Paneer Butter Masala / Paneer Makhanwala

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Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala
Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala
Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala

I had blogged the Paneer Butter Masala 2 years ago but it was too amateur-ish, post wise and photos wise, that I had to re-do and re-vamp the whole post. THereford, I have deleted the older post and created the new one.

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Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala
Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala

Paneer Makhanwala is a rich rich rich curry and oh-so-easy to put together. It doesn’t need a long list of ingredients either as compared to other curries. It is a very popular restaurant dish, and often finds its place on the top of the vegetarian menu.

Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala
Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala

Over the years of making it, I have sort of mastered this dish that I don’t have to think twice to make it when family demands. I honestly don’t know how the restaurants make it but my family always raves that my Paneer Butter Masala is way much better than the restaurant one. So this is completely home-style paneer butter masala and better than the restaurants! 😉

Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala
Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala

The tomatoes are blended with cashews and garlic and then cooked with few spieces, cream and honey. Paneer is added towards the end to complete the curry.

This is how I make it! And bookmark this recipe, since it is a no fail, fool proof, tested and tried, a many times recipe. Whoever has ever tried it, has come back with smashing reviews.

Paneer Butter Masala / Paneer Makhanwala

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala
Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhanwala

Kitchen Equipments Required

Chopping board, knife, Heavy bottom pan with lid, stirring spoon, blender.

Ingredients

Tomatoes –  4 large or 5 medium ripe tomatoes, finely chopped.

Paneer – 250 to 300 gms

Garlic –  4 pods minced fine

Ginger – a small piece

Cashews – 20. Soak the cashews for 1/2 hr in warm water.

Oil & Spices

Butter – 1&1/2 tbsp

Red chilli powder : 1/4 tsp

Garam masala : 1/2 -1 tsp or to taste

Kashmiri Lal Mirch or Degi Mirch or Fancy Paprika – 1 tsp, optional.

Kasoori Methi : 1 tsp

Cream : 1/4 cup

Honey – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Water : 1&1/4 cup

Method

  1. Take the blender, add soaked cashews, chopped tomatoes, ginger and garlic to it and make a fine paste out of it.
  2. Heat the butter in the pan on medium heat.
  3. Add the pureed tomatoes to the melted butter.
  4. Cook it on medium low flame till water is evaporated.
  5. Now add cream, kasoori Methi, spices and honey to the paste. Add 1&1/4 cup water or more to desired consistency.
  6. Cover with lid and simmer on medium flame for about 10-12 minutes.
  7. Add cubed paneer pieces and cook further for 5-7 minutes on medium flame. Adjust the seasoning if required.

Notes

  1. You may adjust the water quantity to the desired consistency.
  2. You may cook the curry thick and freeze for later use.
  3. For parties, the curry can be cooked a day in advance and heat and serve the next day.
  4. You may deep fry or shallow fry the paneer pieces before adding to the curry.
  5. You may add other vegetables or koftas or boiled eggs to this curry.

Paneer Butter Masala or Paneer Makhanwala is ready in my Indian American Kitchen. Enjoy it warm with naan, roti, rice or even a crusty bread in your kitchen!

Have a great Makhanwala day !

Sonal

 

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40 Comments

  1. I have to try this it sound amazing! Paneer cheese is one of my favourite parts of Indian food and this looks like a perfect way to eat it! 🙂

  2. Me ha impresionado tu receta, es tan buena! es difícil conseguir en España estos ingredientes, me quedo por tu blog para no perderme ninguna receta.
    Saludos.

  3. Beautiful, love this dish, I probably tried the recipe from your other post before. Do you ever try pan frying your paneer before you add it to the curry Sonal? I tried that once, and had it sputtering all over the stove, tres annoying! I’ll try adding it without, but thought it would add additional flavor if pan fried in a little ghee. I don’t have any cream in my refrigerator, but I did also see that Naina also posted a similar recipe on paneer, and she used sour cream which I have in the refrigerator. I’ll be making this tonight. I think you and Suzanne have a great idea above, it would be nice to try something like that with fellow bloggers. 🙂

    1. Loretta
      Thank you so much :).
      Often I skip fresh cream to make it more healthier.. Honestly, with the cashew paste, cream is really not that required. The taste is still awesome!! You may use sour cream and it makes a fantastic substitute.
      As far as pan frying the paneer goes, th market bought one does splutter a lot. Sometimes I roll the paneer pieces in very little corn starch/flour and then pan fry or bake in the oven. Baking, though makes it little chewy . Or after cutting the paneer into cubes, pat it really dry with paper towel & then pan fry.
      I am glad that you read the conversation between Suzanne and I. Are you game for it? Let’s sweat over the idea and plan on it .

      1. Thanks for those tips Sonal. I did make it yesterday without the pan fry and it turned out just great. I’ll be posting about it soon. Brilliant idea that you and Suzanne are concocting, you can be the main chef with us as your underlings. You can then guide us, and we can try to replicate whatever it is that is being featured? For instance, I’d love to learn how to make stuffed parathas, or rotis/chapatis etc. I did make the stuffed once and it turned out great, but would love more tips on the process. Just an example.

  4. Sonal, loved this recipe. I am pinning this one and trying it out ASAP. I do make a lot of North Indian dishes during winters here, but the blending of tomatoes along with the cashews is an interesting step that I have never tried. Also adding honey has got me intrigued. I want to taste this dish now. And the pictures are no less tempting .

  5. Awesome pics and liked the easy peasy method. You make cooking so easy with your new innovative ideas. I enjoy cooking by your method.

  6. This is gorgeous Sonal. it’s funny when I saw the notification come in I read it as Peanut butter masala and I thought wow, that sounds really different, then of course I re read and saw it’s paneer. It looks incrediblly delicious and this is another one I have to make. I would like to devote a week to just your recipes on my blog and have you do a guest post, would you do that? I would like to cook with you albeit long distance not sure how we could do that but I would like to think about how to do that.

    1. Peanut Butter Masala…well you gave me food for thought ;). Will ponder upon it to try something around it.
      Thank you sooooo much for your appreciation! I would absolutely love to do a guest post for you!!
      You are too kind Suzanne :). Lately, I had been thinking of doing some ingredient exchange or recipe swap thing/theme with fellow bloggers….and may be link or tag… May be we should pick up a recipe together…bunch of us and do out versions on it….like a group of cooks/chefs…
      Let me know what you think about it and I am sure that we can work around it :).