Paneer Butter Masala

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Paneer Butter Masala

This paneer butter masala is a curry lover’s dream!! Soft paneer dunked in a creamy, silky, super flavorful and delicious curry. My easy paneer recipe will help you make the best butter paneer that tastes better than anything from a restaurant. Make this once, I am sure you will never order it in a restaurant. Serve it with butter naan, roti or Basmati rice.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 4 Servings
Course: Dinner, Spicy
Cuisine: Indian
Calories: 582
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Marinating and roasting the Paneer for Dhaba Style Paneer Masala
  • 200 grams  Paneer, diced into half inch cubes
  • ¼ tbsp salt
  • ¼ tbsp  turmeric powder
  • ¼ tbsp garam masala
  • ½ tbsp  red chilli powder
  • ½ tbsp  besan (Indian Chickpea Flour)
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying the paneer
Gravy for the Dhaba Style Paneer Masala
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • ½ tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1.5 cups  onions, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 2 tbsp  ginger garlic paste
  • 1 tbsp red chilli powder
  • ½ tbsp black pepper powder
  • 1 tbsp coriander powder
  • ½ tbsp turmeric powder
  • ½ tbsp garam masala powder
  • 1 tbsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek powder)
  • 1.5 tbsp besan   (Indian Chickpea Flour)
  • 500 grams  tomatoes, pureed in a mixie
  • ½ tbsp sugar
  • ¼ cup cow milk (optional) – check notes
  • ¼ cup  dairy cream (optional) – check notes
  • 3 sprigs  coriander leaves, finely chopped

Method
 

Marinating and roasting the Paneer for Dhaba Style Paneer Masala
  1. Dice the paneer into half inch cubes. Add it to a bowl. To the paneer cubes, add in the salt, turmeric powder, garam masala, red chilli powder and half a teaspoon of besan (Indian chickpea flour). Mix well to combine. Marinate the paneer for 15-20 minutes. Heat oil in a pan (preferably non stick) and add in the paneer pieces. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the paneer is nice and golden. Remove and set aside on a plate.
Gravy for the Dhaba Style Paneer Masala
  1. In the same pan in which we fried the paneer, add in a little more oil and ghee. Add in the cumin seeds and finely chopped onions. Make sure to finely chop the onions. Alternatively, you can grate the onions in a food processor and add. Also add in the salt along with the onions. The salt will help the onions cook faster. After about five minutes of sauteing on a medium flame, the onions would be soft. Add in the ginger garlic paste and continue to saute for a good five minutes more.
  2. Once the onions are nice and brown, reduce the flame to low. On a low flame, add in the red chilli powder and black pepper powder. If you want a spicy paneer masala, adjust the chilli powder according to your taste. Add in the coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and kasuri methi. Kasuri methi is dried fenugreek powder. Saute for a few seconds.Note: If you add the spice powders when the pan is really hot and the flame is high, the spices tend to burn. So always add spices having the flame low so the spices stay fragrant and does not burn.
  3. Add in the Besan – Indian chickpea flour. Do not add a lot of besan. I have added about 1.5 tablespoon of besan. Roast the besan along with the other ingredients for half a minute.
  4. Grind the tomatoes to a puree in a mixie. Add in the pureed tomatoes to the pan. Add half a teaspoon of sugar to the pan. Saute for around 10-12 minutes stirring constantly so the tomato mixture does not scorch at the bottom.
  5. Grind the tomatoes to a puree in a mixie. Add in the pureed tomatoes to the pan. Add half a teaspoon of sugar to the pan. Saute for around 10-12 minutes stirring constantly so the tomato mixture does not scorch at the bottom.
  6. Grind the tomatoes to a puree in a mixie. Add in the pureed tomatoes to the pan. Add half a teaspoon of sugar to the pan. Saute for around 10-12 minutes stirring constantly so the tomato mixture does not scorch at the bottom.

Notes

The milk and cream is optional. If you are making this for an everyday curry and do not want it to be rich, then omit the milk and the cream and it still comes out really great.