once it is cool
- Heat some more oil and add the ground onion and masala paste and cook on low heat for a few mins
- Add tomato puree and cook till oil separates. Add salt as per taste. Add 4-5 tbsps of water, if the gravy is too thick
- Crush kasoori methi and sprinkle on top of the gravy

For serving:
Place the gravy in a baking dish, add the paneer slices on top of the gravy, and spread some cream. I made the mistake of arranging the paneer slices first and then pouring the gravy, so the picture doesn't really do justice to the dish :( Maybe I will take a better picture next time!