Every Indian loves paneer, whether it’s marinated, grilled, minced or used to make a creamy rich gravy like this Paneer Masala! Paneer, also known as Indian Cottage cheese, never fails to dazzle. Cooked in a mildly spicy and aromatic tomato, butter and creamy onion sauce, topped with fresh ginger and coriander, its a delicacy you won’t be able to resist! If you are looking for a rich and festive paneer recipe to entertain friends, look no further – this Butter Paneer Masala will surely leave a lasting impression!Ingredients
3 big tomatoes – pureed
250 gms paneer – cubed
2 big onions
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
3 tbsps cashewnut paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp dhania powder (dry coriander powder)
1/2 tsp kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
1 tsp tandoori masala (optional for color)
2 tsp garam masala powder
salt and lemon juice – to taste
3 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
3 tbsp fresh cream
fresh coriander – chopped for garnish
Method
Skin the onions and blanch them in hot water for 3 mins, then ouree them to form a paste. Do the same with tomatoes, unless you are using tomato puree directly.
Take 1 tbsp of ghee, heat in a pan for 2 mins, the saute the paneer cubes in it till golden brown; Now take 1 cup hot water, add a pinch of salt and turmeric powder to it and immerse the paneer cubes in it for 10-12 mins. Then remove the pieces, drain them on a tissue paper and keep aside.
Heat 2 tbsp of butter in a pan, add the bay leaf and the cloves, then add the onion paste and saute till light-brown. Add ginger-garlic paste. Saute for 3 minutes. Add chilli powder, followed by the cashew paste and fry for 5 mins.
Add tomato puree, crushed kasuri methi,coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt. Stir and let it simmer for some time.
Add the paneer cubes and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Add a small cup of water and let it cook on medium heat till you get the desired curry consistency. Remove from fire, stir in remaining butter and fresh cream.
Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve the Butter Paneer Masala with any bread of your choice, pulao or simply jeera rice.
Related Recipes
Spicy Paneer Chili
Chana Masala – Chickpea Curry
Quick & Easy Palak Paneer
My daughters favorite…Looks great.
that looks delicious Mansi! just what I needed for my dinner next weekend! hope it turns out as good as yours:)
Sandhya
thanks Cilantro! its gonna be a favorite for loads of ppl:)
Sandhya – of course it’ll turn out great! do let me know how it comes out, and thanks for your kind words!:)
One of my favourite veg dish is butter paneer and this looks so yummm.
Drool drool
that looks absolutely delicious! and I love the photo, makes it so inviting!!:)
That looks really tasty! If only I could find some paneer. Maybe I will just have to make some myself.
How do you make the cashewnut paste?
Danielle – take about 1/2 cup cashews with 2-3 tbsp water or milk and blend them in a mixer to form a smooth paste. You can even use half almonds/half cashews if you like.
Hope this helps!
Thanks!
Hello – Where do I find, Kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)?? I live in Chicago…Pratz!
Hi! you can generally find “kasuri methi” in any Indian grocery store. but if you can’t, just use about 8-10 regular methi seeds (tiny yellowish-brown) instead, and you can make this recipe without compromising the taste:)
hope this helps!
Thanks a lot…………..
can you tell me how to make gravy?
Poonam – I’m not sure I understood u correctly…what do you mean by “gravy”? I have the method outlined in the recipe, right?
are you asking about a particular step in the process?
thehank reciepe looks great. I am trying it 2 night. Hope my hubby likes it alot. Well thank you.
I tried this recipe tonight – it was delicious!!! I didn’t have the fenugreek, though, so it was missing that element and I compromised by adding a couple of spices from another recipe I found – a bit of cardomom and nutmeg.
I wasn’t sure if by red chili powder you meant ground red chili (cayenne) or the spice blend of cumin and cayenne, etc. that is called chili powder. I took it to mean the chili powder. Seemed a tsp of cayenne might be too spicy.
Wow…yummy. I made this for my husband’s birthday and he loved it. thanks!
I read and just made it!!! it doesnt looks the same in the pic but it tastes awesome!!
Am just waiting for my husband to come from office and have it!!
thank you so much!!
Wow!!the dish looks great… i'm going to try it tomorrow, for a party of 12… how many servings is this recipe?
Hi there, this should serve about 3-4 people, give or take. So maybe if you make 4 times the recipe, you should be good for 12 ppl, plus leave some extra for next day's lunch!:)
Excellent recipe! I used regular plain yogurt, whipped it to top the dish in place of cream (did not have cream handy) – it still tasted great. Made it for Diwali and it quickly made to the top of my hubby's favourite dishes. Thanks Mansi!
In the last step "Stir in the remaining butter and fresh cream" Do you mean actually "butter" or the Ghee? The ingredients list doesn't say anything about butter, just Ghee.
Hi sorry about the confusion. Stir in just the cream. There is no extra butter nor ghee. Its a mistake. I will edit the recipe method.
Thanks!
Where can we get this fresh cream…
You can find it in any Indian grocery store. It is available in a can just like condensed milk