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Shahi Paneer

Shahi Paneer is a traditional north Indian recipe for a classic vegetarian curry of paneer cheese in a spiced tomato-based curry gravy flavoured and thickened with cashew nuts flavoured and coloured with saffron. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Indian version of: Shahi Paneer.

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

25 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Makes:

4

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : CurryVegetarian RecipesSpice RecipesCheese RecipesIndian Recipes


This is a classic North Indian vegetarian curry made with paneer cheese in a spiced tomato-based gravy. Easy and quick to make at home, this is a truly great curry. In this case, this is a restaurant curry adapted to be cooked easily at home.

Ingredients:

500g (1 lb) Paneer (cottage cheese), cubed into 1-inch pieces
2 medium Tomatoes, crushed
3 medium Onions, halved
10 Cashew Nuts
2 tsp Coriander Seeds, toasted
4 Cloves (lavang)
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 Cinnamon Stick
4 Green Cardamom pods, crushed
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 drop of Red Food Colour, optional (or use 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder)
160ml (2/3 cup) Curd (not sour), beaten
160ml (2/3 cup) Warm Water
1 tsp Sugar (optional)
4 tbsp Fresh Cream
1/2 tsp garam masala
6 strands of Saffron, dissolved in 2 tsp warm water (optional)
5 tbsp Cooking Oil or Ghee (clarified butter)
Salt, to taste
3 tsp Kasuri Methi (dried fenugreek leaves), for garnishing

Method:

Grind together the cashew nuts with the toasted coriander seeds into smooth powder and set aside until required.

Bring a pot of lightly-salted water to a boil, add the halved onions and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Drain in a colander, then either process in a food processor or pound in a mortar to a medium paste (add a little water if needed to help processing).


Place a pan, kadai or wok over medium heat. Once hot add the cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon and cardamom pods. Once they begin to crackle and are aromatic (about 90 seconds) add the onion paste. Stir-fry until the onion becomes light brown (3-4 minutes) then add the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, a drop of red food colouring (or the Kashmiri chilli powder) and cashew nut powder. Stir fry everything for 1 minute.

Add the crushed tomato and salt and continue stir-frying for 2 minutes. Now stir in the curd, sugar and 80ml (1/3 cup) warm water. Mix well to combine, bring to a boil and cook until the oil starts to separate (about 4-5 minutes).

Take off the heat and set aside to cool for 5 minutes then remove and discard the whole spices (cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon and cardamom pods). Pour the sauce into a blender and process until smooth. Return the the pan, place back over the heat then stir in the cram, garam masala and saffron (along with soaking water).

Cook for 1 minute then add the paneer cubes, stirring to coat them in the gravy. Allow to heat through for 3-4 minutes then take off the heat. Turn into a warmed serving dish, garnish with the dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi). Serve with butter naan or tandoori roti.