Chickpea curry with potato or Chana Aloo curry is packed with flavor, is nutritious, and needs less than 30 minutes to make. This one-pot chickpea curry is best served with rice or naan.
Chickpea curry with potato in a spicy thick gravy and a bowl of rice or roti(flatbread) is comfort food for me. A simple hearty curry made with onion, ginger garlic, regular Indian spices, and tomatoes is packed with complex flavors.
This meatless curry is rich in protein, fiber, good carbs and is super healthy. This fabulous Chickpea Curry is gluten-free and Vegan too.
Paneer Butter Masala Recipe
Paneer Butter Masala Recipe is one of India’s most popular paneer preparation. This restaurant style recipe with soft paneer cubes dunked in a creamy, lightly spiced tomato sauce or gravy is a best one that I have been making for a long time. This rich dish is best served with roti or chapati, paratha, naan or rumali roti.
Equipment
- 1 Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 18 to 20 cashews whole
- ⅓ cup hot water for soaking cashews
For Tomato Puree
- 2 cup diced, or 300 grams tomatoes or 4 to 5 medium sized, pureed
For Ginger-Garlic Paste
- 1 inch ginger peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves small to medium-sized, peeled
Instructions
- Soak cashews in a hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. When the cashews are soaking, you can prep the other ingredients like chopping tomatoes, preparing ginger-garlic paste, slicing paneer etc.
- Then drain and add the soaked cashews in a blender or mixer-grinder.
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water and blend to a smooth and fine paste without any tiny bits or chunks of cashews.
- In the same blender add the roughly chopped tomatoes. No need to blanch the tomatoes before blending.
- Blend to a smooth tomato puree. Set aside. Don’t add any water while blending the tomatoes.
Making Tomato Gravy
Melt butter in a pan on a low heat. Add tej patta and fry for 2 to 3 seconds or till the oil become fragrant.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for about 10 to 12 seconds till the raw aroma disappears.
- Add the tomato puree and stir well. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes stirring a few times.
Notes
- Butter: Use good quality butter. You can add both unsalted or salted butter. Also both yellow butter or white butter can be added.
- Tomatoes: It is best to use fresh, ripe red tomatoes. Add tomatoes which have sweet-tangy taste. Do not add tomatoes which are too sour or tart.
- Tomato puree: Blend the tomatoes to a smooth puree. If you want you can strain the tomato puree also.
- Cashew paste: To blend cashews to a fine consistency, it is better to soak them in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. Use a good blender to get a smooth creamy cashew paste.
- Replacing cashews: If you don’t have cashews then add almonds. Blanch the almonds in hot water for 30 minutes. Then peel and blend them till smooth with some water.
- Sugar: Addition of sugar depends upon your taste as well as the tanginess present in the tomatoes. So add as per taste. If you add cream then you might have to add less sugar.
- Taste and flavor: If the butter paneer masala gravy tastes tangy or sour, then to balance the sour taste you can add a bit of sugar or cream. But do not add too much sugar as then the gravy becomes too sweet. Also, do note if you add cream then you might have to add less sugar in the sauce or gravy.