The best Punjabi shahi paneer recipe! Deliciously flavorful, aromatic, rich, creamy, and restaurant-style paneer gravy. It will surely become your new favorite paneer dish at home!
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❤️You’ll Love This Recipe Because
- This homemade shahi paneer is 100 times better than the restaurant one.
- Shahi means ‘Royal’. Yes, it makes a rich and heavy main dish. Perfect for special occasion family dinner or guest dinner.
- You can make ahead of time and reheat at the time of serving.
- It has a medium spicy taste with a slight hint of sweetness.
Little History:
The original shahi paneer is from Mughalai cuisine. It has a white gravy made from onion and yogurt. No tomatoes are added. Full of nuts saffron and aromatic spices. Very few spice powders are used in the gravy hence it has mild yet tasty flavors. I have shared the Mughlai paneer recipe.
This recipe is the Punjabi version of shahi paneer. Of course, it is inspired by the Mughlai version but with a completely different taste profile. Tomatoes and spices (along with saffron & aromatics) are used here, so it has orangey-red color gravy just like typical Punjabi gravies.
Very few restaurants here in the USA serve a white gravy version. Most of them have a Punjabi version on their menu.
🧾Ingredients You’ll Need
Here is the pic of restaurant-style shahi paneer ingredients. I forgot to include sugar in the photo here. All the ingredients are easily available in any Indian grocery store.
Ingredient Notes
- Paneer: It is available in the frozen section in Indian grocery stores. I prefer nanak, gopi brand. I have tried brar and swad brands are ok too. Occasionally I make homemade paneer, but for convenience, I mostly use store-bought.
- Ghee: It adds richness and nice flavor. You can use oil but you will miss the flavor. Or closest substitution is unsalted butter.
- Cashew nuts: helps to make thick, nutty, rich gravy
- Whole spices (cloves, cinnamon, green cardamoms): these are added while boiling the onion. Then DO NOT discard the spices, grind them along with onions into the fine paste.
- Cardamom powder: This makes the gravy aromatic. You must add this to the end. After adding, do not boil or simmer the gravy otherwise it loses its aroma.
- Saffron: It is crushed and added into the warm cream, so it releases its color and flavor at most.
🎥Watch The Recipe Video
🍳Step By Step Photo Instructions
1) Soak cashew nuts in hot water for 15-20 minutes.
2) Warm up the heavy cream in the microwave for a few seconds. Take few saffron strands, crush and add to the warm cream. Mix and keep it aside. Over time saffron releases its flavor and color into the cream.
3) Now take onion, ginger, garlic, green chili, cloves, cinnamon and cardamoms in a saucepan. Also, add ⅓ cup of water and turn the heat on medium. Let it cook for 8-10 minutes or till the onions become soft. Let it cool down.
4) Now make three kinds of purees in the following order: First, make cashew paste. Then grind cooked onion into a fine paste and then grind roughly chopped tomatoes into a puree.
5) Heat the ghee in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add prepared onion paste.
6) Cook with stirring occasionally till it comes thick. It may take around 5-6 minutes.
7) Now add tomato puree and salt.
8) Mix, cook till all the moisture evaporated and it becomes a thick paste. So stir in between and make sure that it is not sticking to the sides and bottom of the pan. If it is spluttering too much then you can partially cover the pan.
9) Now add red chili powder, coriander powder, and black pepper powder. Mix well and cook for a minute.
10) Now mix in cashew paste, water, and sugar.
11) Simmer for 5-6 minutes. Do stir in between.
12) Now add garam masala and kasoori methi (crushed between your palm). Mix well.
13) Add paneer cubes. Mix and simmer for 1-2 minutes.
14) Now add saffron-cream mixture. Mix and let it come to a simmer.
15) Lastly, add cardamom powder and turn off the stove.
16) Stir well and it is ready to serve.
🍽Serving Idea:
- Serve shahi paneer with garlic naan or tandoori roti or laccha paratha. Serve Indian onion salad (aka pyaaz lachha) and salted lassi on side.
- Instead of serving with Indian breads, this gravy tastes good with plain basmati rice or jeera rice.
