Paneer Masala Curry Recipe | Super Recipe for Paneer Masala Curry
Paneer Masala Curry Recipe is for a North Indian paneer curry with aromatic flavours of spices and paneer or cottage cheese cubes. It is a unique preparation common to roadside restaurants or dhabas in India.
The food served in dhabas is fresh & nutritious. It evidently tastes great with relatively lesser fancy and easily available ingredients. Paneer masala curry recipe is once such recipe which is prepared in a typical Punjabi dhaba style.
This recipe for a spicy paneer masala curry is a great vegetarian alternative to the classic chicken tikka masala, that meat-eaters love it too! Packed with flavour, this dish is easy to make and is gluten-free.
Our desi tongues drool at the sight of this spicy Punjabi Paneer Masala Curry. This is a simple paneer masala dish where paneer is cooked in a masala paste with onions.
The creaminess of gravy and richness of paneer makes it an ideal spicy curry for functions and parties. It particularly tastes best when served with paratha and downed with a glass of lassi.
Dhaba Style Punjabi Paneer Masala Curry Recipe
The rich hue, strong aroma and irresistible taste of this Punjabi paneer masala will make you addicted to it! The appearance, taste and mouth-feel of this sabzi are similar to what you get in dhaba style paneer masala, mainly due to the special paste used for the gravy!
In the mood for some dhaba style cooking? Here is a perfect recipe to give a kick to your tastebuds which is a dhaba style paneer masala curry. This is a super quick and easy recipe to make.
Make the spicy masala or gravy or curry
To make the gravy, heat a pan and add oil and ghee in it. Then, add cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, dry red chillies, cumin seeds and hing and cook for a few seconds.
Add whole spices to ghee
Now add chopped onions to the seasoned oil with the spice mix and fry until it turns slightly brown. Keep the flame on medium at this stage.
Onions getting brown
Add turmeric powder, ginger & garlic paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes until onion turns golden brown.
Add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste
Add beaten yoghurt (dahi) and lower the flame. Stir it continuously and fry them till oil separates from it.
Add yoghurt & mix well
Add ground spices like coriander powder, red chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, besan, cumin powder and garam masala. Mix it well and cook for 1-2 min.
Add ground spices
Add water to the masala, mix it and cover with a lid.
Add water to the masala, mix it and cover with lid
When it comes to boil add cubes of paneer and cook it further till the gravy thickens. (Around 5-7 min)
Paneer in thick gravy
Add kasuri methi to the gravy and mix it well.
Add kasuri methi to the gravy and mix it well
Your Punjabi Dhaba Style Paneer Masala Curry is ready to be served.
Paneer masala is ready
Paneer Masala Curry Recipe | Super Recipe for Paneer Masala Curry
Ingredients
- 400 gram Paneer / Cottage Cheese
- 4 piece Pyaz / Onion Medium sized
- 4 piece Tamatar / Tomato Medium sized
- 200 gram Dahi / Yoghurt Beaten
- 2 teaspoon Dhaniya / Coriander powder
- 0.5 teaspoon Jeera / Cumin powder
- 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 0.5 teaspoon Red chilli powder
- 2 teaspoon Besan / Gram flour
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala powder
- 3 piece Dry Red Chilli
- 7 piece Black Peppercorns
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 1 piece [Bay leaf]
- 5 piece [Green cardamom]
- 1 piece [Black cardamom]
- 5 piece [Cloves]
- 1 tablespoon [Ginger garlic paste]
- 0.5 tablespoon Kasuri methi
- 0.5 teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 4 tablespoon [Ghee] / Clarified Butter
- 0.5 teaspoon Namak / Salt
- 1.5 cup Pani / Water
Instructions
- Get your ingredients ready.
- Chop the onions, puree the tomatoes and cut paneer into 1" cubes.
- Heat ghee in a frying pan or a Kadai on medium to high flame.
- Add whole spice including bay leaf, green & black cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black peppercorns & dried red chillies to the pan.
- Saute for a few seconds till spices are fragrant.
- Add finely chopped onion and fry them till light brown.
- Then, add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste and fry them for 2-3 min.
- Add beaten yoghurt (dahi) and lower the flame. Stir it continuously and fry them till oil separates from it.
- Add the tomato puree with salt and mix it.
- Cook very well till oil gets separated from the masala. (Around 5 minutes)
- Add ground spices like coriander powder, red chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, besan, cumin powder and garam masala. Mix it well and cook for 1-2 min.
- Add water to the masala, mix it and cover with a lid.
- When it comes to boil add cubes of paneer and cook it further till the gravy thickens. (Around 5-7 min)
- Add hand crushed kasuri methi to the gravy and mix it well.
- Serve hot.
Additions & Variations - Paneer Masala Curry Recipe
Paneer Masala Recipe can Easily be made Paleo and Vegan
The soul of the masala curry is in onions, tomatoes & spices. Therefore, to make a healthy version of this, simply swap ghee with a quarter the quantity of your favourite vegetable oil. And replace the paneer with tofu.
Paneer Over; Masala Left
Simply, make instant egg curry with this sauce by just adding boiled eggs to it. The best use of it by far would be to add some leftover tandoori chicken for a lovely dinner.
Serving Suggestions - Punjabi Dhaba Style Paneer Masala Recipe
Punjabi Paneer Masala is delicious by itself. I actually eat a lot of it without any carbs added to the meal fare. However, it pairs very well with Indian bread like roti, naan or paratha. It also is a splendid accompaniment for rice dishes like jeera rice, tomato rice or saffron rice.
Recipe Notes - Punjabi Paneer Masala Recipe
- This recipe calls for freshest paneer passible.
- To make it better, use high fat paneer for its velvety texture.
- While this recipe is moderate of spicy levels if you want to add more heat simply throw in three slitted green chillies.
- Kasuri methi gives a delicious flavour to this dish, so make sure you don’t skip it.
- To make the gravy smooth, always grind the masala to a fine paste.
- A smoky flavour can be added to the paneer masala simply with a tablespoon of ghee poured over a piece of burning coal. This process is called “dhungar”.
- You can garnish this paneer masala with finely chopped coriander leaves before serving.
FINALLY, TO SUM IT UP
Punjabi Dhaba Style Paneer Masala Curry Recipe is for a North Indian paneer curry with aromatic flavours of spices and paneer or cottage cheese cubes. It is a unique preparation common to roadside restaurants or dhabas in India.
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