1 small-medium onion, diced
4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 inches of ginger, chopped
2, 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cardamom power
1/4 teaspoon fennel powder (optional)
2 tablespoons of Kasuri methi soaked in 1/4 cup water
1 cup of water
Red pepper flakes (optional)
5-6 tablespoons honey
Salt
Oil and butter for cooking

Cashew Cream (see recipe below)
1 cup raw cashers
1/2 - 1 cup water

Cashew cream
Soak cashews overnight. Drain the water and rinse the cashews. Blend with 1/2 cup of water until a fine paste forms. I usually try to do this with 1/2 cup water to make a thicker paste.

Makhini Sauce
Heat oil and butter until the butter melts. Sautee onion and pepper flakes until well done but now browned. Add ginger, garlic, garam masala and cardamom powder. Sautee until garlic is cooked but now browned. Add tomatoes. Add Kasuri methi and mix. Mix scrapping off anything that is stuck to the bottom of the pan. Place all of it in a blender and puree into a fine paste. Place the mix back into the pot. Add 1 cup of water (or until desired thickness). Add salt and honey. Cook until the sauce thickens to your desired texture. Taste, it should taste somewhat sweet, like a touch of honey. When the sauce is your desired texture, add 1/4-1/3 cup cashew cream (to taste). Turn off the stove. Do not cook the cashew cream too much. Add extra vegan butter at the end to make extra delicious.

To use the sauce with tofu, add to cubed tofu and simmer for 10-15 mins. Same with paneer. For chicken sauté chicken until mostly cooked, then add sauce and cook until the chicken is fully done.

N.B. too much ginger or garam masala gives the sauce a bitter taste. Add more honey to fix. This comes out very good. I can't tell the taste between this vs sauce made with heavy cream. You can also use this recipe and replace cashew cream with heavy cream.

This makes a lot of sauce. It does freeze well. This quantity for us makes enough for a block of paneer and 4 chicken breasts.