Shaam-Savera with rich gravy

I love to lay the table. The way to the stomach is through eyes! so my belief is, it should look good to the eyes before your belly gets to enjoy it. This was Diwali Night Dinner.

I tried sanjeev kapoor's shaam savera recipe for the first time. It was not difficult to make but just needed some hours' work.

Shaam implying back color where savera is white. ( This is not to vilify any community but just kitchen names )  :-)

These are paneer dumplings coated with spinach coating dipped into rich cashew-tomato gravy.

Lets make the dumplings first.

Make the paneer. (check my Home made paneer recipe) You don't have to form cubes of it as you need crumbly paneer to form lemon size balls.

Blanch 2 cups spinach in the water. drain the water and chop it. In a pan take 1 tbs oil, add 1 sp ginger garlic paste, pinch of turmeric and 3 chopped green chilies. In a minute add chopped spinach to it. add 1/2 sp coriander powder and some salt. Keep stirring to take off any water. You need dry spinach. Let it cool off.

To make the rich gravy take 3-4 tomatoes and 1 onion. Heat some water and add those tomatoes and onion in boiling water. Let it boil for 10 minutes. Tomatoes and onion become tender. Let it cool down.
Peel the tomatoes.

In a blender take onion, tomatoes and handful of cashews. Add 2 back peppercorns, 1 cardamom, 1 Cinnamon stick. By adding water blend it to a smooth paste.

In a pan take 2 sp butter, Add the above paste and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add 1/2 cup fresh cream to it. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 spoon garam masala powder. Add some salt.

In another pan, slightly brown the dry kasuri methi. let it cool off a bit. crush the leaves using your palms and add it to the gravy. switch off the stove. Add 1 sp honey.

To make the dumplings take some paneer and make lemon size balls. Coat them using some spinach. This way make all the dumplings ready.

In a heavy bottom pan take a very little oil and fry the dumplings. Once they cool off refrigerate the dumplings for 1 hour. Cut it into half. and drop it in the gravy. make sure the dumplings float in the gravy so don't use deep pan. If needed divide the gravy in 2-3 pans and then add the dumplings that way you get to see shaam-savera. :-)

Let the gravy simmer on low-medium heat for 5 minutes. The gravy is ready to serve. This should make a perfect entry to your special occasion dinner.