💭Expert Tips To Make BEST Shahi Paneer:
- You should not simmer for longer after adding paneer pieces. Otherwise, paneer will get chewy.
- If making ahead of time for guests. Then do not add paneer and cardamom powder beforehand. At the time of serving when you re-heat, add these two. So paneer stays soft and cardamom does not lose it’s aroma and flavor.
- Always crush kasoori methi between your palm before adding. By doing so, it releases its flavor at most.
- Sometimes, kasoori methi catches up moisture (if living in a humid climate) and you cannot crush into powder. In that case, toast it into the microwave for 45 seconds. Let cool down and then crush.
FAQs
Cut the paneer into big square pieces. Then cut the square piece diagonally to make triangles.
No, it does not. Boiled onions mean cooked onions. So it sure doesn’t give a raw taste.
You can almonds or melon seeds (Magaz seeds/ magastari)
Check Out More Restaurant Style Gravy Recipes
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Note: this recipe was originally published in Jan 2016, I have learned so much over the years and now it is modified slightly to make it even better in July 2020.
📋 Recipe Card
Punjabi Shahi Paneer (Restaurant Style)
Ingredients
For cashew paste:
- 7-8 Cashew nuts
- ¼ cup Hot water
For saffron-cream mixture:
- ¼ cup Heavy whipping cream or fresh cream or malai (Warm)
- 6-7 strands Saffron crushed
For boiled onion paste:
- 1 medium or ¾ cup Red onion roughly chopped
- 1 Green chili roughly chopped
- ½ inch Ginger peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic chopped
- 2 Cloves
- 2 Green cardamoms
- ½ inch Cinnamon stick
- ⅓ cup Water
For shahi paneer recipe:
- 6 oz or or 170 grams Paneer cut into triangles or cubes
- 2 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter)
- 2 medium or 1 ¼ cups Tomatoes chopped and pureed
- Salt to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoon Red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Black pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon Sugar
- 1 cup Water
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala
- 1 teaspoon Kasoori methi (Dried fenugreek leaves) lightly crushed
- ⅛ teaspoon Green cardamom seeds powder
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Instructions
Prep:
- Soak cashew nuts in hot water for 15-20 minutes.
- Warm up the heavy cream in the microwave for a few seconds. Take few saffron strands, crush and add to the warm cream. Mix and keep it aside.
- Now take onion paste ingredients (onion, ginger, garlic, green chili, cloves, cinnamon and cardamoms, and water) in a saucepan. Turn the heat on medium. Let it cook for 8-10 minutes or till the onions become soft. Let it cool down.
- Now make three kinds of purees in the following order: First, make cashew paste. Then grind cooked onion into a fine paste and then grind roughly chopped tomatoes into a puree.
Making Shahi Paneer:
- Heat the ghee in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add prepared onion paste. Cook with stirring occasionally till it comes thick. It may take around 5-6 minutes.
- Now add tomato puree and salt. Mix, cook till all the moisture evaporated and it becomes a thick paste. So stir in between and make sure that it is not sticking to the sides and bottom of the pan. If it is spluttering too much then you can partially cover the pan.
- Now add red chili powder, coriander powder, and black pepper powder. Mix well and cook for a minute.
- Now mix in cashew paste, water, and sugar. Simmer for 5-6 minutes. Do stir in between.
- Now add garam masala and kasoori methi (crushed between your palm). Mix well.
- Add paneer cubes. Mix and simmer for 1-2 minutes.
- Now add saffron-cream mixture. Mix and let it come to a simmer.
- Lastly, add cardamom powder and turn off the stove.
- Stir well and shahi paneer is ready to serve.
Notes
- Cardamom powder must be added at the end of the cooking process. After adding, do not boil or simmer the gravy otherwise it loses its aroma.
- You should not simmer for longer after adding paneer pieces. Otherwise, paneer will get chewy.
- Always crush kasoori methi between your palm before adding. By doing so, it releases its flavor at most. Sometimes, kasoori methi catches up moisture (if living in a humid climate) and you cannot crush into powder. In that case, toast it into the microwave for 45 seconds. Let cool down and then crush.
S
Delicious!!
Kanan Patel
Thank you