Shahi Paneer is a vegetarian Indian curry recipe in which cubes of paneer (Indian cottage cheese) are cooked in a delicious, thick, and creamy sauce made with butter, cream, onion, tomatoes, cashew nuts, and aromatic Indian spices.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a cooking pot. Add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, black cardamom, green cardamoms, cloves, and black peppercorns. Saute for a few seconds or until the spices become fragrant.
Add roughly chopped onion and garlic. Cook until the onion becomes translucent.
Add roughly chopped tomatoes, green chilies, ginger, cashew nuts, salt, and ½ a teaspoon of red chili powder. Mix everything. Add around ½ a cup of water and cover the pot. Cook for around 15 minutes or until the tomatoes turn mushy and then switch off the stove.
Allow the mixture to reach temperature and then transfer to a blender or food processor and blend to make a paste. If it's too thick, add some water.
Strain the mixture with the help of a large strainer to get a smooth, creamy paste.
Heat around 1 teaspoon of butter in a pan.
Add 1 very finely chopped garlic and saute for a few seconds or until its raw smell goes away.
Add turmeric powder. ½ a teaspoon red chili powder, and around ¼ teaspoon kasoori methi. Saute for a few seconds.
Add paneer cubes and saute for a minute.
Next, add strained onion-tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add cream. Mix and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add garam masala and the remaining kasoori methi. Mix everything and switch off the stove.
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Notes
Don't overcook paneer otherwise, it will turn chewy.
Don't overcook onions too, if they turn brown the color of the gravy will get spoiled.
Use Kashmiri red chili powder as it only gives a bright red color to the dish without adding heat.
To give the dish a brighter red color, you may also add around 1-2 teaspoons of readymade tomato paste.
You may also add a few strands of saffron after cooking cream. It will not only give a nice color to the dish but will also add a very nice royal flavor to this royal dish.
Some people also add a few drops of kewra water to shahi paneer. I don't like the aroma and taste of kewra in savory dishes so have skipped it. If you want, you can add 1-2 drops of kewra water once the curry is ready.
Powdered spices get burned very fast so don't leave them unattended and saute them for a few seconds only. You can also mix them with 1-2 teaspoons of water before adding them to the pot.
Adjust the amount of butter and cream as per your liking.
More recipe tips and tricks are shared in the post above, please follow them to make this recipe.