Malai Paneer (White Curry)

Malai Paneer is crispy pan-fried paneer served in a delicious, rich, creamy and super aromatic sauce/gravy. If you have never been a fan of white paneer curry, you got to try this. I know a lot of people don’t like white gravy dishes because they are sweet, lack flavor & taste bland without enough heat & spice levels. This recipe is an exception and it is super flavorful, slightly spicy and tastes delicious. If you want you can also serve your Malai Kofta or vegetable koftas in this white curry.

My family was never a fan of the white curries and would run away every time they came across. So my curry is not 100% white, like what you get in the restaurants. I have fine tuned it for a slightly cream color which comes from the combination of spices and sautéing the onions.

In the pro-tips section I also give tips to transform this to 100% white, yellow or orange color. However the yellow and orange dishes have a different flavor and won’t taste like a white curry.

For this recipe, I marinate paneer and pan-fry them until golden crisp, before adding to the curry. But if you want you may simply omit that whole step of marinating and frying. Since the sauce is very delicious, your paneer will still taste good.

Malai Paneer goes well with plain basmati rice, Saffron Rice and with any flatbreads like roti, tandoori roti, naan or even stuffed kulcha. But since this is a heavy dish, we always have a stir fried vegetable side like mixed vegetables, Aloo Gobi or Jeera aloo.

Photo Guide

How to make Malai Paneer (stepwise photos)

Marinate the paneer

1. To a mixing bowl, add the following ingredients

• ¼ cup Greek yogurt (hung curd/ thick yogurt or 1 to 1½ tbsps lemon juice)
• 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste (or use ¼ tsp each ginger and garlic powder)
• ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon sea salt (adjust to your preference)
• ½ teaspoon black pepper crushed/powdered
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon garam masala (make sure yours don’t have chili powder included)
• ½ teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

2. Mix together and add 250 grams paneer cut to ¾ inch pieces. (I like mine small, if you want you may cut them larger). Gently coat them with the marinade. Cover and rest aside until required. You may leave this in the refrigerator overnight.

Make the gravy

3. To make the curry, prep up the following ingredients:

• 2 to 3 small green cardamoms (small elaichi)
• 2 cups (200 grams) sliced yellow onions or shallots, (avoid purple & red onions)
• Peel and slice ¾ inch (10 grams) of ginger
• Peel and slice 3 to 4 large garlic cloves (12 grams or 6 to 7 small)
• Soak ¼ cup (40 grams, 22 whole) cashews or blanched almonds (or almond flour) in ¼ cup hot water
• ½ cup cold water or full fat milk to blend (use milk to cut-down heavy cream)
• Optional whole spices – 1 black cardamom, 2 inch cinnamon, 2 cloves, 2 strands mace
• Cut 1 to 2 green chilies (Indian/Thai or serrano peppers, omit for no heat)
• ¾ to 1 teaspoon Garam Masala (avoid gm with chili powder included)
• Crush ½ teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) in your palms and reserve
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg fine grated or powder
• ½ teaspoon black pepper (optional, adjust to heat preference)
• ¼ cup heavy cream (start with 2 tbsps if using full fat milk to blend)

4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and add the green cardamoms, ginger, garlic, onions and half teaspoon sea salt. (ignore the chilies in this picture) Sauté on a medium heat for 7 to 8 mins. If you prefer a lighter curry, avoid browning the onions. For a deeper color, you may brown them for 10 to 11 mins. I sautéed for 8 mins. Pour half cup water and cook covered for 6 mins.

5. To a blender, add the

• Soaked cashews
• ½ cup cold water or full fat milk (use pasteurized or boiled and cooled milk. Don’t add raw milk here)
• Sauteed onions (cool down slightly before adding)

6. Blend to a super smooth puree. If your blender is not powerful enough, strain this.

Cook Malai paneer

7. Heat 1 to 1½ tablespoon ghee/oil or butter on a low flame. Add black cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, mace and green chili. Be careful, they may splutter.

8. Pour the onion cashew puree and 1½ cups water. Bring it to a gentle boil on a medium heat. Cover partially because it splashes a lot at this stage.

9. Cook on a low heat, for 12 to 13 minutes, until the raw flavor of onions is completely gone. Stir every 5 mins to prevent the nut solids burning at the bottom. It is very important to cook the sauce for long else your curry will have the raw onion flavor. When done, it will look super smooth and silky. At this stage you may remove to discard the green chilies and all the whole spices.

10. When the sauce is medium thick (yet runny), stir in the garam masala, nutmeg, salt, kasuri methi and black pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 mins, taste test to adjust salt, and spices to your preference. It is very important to keep the consistency slightly runny as it thickens significantly upon cooling down. This dish won’t taste good if you make it super thick, unless you are serving with naan or tandoori roti. Turn off the heat.

11. Heat a non-stick pan with a teaspoon of ghee or butter. Transfer the paneer pieces and fry them until crisp /golden on a medium high heat. Turn them to the other sides with a tong, after 3 mins or simply toss them gently. Fry until most of the yogurt is cooked through and paneer is golden, for another 3 mins. Turn off.

12. Mix in the heavy cream (start with ¼ cup & adjust to preference). If you used milk while blending, start with 2 tbsps.

13. Add the fried paneer.

Garnish with black pepper if you want. Serve Malai paneer with Tandoori roti, Naan, Yellow rice or Saffron rice. If you want you may squeeze some lemon juice before serving.

Expert Tips

• Yellow onions are best for this recipe. Red onions are alright but not great. But if you are using red onions use medium to small size not large. Soak the half cut red onions in warm water for 30 mins before slicing or saute the onions for a minimum of 10 mins.
• This recipe requires cooking down the pureed onions very well else your sauce will have a strong smell of the uncooked/raw onions. So the recipe uses lots of water.
• I use home ground fresh spices. If you are using store bought, you may need more.
• You may use sour cream instead of heavy cream and that tastes completely different. But in this case avoid milk to blend.

Variations

• To make this 100% white, use yellow onions. Saute them for 4 to 5 mins only. Avoid kasuri methi.
• For a orange color dish, add ¾ to 1 teaspoon red chili powder to the ghee after tempering the whole spices. Do not burn, pour the puree immediately.
• To make this yellow color, use ¼ turmeric powder and yellow chili powder for heat. Yellow chili is spicy so use lesser and omit green chili. Add them to the hot ghee/oil after tempering the spices.

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