Paneer Makhani
Updated: August 7, 2022, By Swasthi
Paneer makhani is a delicious curry made by cooking paneer in buttery tomato cashew gravy. This super delicious creamy paneer makhani is loved by most Indians & is popular on the Indian restaurant menus. Paneer makhani goes so well with plain basmati rice, jeera rice, roti, paratha or naan.
This restaurant style paneer makhani is an all-time favorite at home as it super quick to make & tastes amazingly delicious. It can be made just under 25 to 30 mins from scratch.
Paneer makhani is a popular punjabi dish made with paneer, tomatoes, cashews, spices & cream. Paneer refers to Indian cheese & makhan refers to butter. So paneer makhani translates to paneer cooked with butter.
This recipe is different from the paneer butter masala I have shared before. Punjabi paneer makhani is made with very few ingredients and uses no onion making it distinct from the Butter paneer or Paneer butter masala.
This recipe is a must try if you are looking for some easy, yet delicious paneer recipe that can be made with minimum effort. You can cook your basmati rice on one burner while you make the paneer makhani on the other. You will have your awesome meal ready under half an hour. Do include some fresh sliced onions, carrots, cucumbers & lemon in your meal to perk up the nutrition.
This paneer makhani recipe has roughly been adapted from the Veg makhani and Butter chicken recipes on this blog.
Related recipes
Malai paneer
Malai kofta
Paneer tikka masala
Palak paneer
Matar paneer
Photo Guide
How to Make Paneer Makhani (Stepwise photos)
Preparation
1. Chop tomatoes and add them to a blender jar along with cashews. If you do not own a powerful blender then soak the cashews in little hot water for 15 mins. Drain the water and add them to the blender. I do not soak them.
2. Blend them to a smooth puree. If your blender doesn’t make a smooth puree, then filter the puree. I do not filter as mine does a smooth puree.
Make Makhani Gravy
4. Heat 1 tbsp butter. Add slit & deseeded chilli, 2 cardamoms, 2 cloves and 1 small cinnamon stick. If you do not have the whole spices then just skip them.
5. When they begin to sizzle, add ginger garlic paste (or ginger paste). Saute until the raw smell goes away.
6. Pour the tomato puree.
7. It will begin to splash immediately, so cover the pan partially. Continue to cook until the tomato puree thickens.
8. Add red chili powder and salt.
9. Stir and cook until it begins to leave the sides. You can adjust more or less chili powder now. I added about 1 ¼ tsp red chili powder since mine was not hot, adjust as needed to suit your taste.
Add 1 ¼ tsp garam masala. If your masala is very strong, then use ¾ tsp garam masala and ½ tsp coriander powder. Mix and saute for a minute or 2.
10. Add about 1 cup water, sugar and mix. You may need to adjust the amount of water slightly.
11. Cover and cook on a medium flame until the gravy thickens. You can now see butter begins to float on the gravy slightly. There is not much butter used, so you will only see little traces of butter.
Make Paneer Makhani
12. Add paneer (Indian cottage cheese).
13. Sprinkle crushed kasuri methi. Gently stir, cover and cook on a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
14. Add cream as desired. I add about ¼ cup of cream and cook until it begins to bubble. This quantity goes well for our taste and it balances the sour taste from tomatoes. You can add more or less to your liking.
Serving suggestions : Paneer makhani can be served with
Indian flat breads like – naan, roti or plain paratha.
Plain or Flavored rice like
Jeera rice
ghee rice
pulao
Pro Tips
- Use good quality paneer from a good brand. You can also check this homemade paneer recipe to make your own just like the way I did.
- If using store bought paneer, you can optionally soak it in hot water for 15 to 20 mins before adding to the gravy. This will keep the paneer soft.
- This paneer makhani recipe uses cashews to make the makhani gravy creamy. Feel free to replace them with soaked and blanched almonds.
- You can also make the gravy ahead and refrigerate. Do not add the paneer & cream while making the gravy. When you are ready to consume, heat until it begins to bubble. Then add paneer & stir in the cream.
- Choose ripe tomatoes and avoid the unripe or green ones as they ruin the taste of the paneer makhani.
- I do not use artificial colors for my food. I generally use Kashmiri or byadgi chilli powder for good color. .
- You can use cooking cream, whipping cream, heavy cream or even vegan cream. You can also skip the cream completely and just increase the amount of cashews.
- Avoid over cooking paneer in the makhani gravy as overcooked paneer turns hard, rubbery & chewy.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Paneer Makhani Recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
To puree
- 16 to 18 cashewnuts or blanched almonds
- 2¼ cups (400 grams) tomatoes (good quality ripe)
Other ingredients
- 2 cups (200 to 250 grams) cups paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 green cardamoms (elaichi)
- 1 inch cinnamon piece (dalchini, optional, but recommended)
- 2 cloves (optional, but recommended)
- 1 green chili (slit & deseeded, optional)
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste or crushed (or ¾ tsp ginger paste)
- ¾ to 1 ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
- salt as needed
- ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar (to balance the flavors)
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric (haldi) (optional)
- 1¼ teaspoon garam masala (adjust as needed)
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- ¼ cup cream (adjust to suit your taste)
Instructions
Preparation
- If using store bought paneer, then soak it in hot water for 15 to 20 mins.
- Drain the water and use. This will keep the paneer soft.
- Blend together tomatoes and cashews to a smooth puree.
- If you do not have a powerful blender then just soak cashews for 10 to 15 mins in hot water.
- The tomato puree has to be smooth.
- If you find your puree coarse, then pass it through a strainer.
How to Make Paneer Makhani
- Heat a pan with butter. saute cloves, cinnamon, cardamoms and green chili.
- Then saute ginger garlic paste for 2 mins until the raw smell has gone.
- Transfer the tomato puree to the pan.
- The tomato puree will begin to splash so be cautious.
- Cover partially and cook until the puree thickens.
- Add chili powder, turmeric and salt.
- Saute until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.
- Next add garam masala and saute for 1 to 2 mins.
- Pour 1 cup water and sugar. Adjust the amount of water as needed to make a gravy.
- Cook until the paneer makhani gravy thickens & you see traces of butter or grease on top.
- Add the paneer & kasuri methi to the makhani gravy.
- Stir gently and cook covered for 2 mins on a low heat.
- Pour the cream and allow to bubble.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with cream and coriander leaves.
- Serve paneer makhani with roti, naan or jeera rice.
Notes
- If you are making ahead then just make the makhani gravy and refrigerate. When needed allow the gravy to bubble and then add paneer and cream.
- To use almonds, soak them in hot water for 30 mins. Peel off the skin and blend along with tomatoes.
- You can totally skip the cream in the recipe.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
I’m looking forward to making this, but I was wondering how big should I cut the paneer?
Hi Mitchell,
You can cut them to 3/4 to 1 inch pieces. Hope you enjoy the dish
This was so delicious and easy to replicate. I actually cannot believe I could make something so good LOL.
Thanks Tanya
Delicious dish! I used tomato paste so had to double the spices, sugar and cream. Turned out great, creamy and delish!
Thanks Eddie. Glad you like it
i love your recipes. I’m wondering if you can tell me what blender you use.
Thanks Adam. I use a Indian style mixer grinder from brands like ultra, preeti and panasonic. The one I used in this post is from National panasonic. My other recommendations would be a magic bullet, vitamix and blendtec. Anything above 800 watt is best for Indian cooking
can i use store bought tomato puree
Hi Arti,
Use 2/3 cup tomato puree and add more cream at the last stage if it is too sour. Use something like mutti passata that does not contain citric acid else it can turn too sour. Hope you get to try!
Awesome guide
Tried the recipe. Was delicious♥️♥️
Can I make without Nuts?
Not this recipe. Try this paneer butter masala. Leave out the nuts and use little cream for a creamy taste
Amazing recipe,
I’m so happy!
Thank you Rekha
How much paneer for 10 people ?
Use about 500 to 625 grams
Great
I don’t have Dalchini cinnamon only a different kind , ist that okay ?
Yes you may omit that
Do you use raw cashew nuts? Can roasted nuts be used?
Yes I use raw cashew nuts. You can use roasted nuts, the flavor will slightly be different but good.
what blender do you use? my tomato/cashew definitely did not get as smooth as your pictures!
It is a National panasonic mixer grinder. There are 2 things you can do for a smoother puree.
1. Soak cashews in hot water for 15 minutes before grinding
2. Blend the tomatoes in a blender and cashews in a small nut or coffee grinder until you get a fine powder. Add water and puree to smooth.
Can we skip garam masala ,If we are adding whole spices as you Mentioned earlier
You can leave out the whole spices but not garam masala
Don’t know if I’ve only got part of the recipe but no sign of how much of some ingredients eg tomatoes
Please scroll down to the recipe card to find the recipe ingredients. You can also use “Jump to Recipe” tab at the beginning of the page.
First time making this dish. It was delicious ? My fiancé and I loved it (and he pretty much hates everything I make ?). It was very easy to follow and make. Served this with rice and garlic naan. This will defintely be in our rotations! Thank you!
Wow great recipe! Packed with flavor and definatly a new favorite of mine. The only thing I did different was use chicken broth instead of water. Not sure that made much of a difference but I’m sure just using water makes it a great vegetarian meal. Thanks for sharing!
This was *amazing* I have no words ? This is a staple from day 1. Thanks for a superb recipe, with great visual cues.
Thank you so much Tina. Glad you like it.
This was easily—EASILY—the greatest ratio of effort to wow factor I’ve ever made. Absolutely delicious and not the slightest bit challenging for someone like me who didn’t grow up cooking. The only difficulty was in finding the fenugreek leaves (primarily because I’m a super-white dude in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio—fortunate enough to have an Indian market nearby, clueless enough to need help finding the fenugreek).
I did cheat by using canned tomato purée, but followed everything else mostly to the letter. