Heat up a large skillet on medium heat and add in your vegetable oil. Add in the diced onion and cook until lightly golden brown (about 10 minutes) and then add in ginger-garlic* paste. Cook for an additional 5 minutes until dark golden brown.
While the onion cooks down you can prepare the tomatoes by pureeing in a blender. Add puréed tomatoes into cooked onions and mix thoroughly. Add in spices and salt to tomato-base.
Let tomato to cook down on medium heat and spices to infuse into it until aromatic and thickened. This should take about 10 minutes. To thin out the salan (if you wish) add in ½ -1 cup water. Lower the heat to low and cover with lid - set aside until ready to use.
Cube paneer evenly and add into a lightly oiled non-stick frying pan. Cook on medium-low heat until golden brown on both sides, 4-5 minutes per side. Add cooked paneer into tomato-based salan.
Add frozen peas into salan and lastly add in milk or heavy cream to make salan creamy.
Let the salan simmer on low heat for 5 minutes to allow flavors to infuse into paneer and pease. At this point taste salan and adjust salt if necessary.
Once done serve immediately garnished with cilantro as a side to fresh naan or basmati rice.
Enjoy!
