Paneer Lababdar

Paneer lababdar is a scrumptious restaurant style curry dish with rich, creamy and super flavorful onion-tomato gravy. You’ll get a taste of paneer in every bite as we are adding grated paneer as well as cubes of paneer in the gravy.

Paneer lababdar in a steel serving wil with glass in the back.

What Is The Meaning Of Lababdar?

I never knew the meaning of lababdar. So googled it and landed on a Facebook page. It explains that “Lababdar” means a strong desire for something and a complete surrender to it. Lababdar as a term is attached to this dish to signify the complete surrender of one’s taste buds to that dish.

❤️ You’ll Love Paneer Lababdar Recipe

Taste, Texture & Flavor:

  • Medium spicy (Customizable spice level by decreasing or increasing the amount of chili powder)
  • Super rich & creamy (thanks to cashews, butter and heavy cream)
  • Aromatic (when tempering made with whole spices in hot oil they release their flavor and aroma, especially mace and black cardamom hit differently) 
  • Slightly tangy & mildly sweet.
  • Not smooth gravy like paneer butter masala (here grated paneer adds some texture to the gravy)

This paneer lababdar is a rich and luxurious main dish. It is served with lachha paratha or garlic naan. Perfect for festivals or special occasion family dinner, or guest dinners.

🧾 Ingredient Notes

Here is the pic of the ingredients you’ll need to make this North Indian restaurant style paneer lababdar. All of them are easily available, nothing fancy here.

Paneer lababdar ingredients in bowl and spoons with labels.
  • Paneer: It is available in the frozen section or the dairy section of Indian grocery stores. Occasionally I make homemade paneer, but for convenience, I mostly use store-bought.
    • TIP: Keep the paneer cubes in warm water until you are ready to use them. This way paneer absorbs some water and becomes soft. Skip this if using a homemade one.
  • Whole spices (cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, green cardamoms, black cardamom and mace): These are added to the hot oil as a tempering. They add a nice aromatic flavor to the paneer lababdar gravy.
    • TIP: Always make sure that the oil is hot when you add the spices (never add to cold or warm oil). 
  • Red onions: Please use red onions (Yellow or white won’t add that nice flavor in Indian curry recipes).
  • Ginger Garlic: I have freshly grated ginger, and garlic here. You can use readymade ginger garlic paste here.
  • Tomatoes: Always use ripe tomatoes. Unripe tomatoes make the gravy sour.
    • TIP: When it comes to Indian gravy dishes, I highly recommend using Roma tomatoes. Stay away from the beefsteaks or wine-ripe tomatoes which make sour gravy.
  • Cashew nuts: It helps to make thick, nutty, rich gravy.
  • Kasoori methi: Always crush kasoori methi between your palm before adding it to the gravy to release its flavor and aroma.
    • TIP: Sometimes because of moisture or humid weather, kasoori methi gets soft and doesn’t crush. If so toast kasoori methi in the microwave or in the pan on the stovetop for a few minutes. Let it cool down completely and now you can crush it easily.

👩‍🍳 How To Make Paneer Lababdar Recipe? (Pics)

1) Soak the cashew nuts in hot water for 15 minutes. 

2) Make a smooth paste out of it. Keep it aside.

Collage of 2 images showing soaked cashews and paste.

3) Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add whole spices and saute for a minute or until you get a nice aroma of the spices.

4) Add chopped onion and cook until they turn light brown.

5) Add ginger garlic paste.

6) Mix and saute for 40-60 seconds or until the raw smell of ginger garlic goes away.

Collage of 4 images showing tempeing whole spices, cooking onion, ginger, garlic paste.

7) Add pureed tomato and slit green chili. 

8) Mix and cook until all the moisture evaporates and it becomes like a thick paste. In the beginning, it may splutter a lot. So partially cover the pan with a lid and do stir in between to make sure that it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once it stops spluttering, you can remove the lid and continue cooking.

9) Add salt, red chili powder, coriander powder and cumin powder.

10) Mix and cook for a minute. 

Collage of 4 images showing adding and cooking tomato puree, spice powders.

11) Add cashew nut paste.

12) Mix and cook for a minute.

13) Add water and let the gravy simmer on medium-low for 5 minutes.

14) Taste the gravy and add sugar accordingly.

Collage of 4 images showing adding and mixing cashew paste, water and sugar.

15) Add garam masala and crushed kasoori methi. Mix well.

16) Add paneer cubes and grated paneer. Mix and let the mixture come to a boil.

17) Add butter and heavy cream. 

18) Mix and cook until butter is melted. Paneer lababdar is ready to serve.

Collage of 4 images showing adding rest spices, paneer and cream.

