Place a small pan over medium heat. Heat up one teaspoon of oil. Add the cashew nuts, almonds and cardamom pods. Roast them for two minutes. Keep them aside.
Place a large pan on medium heat. Heat up another teaspoon of oil. Add chopped onions. Saute till it get translucent. Then add roasted nuts prepared in step 1.
Place the same pan used for sautéing onions on heat. Add ghee. Once ghee is hot enough, add bay leaves, black cardamom, mace, cloves, star anise. Saute for a 30 seconds.
Add cumin seeds to splutter.
Add the ground masala prepared in step 2. above. Saute it for a minute.
Then add cumin powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and coriander powder. Saute again for 2 minutes to cook masala.
(Optional) Before proceeding forward, you can strain the mixture to get smooth silky gravy. But this is totally optional, it doesn't makes any difference in taste.
Add saffron strands and Kashmiri red chili powder. Saute for two minutes.
Add cubed paneer and mix.
Add fresh cream and switch off the gas then mix.