As far as I can tell, paneer tawa masala, is a Hindi/Punjabi term that translates roughly as “Fried, spiced, cheese”. The general idea with tawa masala appears to be: protein + tomato + cream + spices. It’s similar to butter chicken, but more frying and less cream.
This variant is somewhat simplified to make it easier for someone without a walk-in closet worth of spices, and a little cauliflower has been added. You can also replace the cheese with chicken if you approve of animal murder.
Ingredients
350 g paneer cheese, in 1–2 cm cubes
30 ml + 30 ml oil
1 onion, chopped
200 g cauliflower, chopped
5 ml cumin, powder
10 ml garlic, crushed
5 ml coriander, powder
250 ml crushed tomato
15 ml garam masala
30 ml dairy cream or yogurt
Handful of cilantro, chopped
Procedure
In a large frying pan, heat 30 ml oil, and then fry cheese until brown.
Set the cheese aside.
In the same frying pan, add the chopped onion, cauliflower, and the remaining 30 ml oil. Fry until the cauliflower is soft.
Add cumin, garlic, and coriander. If your crushed tomatoes are no/low salt, you could supplement salt as well. Mix for 1 minute.
Add crushed tomato.
Add fried panner, garam masala and cream/yogurt.
Garnish with cilantro.
This pairs well with naan.