Paneer Musallam (Stuffed Whole Paneer in Mughlai Gravy)
Two pan-fried paneer slabs stuffed with pistachios, cashews, and raisins, finished in a saffron cashew gravy. Serve whole and slice at the table.
Equipment
- Heavy-bottomed pan or kadhai
- Blender
- Long knife
Ingredients
For the paneer
- 400 g paneer 1 thick block, about 14 oz
- 2 tablespoons ghee or oil
For the filling
- 3 tablespoons milk powder or crumbled khoya
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons raw pistachios chopped
- 1 tablespoon cashews chopped
- 1 tablespoon golden raisins chopped
- pinch cardamom powder
- pinch salt
For the cashew-onion paste
- 15 cashews about 1/4 cup
- 1/4 cup hot water for soaking
- 2 onions medium, sliced
- 1 tablespoon ghee or oil, for frying the onions
For the gravy
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or ghee
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick small
- 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1/2 cup tomato puree about 2 small tomatoes, blended
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt whisked until smooth
- 1/2 cup warm water plus more as needed
- pinch saffron big pinch, soaked in 2 tablespoons warm milk
- 3 tablespoons fresh cream
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi crushed between your palms
To garnish
- 1 tablespoon cream
- 1 tablespoon pistachios chopped
- saffron strands few, for garnish
- fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
Soak and blend
- Soak the cashews in 1/4 cup hot water for 15 minutes. Soak the saffron in 2 tablespoons warm milk in a separate small bowl.
- Heat 1 tablespoon ghee or oil in the pan. Add sliced onions and a pinch of salt. Fry 8 to 10 minutes until pink-brown and soft, not burnt. Cool 5 minutes.
- Blend the soaked cashews with their soaking water until completely smooth. Scoop into a bowl.
- Blend the fried onions with a splash of water until smooth.
Fry and stuff the paneer
- Slice the paneer block in half lengthwise so you have two even slabs. Wipe the pan if needed.
- Heat 2 tablespoons ghee over medium to medium-high. Fry both slabs 2 minutes a side until mostly gold. Transfer to a plate.
- Mix milk powder, cream, pistachios, cashews, raisins, cardamom, and a pinch of salt into a thick paste.
- Spread the filling on one slab. Set the second slab on top and press gently so it holds. Keep the sandwich on the plate while you finish the gravy.
Build the gravy
- Lower the heat to medium. Add 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cardamom pods, and cinnamon. Let the cumin sizzle 30 seconds.
- Add ginger-garlic paste. Cook 1 minute until the raw smell goes.
- Add the onion paste. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until it thickens and smells sweet.
- Add tomato puree, turmeric, Kashmiri chilli, coriander powder, garam masala, and salt. Cook 5 to 6 minutes until the masala darkens and oil collects at the edges.
- Stir in the cashew paste. It will seize and look pasty within a minute. Add 1/2 cup warm water and stir until it loosens into a gravy that coats a spoon. Add more water if it still sits in a lump.
- Lower the heat. Stir in whisked yogurt a spoon at a time so it does not split. Add the saffron milk. Simmer 2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in cream and crushed kasuri methi. Taste for salt. The gravy should be nutty and gently sweet, with a saffron smell.
Finish
- Set the stuffed paneer in a shallow serving dish, or back in the pan if it still fits in one piece.
- Pour the gravy over the top. Baste the sides for 2 to 3 minutes on the lowest heat. Do not flip. Do not stir hard.
- Rest 2 minutes. Garnish with cream, pistachios, saffron strands, and cilantro.
- Bring it to the table whole. Slice into thick fingers so each piece shows the filling.
Notes
A thick paneer block makes better layers. Thin blocks still work. The sandwich will just be shorter.
If the filling looks wet, add another teaspoon of milk powder before you spread it.
Whisk yogurt until smooth and add it off a hard boil. If it looks grainy, the pan was too hot.
Khoya instead of milk powder: use 3 tablespoons crumbled, and ease back on the cream if the paste already looks thick.
Vegan: extra-firm tofu sliced into two slabs, oil instead of ghee and butter, extra cashew cream instead of yogurt, dairy cream, and milk powder. The sandwich will be looser. Handle it with two spatulas.
Jain: skip onion and garlic. Bloom a pinch of hing with the cumin, use 3/4 cup tomato puree, and blend 18 cashews so the gravy still has body.
Make the gravy up to 2 days ahead. Fry and stuff the paneer just before serving, then baste.
Store leftovers sliced, in an airtight container in the fridge, for up to 3 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water. Do not freeze the stuffed paneer. Freeze the gravy alone for up to 1 month.
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