Paneer Makhani or Paneer Makhanwala is probably one of THE most popular dishes in the Indian Cuisine. This dish is so rich and creamy – the powdered cashew nuts is what makes this dish rich, and the heavy cream and butter are what make this dish so creamy!
Paneer Makhani is thought to have originated in Delhi, by a Punjabi cook working at a restaurant called Moti Mahal. He made this dish by adding freshly made Butter (Makkhan in Hindi) to his paneer gravy.
Soft panner cubes are cooked in a delicious gravy of onions, tomatoes and masalas, which are then blended together and sieved to give this dish its smooth texture.
Our recipe is as simple as it can get, with ingredients that can be found in your pantry! So if you do try it, drop us a line in the comments section below!
SERVES: 4
COOKING TIME: 2 Hours
DIFFICULTY: MEDIUM
Ingredients
To Make The Gravy/Sauce
2 medium sized onions, chopped into big chunks
6 medium sized tomatoes, pureed
2 inch piece of ginger, julienne
2 tsp red chili powder
5 green cardamoms
salt, to taste
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp chaat masala
1 green chili, deseeded and chopped fine
2 tsp kasoori methi
2 cups water (can be varied)
¼ cup cashew powder
To Make The Paneer Makhani
½ cup cream
¼ cup butter
2 tbsp sugar
½ cup tomato ketchup
a pinch of red food colouring, optional
1 bay leaf
500 gms paneer (cottage cheese)
Instructions
(1) To make the gravy for the paneer makhani, take a pan on medium add. To that, add the onions, tomato puree, ginger, red chili powder, cardamons, salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, chaat masala, green chilies, and kasoori methi.
(2) Give it a stir and add in water as needed. The water can be added on how thick you want your gravy. For our gravy, we added 2 cups of water.
(3) Cook this on a medium heat for about 10 mins, stirring in between. Then add the cashew nut powder, give it a final stir and take it off the heat.
(4) Let the mixture cool a little bit, and transfer it to a blender. Blend the gravy mixture until it is smooth and there are no lumps in it.
(5) Pass this mixture through a sieve and add it back into the cooking pan.
(6) Add the cream to the gravy and let bring it to a boil, cooking for about 5 minutes.
(7) Next, add the butter, sugar, tomato ketchup, red food colour and bay leaf. Finally, add the paneer cubes, cook for about 5 minutes and take it off the heat. Serve hot!
Step By Step Instructions
This is the list of ingredients for the Paneer Makhani.
To a pan on medium heat, add the onions.
Then, add the tomato puree.
Next, add the ginger.
Then, add the red chili powder.
Add the cardamoms.
Add the salt.
Then, add the cumin powder.
Add the coriander powder.
Add the chaat masala.
Add the green chilies.
Add the kauri methi and give this mixture a good stir.
After stirring it together, add the water. The amount of water you add depends on how thick or think you want your gravy.
We added about 2 cups of water
Next, add the cashew powder and stir it in.
Let the mixture cool a little bit, and transfer it to a blender.
Blend the gravy mixture to a smooth consistency and there are no lumps in it.
Pass this mixture through a sieve back into the cooking pan.
Let it cook on a medium flame for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After about 5 minutes, add the butter.
Next, add the sugar.
Then, add the tomato ketchup.
Add the red food colour – this is optional.
But, we do add it sometimes to give a dish that deep colour that we normally see at restaurants.
Add the bay leaf.
And finally, add the paneer cubes.
Let the paneer cook in the gravy for about 5 minutes and then take it off the heat.
Serve hot.
The day we made this, we chose to eat it with plain, simple rice (a bit unconventional, we know). But you can try it with Plain Naan or Garlic Naan!
We, at Desi Daawat love our paneer! If you’re a big fan of panner like us, check out our array of Paneer Dishes – savoury as well as sweet!
Savoury Paneer Dishes: Kadhai Paneer, Methi Malai Mutter Paneer, Paneer Tikka, Mutter Paneer, Paneer Samosas, Haryali Paneer, Haryali Paneer Tikka, Haryali Paneer Tikka Biryani, Paneer Chili Dry, Paneer Butter Masala, Aachari Paneer, Aloo Tikki Stuffed With Paneer, Paneer Makhani (Navratri), Dry Cashew Paneer (Navratri), and many more!!
Sweet Paneer Dishes: Rasmalai, Kesar Rasgulla, Kalakand, Til Ladoo, Malai Ladoo