Chai Time is an ongoing series on Spicewalla’s IGTV featuring chef and Spicewalla founder Meherwan Irani cooking Indian dishes LIVE in his home and answering all your cooking qs. Check out the video for Methi Malai Paneer here to learn some tips and tricks that only an Indian mom or aunt could teach you! Follow us on instagram to tune in live and join the conversation.

A customer favorite special at Chai Pani can now be the family favorite in your household. This creamy, dreamy bowl of comfort food is packed with flavor thanks to the fresh turmeric, garam masala and fenugreek leaves (also called methi) featured in this recipe. Any store bought paneer will work here but we highly recommend Sach Foods who are good friends of the Spicewalla and Chai Pani fam and create a fabulous paneer product.

Methi Malai Paneer 

Yield: 2-3 servings
Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup whole cashews
1 large sweet onion, roughly chopped (about 2 cups)
2 Tbs avocado or grapeseed oil
2 Tbs GGP (Ginger Garlic Paste)
1 tsp green seranno pepper or other chilli pepper, finely diced
Kosher salt, to taste
1 block Sach Foods paneer, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 tsp Spicewalla Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Spicewalla Ground White Pepper
1 (13.5oz) can of coconut milk, about 1 1/2 cups
1 tsp Spicewalla Fenugreek Leaves
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp Spicewalla Garam Masala
1 cup frozen peas, blanched

Preparation

1. Soak 1/4 cup of cashews in 1/4 hot water then blend into a paste. Set aside.
2. Place chopped onion in a pot and cover with water, boil about 10 minutes until tender and translucent, then strain. Place boiled onion in a blender and puree into a paste. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in large pan over medium-high heat. Once hot add ginger garlic paste and serrano pepper, sauté for about 2-3 minutes until starting to brown.
4. Add onion paste and a pinch of kosher salt, simmer for  5-6 minutes until slightly thickened and light brown in color.
5. Stir in Turmeric Powder and simmer for another 3-4 minutes.
6. Add the cashew paste, Ground White Pepper, and coconut milk. Stir to combine. Simmer for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Crush the Fenugreek Leaves by hand to create more of a powdery consistency.
8. Stir in the heavy cream, crushed Fenugreek Leaves and Garam Masala.
9. Add paneer and blanched peas, simmer another minute just to heat the paneer and peas through. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference. Enjoy!