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Kadai paneer gravy recipe – a restaurant style paneer dish . Paneer cubes are simmered in spicy, slightly tangy, delicious yet VERY EASY to make gravy mixed with freshly ground masala.
The name “Kadai Paneer” comes from the utensil used for making this dish. and that is Kadai meaning ‘Indian wok’. This is essential in Indian cooking. Almost every household uses kadai for day to day cooking. Just for the photo purpose I have used non-stick pan.
The restaurants serve two kind of kadai paneer. Many serve kadai paneer with gravy. The one I shared here today. Many serve semi-dry version (a subzi kind). I will share that in future. Both tastes fantastic on its own. Its all about the preferences.
The texture of this gravy recipe is not smooth like palak paneer or paneer butter masala. But it is slightly chunky because of the chopped tomatoes in it.
Always use ripe tomato. Unripe and sour tomatoes makes tangy gravy.
As I said here we are adding chopped tomatoes. So as it gets soft, mash them with spatula. It makes thick gravy. Otherwise the water and tomatoes stay separated. To avoid that also simmer for good 5 minutes after adding water and capsicum. When the curry is served in the plate. Water is separating from gravy and running in the plate. I hate it when this happens.
The kadai masala is freshly ground here. and it is made from coriander seeds and dried red chilies. As always freshly ground masala makes the dish very aromatic.
The bright red color of the gravy comes from red tomatoes and dried red chilies.
Here I have not added extra red chili powder. the dried chilies were spicy enough for me. So taste the curry and adjust the spice level.
Check out other kadai recipes
Kadai mushrooms // Vegetable kadai gravy // Kadai bhindi
How to make kadai paneer recipe (Step by Step Photos):
1) Dry roast the coriander seeds and dried chilies on medium heat. Keep stirring constantly. As it toasted you will get nice aroma of coriander seeds. also chillies will get darker in color. Remove it to a plate or bowl and let it cool completely. NOTE: I have broke the chilies and removed the seeds to reduce the spice level. Seeds and stems of the chilies are not good for your body (my MIL says that).
2) Once cooled, grind into a powder using spice grinder or coffee grinder.
3) In the same pan heat the oil on medium heat. Once hot add chopped onions. Sprinkle some salt to speed up the process.
4) Cook them till it gets translucent.
5) Add garlic paste. Alternately you use freshly grated garlic.
6) Mix and cook for 35-40 seconds. or till the raw smell goes away.
7) Add ground spice powder.
8) Stir and saute for a minute.
9) Add chopped tomatoes and remaining salt.
10) Mix well and let it cook.
11) It will start to leave its water and will get soften. Keep mashing the soften tomatoes with back of the spatula.
12) As it cooks, all the moisture will evaporates. it starts to leave the sides of the pan.
13) Then add pureed tomato.
14) Mix it well. Instead you can use 2 tablespoons of store bought tomato puree for brighter color.
15) stir in garam masala and kasoori methi.
16) Cook till again it leave the sides. And oil should ooze out.
17) Add 1 cup of water or as required to make gravy consistency. Add capsicums. Cook for 4-5 minutes, so it gets cooked.
18) Add paneer. stir gently so paneer cubes does not break.
19) Finally add cream.
20) Stir well and let comes a boil. Then turn of the gas heat. If you like sprinkle some chopped cilantro.
Serving suggestion: Serve this kadai paneer gravy with paratha, naan or kulcha. Also have some kachumber salad or onion lachha (sliced onions w/ drizzle of lemon juice) on side. Sometimes I do serve salted chaas or masala chaas on side.
Kadai Paneer Recipe (Restaurant style Kadai Paneer Gravy)
THE BEST kadai paneer made with homemade fresh kadai masala.
Ingredients (1 cup = 240 ml)
To dry roast and grind into kadai masala:
- 1 tablespoon Coriander seeds (sabut dhaniya)
- 4 Dried red chilies broken and seeds removed
For kadai paneer recipe:
- 2 tablespoons Oil
- ½ cup Onion finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Garlic paste or freshly grated
- 2 ½ cups Tomato finely chopped
- 1 Tomato pureed
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 2 teaspoons Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup Water
- ½ cup Capsicum (Green bell pepper) cubed
- 7 oz or 200 grams Paneer cut into cubes
- 3-4 tablespoons Heavy whipping cream or fresh cream or malai
- 1 tablespoon Cilantro or coriander leaves finely chopped
Instructions
Making kadai masala:
Dry roast the coriander seeds and dried chilies on medium heat with stirring constantly.
