Serving Suggestions
Serve homemade butter paneer masala with naan bread, paratha, or even roti. Our butter paneer masala recipe uses the simplest ingredients, yet it is super delicious. Tomato, Ginger, and Garlic together make the base for this masala. And this curry has no onions too. Tomatoes - Use Ripe Vine Tomatoes for this curry as they lend the gorgeous color too. You may also use canned tomatoes or crushed tomatoes, but remember the gravy can be a bit too tangy and you will have to adjust the flavours accordingly. Ginger & Garlic - Fresh ginger and garlic are best. But you can use ready chopped ginger and garlic in a jar or store-bought ginger garlic paste. Whole Spices - We use Bay Leaf & Cinnamon. Add them to butter for 20-30 seconds and fry until aromatic. Ground Spices - We add Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder, Ground Cardamom, Ground Coriander & Garam Masala to this curry. I always make a batch of my Instant Garam Masala and store it in my pantry. Have coriander seeds, make the powder at home with my recipe for Ground Coriander. Cream & Cashewnuts - Together they add creaminess and richness to the curry. Water - This is to loosen the curry a bit. Do not use Vegetable stock as the flavors will change largely. Paneer - It is the star ingredient of the curry. We have used store-bought paneer for convenience. Remember to soak them in hot water for at least 10 minutes and see for yourself how soft they are. Coriander - Fresh Coriander leaves ( Cilantro) add flavour and lots of freshness to the paneer masala. Oil & Butter - Use Oil and butter together as this will avoid butter to burn and darken quickly.
Heat 2 tablespoon of butter and oil in a deep saucepan. Add red chillies, ginger, garlic, and saute for a minute.Tip in cashew and saute for another one minute..Add the chopped tomatoes and stir.Cover and cook the tomatoes until they are soft. This takes about 5-6 minutes.Turn off the flame and allow the tomato cashew nut mixture to cool down.Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend into a smooth tomato puree.
Assemble the Paneer Masala
In the same pan, heat the remaining butter and add bayleaf and cinnamon stick. Saute for 30 seconds.Add the blended tomato puree,chilli powder, cardamom powder, coriander powder, salt & sugar.Allow this mixture to cook for 5- 6 minutes or until they slowly leave the side of the pan. Continue to stir when the gravy leaves the side of the pan.Add 1 Cup of water to the gravy.Stir well and allow it to boil for 2 minutes. Add the paneer, garam masala, cream, Kasuri methi to the gravy and mix well..Cook for another one minute and switch off the flame. Garnish with cream, and fresh coriander, and serve hot!
Easy to customize Curry. So easy to substitute and replace dairy ingredients with a Vegan curry. Want to make Butter Cauliflower or Butter Tofu - Use this recipe as a guide. Read the post in detail on substitutions. Curry for every occasion - Perfect delicious curry for weeknight dinners, special occasions, and family gatherings. Freezes well - Curry can be made in advance, is great for batch cooking, and freezes really well. The curry comes with plenty of sauce to soak into the rice too. Try with Steamed white rice, Yellow rice, or even Microwaveable rice for a quick fix.
About this easy Butter Paneer Masala recipe
Pick up the menu card in any Indian restaurant and you are sure to find this dish on the list of creamy Vegetarian curries. This butter paneer masala is a lovely rich curry that is mildly sweet, spicy and creamy that everyone is sure to love. By no means it is a HEALTHY curry! It is easy to make this restaurant-style recipe, right in the comfort of your home in just 30 Minutes. It is essential to use fresh vine tomatoes and not canned ones to achieve the best flavors. The recipe also uses no onions, and stillhas full-on flavour. Recently I had the opportunity to create an Indian Thali for the ASDA Diwali Party Supper club and we did feature this curry in our thali. All the 20+ guests thoroughly enjoyed it and also mentioned this is the BEST Paneer Butter Masala they have ever had.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is Paneer Butter Masala?
Soft Paneer Cubes are served in a creamy curry sauce made with tomatoes, butter, cream and cashews. It is mildly sweet & spicy flavor and pairs well with garlic naan & cumin rice. Nuts - Cashew nuts render a beautiful creaminess and body to this tomato gravy. You may choose to use Melon Seeds, Poppy Seeds, and Almonds as an alternative. Using alternative nuts can slightly vary the flavour too. Color - To obtain rich orange-red hue colour for this gravy, use ripe red tomatoes. Some people do prefer to add food colour or paprika too to enhance the colour of the gravy. Cream & Butter - As the name suggests, Paneer Butter Masala uses butter (of course ! ) & cream generously. Don’t be too skinny in adding them as both the ingredients are essential in imparting the creaminess and rich body to the gravy. Paneer - DO NOT Cook Paneer for too long after adding it to the gravy. It can turn rubbery and chewy by doing so. Process Smooth - Remember to blend the chopped tomatoes, cashew, ginger, garlic and chillies into a smooth paste. This has a great impact on the texture of the curry. What if I tell you, this recipe is versatile and you can replace Tofu or Chicken for homemade Paneer and make it as Chicken Butter Masala or Tofu Masala too.
How To Make No Onion No Garlic Butter Paneer?
Jain version of this curry can be easily made by leaving out garlic from this curry recipe, as this restaurant style recipe does not use any onion. Simply replace Paneer with Tofu or Vegetables like Mushroom. Use Coconut Cream/ Cashew Cream for regular cream. Use Coconut Oil or Vegan Butter for Butter in the recipe.
Alternate Cheese To Make this curry?
Halloumi Cheese works great as an alternative cheese. If you do not enjoy paneer or tofu, then do swap for halloumi in the recipe.
What can I use instead of Cashewnuts in this curry?
Use almonds. In this case soak the almonds in hot water. Peel them and blend it with water.
Can I make Instant Pot Paneer Butter Masala?
Add all the ingredients leaving the cream and paneer in the IP and pressure cook. When the steam releases naturally, process the gravy smooth. Add Cream, Kasuri methi, Paneer, stir and serve.
RESTAURANT STYLE BUTTER PANEER MASALA recipe below
30 Minutes Vegetable Korma Matar Paneer Baked Malai Kofta 30 Minutes Matar Paneer Butter Masala Post a photo of your creation on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #sandhyaskitchen. I would love to see your pictures! Subscribe to our weekly newsletters!
