Shahi Paneer Recipe | Shahi Paneer Masala | Shahi Paneer Ki Sabji with detailed photo and video recipe. A classical and premium North Indian or Punjabi curry made with paneer in dry fruit sauce. Unlike other traditional paneer-based curries, this curry is creamy and sweeter due to the use of dry fruits. It is an ideal gravy-based curry that can be quickly served with roti, bread, and rice.
As mentioned in my previous paragraph, this recipe is a mild or less spicy paneer-based curry. As the name suggests, shahi means royal due to the use of cream in it. Consequently, using the cream would lower the spice level, thus offering a creamy and rich paneer gravy. I am not a huge fan of such mild sauce, and I tend to order or make spicy kadai paneer or paneer tikka masala. Yet there is a huge fan following, particularly outside India, where many prefer less spicy meals. In addition, some prefer mild spicy and sweetness in their curry, and this recipe is an ideal choice.
Before wrapping up, here are some tips, suggestions and variations for shahi paneer ki sabji. Firstly, I used tomatoes and onions to prepare the creamy sauce for this recipe. Some prefer to use just onions and skip tomatoes to get the yellow colour. But I like my gravy to be reddish or orangish in colour, so I have used both. Secondly, you can also add cashews and almonds to dry fruits. You can experiment and add more options like walnuts, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds and pistachios. Lastly, you can make the same gravy sauce and replace the paneer with other ingredients like mushrooms and potatoes to create different variants. Moreover, you can also use meat chunks to make meat-based shahi gravy.
I have posted another Paneer Recipes Collection with a texture and taste similar to this Shahi Paneer Masala recipe. It mainly includes recipes like paneer hyderabadi, paneer ghee roast, paneer fried rice, paneer biryani, paneer butter masala, malai barfi, paneer frankie, matar paneer, paneer tikka masala, paneer chilla. Further to these, I would also like to highlight my other detailed recipe collection, such as,
About Shahi Paneer Masala
It is a classical North Indian rich and creamy curry recipe prepared with a combination of dry fruits with onion sauce and paneer cubes. In Shahi Paneer, the word ‘Shahi’ literally means royal in Hindi, and the reference is attached mainly because of its rich and luxurious profile. It is also believed that the recipe and the gravy sauce were first introduced during the Mughal empires and served to the royal family. Hence, it carries the name and serves it on auspicious and religious occasions.
A simple and creamy Shahi Paneer Masala Recipe is prepared in many ways. The most common way is to make it with a combination of nuts like almonds, cashews, and walnuts and diced onions. The tomato is skipped as it does not yield a rich colour, however in some variation, even tomatoes are added. Adding tomatoes will change their colour and texture, and it is typically added in dhaba-style recipes. Further, the curry can also be used as a multi-purpose sauce and other vegetables and meat tenders can be added to the same sauce.
Video Recipe
Recipe Card for Shahi Paneer Masala
Shahi Paneer Sabji Recipe | Shahi Paneer Masala - Hotel Style
Ingredients
for onion tomato puree:
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 pods cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 1 pod black cardamom
- 3 cloves
- 1 onion, sliced
- 3 clove garlic
- 1 inch ginger, chopped
- 2 tomato, chopped
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
for curry:
- 1 tbsp butter
- ½ tsp shahi jeera
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
- ¼ cup cream / malai
- 15 cubes paneer / cottage cheese
- few threads saffron / kesar
- ½ tsp kasuri methi, crushed
- ¼ tsp garam masala
Instructions
- firstly, in a kadai heat 1 tbsp butter and saute 2 pods cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon,1 pod black cardamom and 3 cloves.
- Now add 1 onion, 3 cloves garlic and 1 inch ginger.
- Saute slightly until onion softens.
- further, add 2 tomato and saute slightly.
- Also, add 1 cup water and 1 tsp salt. mix well.
- Cover and boil for 20 minutes or until it softens completely.
- Cool completely and transfer to a blender. blend to smooth paste without adding any water.
- Sieve the puree making sure the puree is smooth and silky. keep aside.
- In a large kadai heat 1 tbsp butter and saute ½ tsp shahi jeera and 1 bay leaf.
- Keeping flame on low add ¼ tsp turmeric and 1 tsp chilli powder.
- Saute slightly until the spices turn aromatic.
- Add in the prepared tomato-onion puree and mix well.
- Further, add ¼ cup cream and mix until everything is well combined.
- Add in 15 cubes paneer, few threads saffron and mix well.
- Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until flavours are absorbed well.
- Now add ½ tsp kasuri methi and ¼ tsp garam masala. mix well.
- Finally, enjoy shahi paneer with roti or garlic naan.
How to Make Shahi Paneer with Step-by-step photos
- Firstly, heat 1 tbsp butter in a kadai and saute two pods of cardamom, 1-inch cinnamon, one black cardamom, and three cloves.
- Now add one onion, three cloves of garlic and 1 inch of ginger.
- Saute slightly until the onion softens.
- Further, add 2 tomato and saute slightly.
- Also, add 1 cup water and 1 tsp salt. Mix well.
- Cover and boil for 20 minutes or until it softens completely.
- Cool completely and transfer to a blender. Blend to a smooth paste without adding any water.
- Sieve the puree making sure the puree is smooth and silky. Keep aside.
- In a large kadai heat 1 tbsp butter and saute ½ tsp shahi jeera and 1 bay leaf.
- Keeping flame on low add ¼ tsp turmeric and 1 tsp chilli powder.
- Saute slightly until the spices turn aromatic.
- Add in the prepared tomato-onion puree and mix well.
- Furthermore, add ¼ cup cream and mix until everything is well combined.
- Add in 15 cubes of paneer a few threads of saffron and mix well.
- Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until flavours are absorbed well.
- Now add ½ tsp kasuri methi and ¼ tsp garam masala. Mix well.
- Finally, enjoy shahi paneer with roti or garlic naan.
Notes
- Firstly, adding cream makes the curry rich and flavourful.
- Also, do not make curry spicy as it needs to be mild.
- Additionally, sieve the puree to get a silky smooth texture.
- Finally, the shahi paneer recipe tastes great when served hot.