- As it toasted you will get nice aroma of coriander seeds. also chillies will get darker in color.
- Remove it to a plate or bowl and let it cool completely.
Then grind into a powder using spice grinder or coffee grinder.
Making kadai paneer gravy recipe:
Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add onions and sprinkle little salt, cook till onions get soft and translucent.
Then mix in garlic paste and cook for 30 seconds or till the raw smell of garlic goes away.
Now add prepared kadai masala and cook for a minute.
Mix in chopped tomatoes and remaining salt, cook till they get soft and mushy, Do mash them using back of spatula as it gets soft.
Now add pureed tomato and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Mix in garam masala and kasuri methi along with 1 cup of water to get gravy consistency and bring it to a simmer.
Add capsicums and cook for 4-5 minutes, so it gets cooked.
Add paneer and mix gently and simmer for 2 minutes.
lastly mix in cream and cook for a minute. Then turn off the stove.
Notes
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate for 1 serving
Hi ! What I really love about your website is that if I alter the no. of servings and then automatically all the ingredients automatically gets updated. And of course the nutrition facts. Please keep up the good work ☺
Thank you Ranju.
Glad to know that site and recipes are helpful to you
How can we change no of servings
in the recipe card, I have mentioned the serving size. You can click up and down button to change the serving size.
Sorry, Somehow auto correct has made Kanan to Kajal and I haven’t noticed, I can update the name, Thank you for all recipes.
No worries.
Glad to know that you liked my recipes.
Awesome recipe..very easy to make & tastes yum.
Glad to see you liked it.
CAN I REPLACE MALAI BY DESGI GHEE?
No you cannot.
Skip the malai.
V nice thanks for sharing your receipe I hv tried 2 to 3 receipe of yours…n all were very delicious….my hubby n son praised me a lot…thanks
Good to know that your are enjoying the recipes.
Happy Cooking!!!
The color of gravy turned out to be very dark.. what went wrong??
you may have roasted the dried chilies and coriander seeds for longer time and it gets too dark or almost black.
Superrr..thanks sharing kadai paneer recipes
you’re welcome
I was wondering if I could use Amul cream (25% fat) if heavy cream is not available? Would this alter the taste drastically?
yes you can use amul cream. It wont change the taste
Thanks a lot for posting the recipe on your blog. It was so easy for me to make it because of your wonderful way of explaining the steps. Everyone appreciated the sabzi I made, and the credit goes to you ma’am.
Glad to know Mansi that everyone liked the sabji. Thanks for the positive feedback.
Hey I tried this recipe today n it turned superbbbbb.. Thanks for sharing 🙂
good to know that. thanks for the feedback
Thank you for all your effort. Your website has made cooking very easy and I must say it has changed my perception about cooking because I always tried to run away from cooking lolzz. Can you please add a page about some essential items like spices, it will be good for beginners like me !
Happy to hear that site is helpful to you. I will try to write and post about this topic
I never knew I could cook well until I tried your recipes !!!
awesome, great to hear.
nic dic
Such a delicious recipe!! everyone delighted and me getting compliments <3 yay 🙂 I have tried ur recipes for the 1st time; which is good for me 😛
Thank you very much !!
That’s great. Good to hear that kadai paneer came out good. Thanks for the positive review.
i will try palak paner at home.
Can i substitute malai for full cream milk?
Yes you can use malai
I am a 17 year old girl and am just learning to cook. I have been using your recopies for the past few days and I have got to tell you that they turn out really well. People have a hard time believinbelieving that it’s my first time making the dish. Thank you so much.
Great to hear that recipes are helpful to you. A long way to go. 🙂
Hi,
You recipe is very good , but how to prepare fresh cream that you added at the last.
Here I have used Store bought heavy cream. You can use Malai which you get from top of the milk. If that malai is too thick then you can thin it out by adding splash of milk.
Hi.. I tried the recipe and it turns out to be a great success..Thanks loads
Btw can you please tell me the recipe of the naan bread just beside the curry? I would like to try that.
Thanks 🙂
Nice to hear that you liked this curry, I will be sharing naan recipe soon.
Nice paneer recipe I tried it but made a small change. I added butter towards the end and added some tomato paste for richer color. Please visit my website given above for some of my recipes. Will visit you more in the future.
Thanks Lakshmy. will visit your blog.
It’s owesome receipe,I have not Word For this.i love it.
Thank you Veera.
That looks delicious, foreword it to my sis she gonna liked it too. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for spread the word. Hope your sister likes it.
I make it tonight, yummy! Thank you!
(I change paneer to tofu, still good!)
Nice to know that you liked it.
owesome receipe, thanks.
owesome
You’re welcome Mary.
Tried & found absolutly mouth watering,THANKS.
Glad to hear that you liked kadai paneer
Hi
We tried this recipe for dinner tonight and it turned out absolutely delicious and we felt like having high class north indian restaurant food.No words to express the taste of this recipe.One of my north indian friends joined us today for dinner asked us whether we ordered and got this from restaurant,the famous one near by.What else do i have to say about this recipe?! I am going to make again tomorrow as we enjoyed thoroughly. Thanks you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe with us.
Senthil
Thank you so much Senthil. Very happy to hear that you are enjoying.
Hi I simply love paneer dishes.. going to try this one for dinner today. I’m from Mauritius but I’m crazy after Indian recipes
Hope you enjoy it.
It says to add ” cream” in this recipe, but what type of cream is this asking for? Heavy cream? Half and half? Will any type work?
Recipe calls for heavy cream (malai)
the step by step photograhs are excellent and they make sure the recipe is made by the reader exactly as told . your language is simple, no over-action and has a natural touch- overall makes an interesting reading. I have to try out yet .I was wondering if the restaurants use cashew paste or khas-khas paste based gravy.
Than you for your kind words. Every restaurant makes each and every gravy different way. I have used cashew nuts in restaurant style shahi paneer and palak paneer recipes. But I do not think that kadai paneer needs to more creamy, rich.
helloo today i tried your recipe and seriously it turned out to be the best dish ever made…for the first time my mom said its a 10/10 dish…thank you so much…looking forward for other Delicious recipes
happy to hear that it came out good and you got appreciation. Thanks for the feedback and hope you enjoy other recipes as well.
I am paneer crazy. This recipe is simply delicious
Thank you Meera. Happy that you liked it.
I made this..such a lovly recipie..seriously<3
i turned out to be really very very nice ..
AMAZING…:)
Happy to hear that it turned out nice. 🙂
I tried this recipe and it came out very well! Left us wanting for more 🙂 I think the red chilli/coriander step made the difference!
Thanks for your feedback. you got it right, freshly ground masala always make a difference in any dish.
Can I use tomato puree instead of tomatoes…
yes you can use ‘tomato puree from fresh tomatoes’ instead of tomatoes. only difference in the curry you will see is the texture of the gravy. other than that taste will be same.
Is this Dish spicy due to 4 red chillies
It depends on what kind of red chilies you are using. I have used regular long red chilies which is medium spicy.
If your dried chilies are spicy then reduce the quantity of chilies. For less spicy use Kashmiri red chilies.
Thanks for the reply..Now i will surely try this dish
I tried this recipe couple of days back and it came out perfect!! My daughter loves paneer and this was targetted mainly for her, but both me and my husband also loved it! We have a very good indian restaurant near us and they serve great food…this curry turned out exactly like their kadai paneer, I have decided that this can be added to my menus when we have guests!:-)
Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Thanks for your feedback. I am glad that everyone loved this kadai paneer recipe. even this is my hubby’s fav curry.
hie , i wanted to know which red dried chillies did you use? the Round button chillies or the long chillies??
I used long red chilies. If you are looking for less spicy then use long kashmiri dry red chilies.
Kadai Paneer looks so yummy and creamy, juts like in the restaurants. Super.