💭 Expert Tips

  • Avoid using unripe tomatoes. They make the gravy sour. Try to use ripe Roma or plum tomatoes.
  • Adjust the amount of sugar, as per the tanginess of the paneer lababdar gravy. If the tomatoes are less sour then you may need to reduce the sugar amount.
  • Do not simmer the gravy longer after adding paneer otherwise, paneer will get chewy and overcooked.
  • Instead of adding butter at the end of cooking, you can add a dollop of soft butter to the curry right before serving.

🍽 Serving Ideas For Paneer Lababdar

Paneer lababdar garnished with cilantro and a napkin under the serving bowl.

Did you try this paneer lababdar recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.

Paneer Lababdar Recipe

5 from 5 votes
Paneer lababdar in a steel serving wil with glass in the back.
Paneer lababdar is a scrumptious restaurant style curry dish. Here grated and cubed paneer is added into rich, creamy and super flavorful onion-tomato gravy.
Kanan
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Serving Size 3

US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml)

Ingredients

  • 15 Cashew nuts
  • ¼ cup Hot water, to soak cashews
  • 200 grams Paneer , ( cup grated and rest paneer cut into cubes)
  • 2 tablespoons Oil
  • 2 Cloves
  • 1 inch Cinnamon stick
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 2 stands Mace (Javitri)
  • 2 Green cardamoms
  • 1 Black cardamom
  • ½ cup Red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Ginger paste or freshly grated or crushed
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic paste or freshly grated
  • 3 medium Tomatoes, roma or plum (pureed ~ 1 ½ cups)
  • 1 Green chili, slit into half
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Red chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon Coriander powder
  • ½ teaspoon Cumin powder
  • 1 cup Water, for gravy
  • ¼ – ½ teaspoon Sugar
  • ½ teaspoon Garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon Kasoori methi (Dried fenugreek leaves), crushed before added
  • 2 tablespoons Butter
  • ¼ cup Heavy whipping cream or fresh cream or malai

Instructions

  • Soak the cashew nuts in hot water for 15 minutes. Make a smooth paste out of it and keep it aside.
  • Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add whole spices (cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, green cardamoms, black cardamom and mace) and saute for a minute or until you get a nice aroma of the spices.
  • Add chopped onion and cook until they turn light brown.
  • Add ginger garlic paste. Mix and saute for 40-60 seconds or until the raw smell of ginger garlic goes away.
  • Add pureed tomato and slit green chili. Mix and cook until all the moisture evaporates and it becomes like a thick paste. In the beginning, it may splutter a lot. So partially cover the pan with a lid and stir in between to make sure that it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once it stops spluttering, you can remove the lid and continue cooking.
  • Add salt, red chili powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Mix and cook for a minute.
  • Add cashew nut paste. Mix and cook for a minute.
  • Add water and let the gravy simmer on medium-low for 5 minutes.
  • Taste the gravy and add sugar accordingly.
  • Add garam masala and crushed kasoori methi. Mix well.
  • Add paneer cubes and grated paneer. Mix and let the mixture come to a boil.
  • Add butter and heavy cream. Mix and cook until butter is melted. Paneer lababdar is ready to serve.

Notes

  • Keep the paneer cubes in warm water until you are ready to use them. This way paneer absorbs some water and becomes soft. Skip this if using a homemade one.
  • Avoid using unripe tomatoes. They make the gravy sour. Try to use ripe Roma or plum tomatoes.
  • I highly recommend using Roma tomatoes when it comes to the Indian gravy dishes,. Stay away from the beefsteaks or wine-ripe tomatoes which make sour gravy.
  • Adjust the amount of sugar, as per the tanginess of the paneer lababdar gravy. If the tomatoes are less sour then you may need to reduce the sugar amount.
  • Do not simmer the gravy longer after adding paneer otherwise, paneer will get chewy and overcooked.
  • Instead of adding butter at the end of cooking, you can add a dollop of soft butter to the curry right before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 500kcal (25%) | Carbohydrates: 14g (5%) | Protein: 13g (26%) | Fat: 45g (69%) | Saturated Fat: 22g (110%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 86mg (29%) | Sodium: 937mg (39%) | Potassium: 322mg (9%) | Fiber: 4g (16%) | Sugar: 5g (6%) | Vitamin A: 1351IU (27%) | Vitamin C: 14mg (17%) | Calcium: 380mg (38%) | Iron: 2mg (11%)
5 from 5 votes (1 rating without comment)

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20 Comments

  1. Again I made it for 6 people’s, bumper, for me itself didn’t get to eat 😀 . Made it for my dad and non.
    Cooking came out superbly
    Thanks5 stars

  2. Came out good, avoid using green chilli if spicy is not required.
    Any way thanks for recipe. My daughter of fond of paneer.
    Aravind