In a pan heat ½ cup water along with 3 roughly chopped large onions, 1 teaspoon shahi jeera, ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste, 2 green chillies slit, 1 black cardamom, 2 green cardamoms, 2 dry bay leaves, 8-10 whole cashews.
Cook it covered on low flame for 6-8 mins. Check in between and add a little water as needed. When the onions are soft and there is no water, remove from heat. Discard the black cardamom and green chillies from the mixture.
Once cooled down, add it to the blender along with ½ cup thick fresh curd/plain yogurt. Make a smooth puree, if needed add some water. Set aside.
To make korma, heat 3 teaspoon ghee in a pan and add the prepared gravy base.
The gravy thickens quickly, stir it constantly for a couple of mins and add some water if needed.
Add salt as needed for the gravy.
Next add 1 green chilli slit (add more for a spicy gravy)
Cook the gravy on low flame for 5-7 mins covered (it splutters!)
Now add ⅓ to ½ cup milk depending on the thickness of the gravy.
Cook for a couple of minutes and add ⅛ teaspoon each of cardamom powder & nutmeg powder. Mix well.
Next add paneer cubes and cook the gravy for 3-5 mins on low flame.
As the gravy thickens, remove from heat.
To prepare rogan – chilli oil, mix ¼ teaspoon of Kashmiri red chilli powder and a large pinch of salt. Meanwhile heat 3 teaspoon oil on low flame for a minute.
Pour the oil over the chilli powder and mix well. Use the orangish red colored oil from the top to garnish & drizzle over the korma.
To serve paneer malai korma, crackle fresh black pepper on top.
It is optional to remove the green chilli and black cardamom from the cooked gravy base – if you don’t want to remove, make sure everything is ground very smooth. Black cardamom can be quite fibrous.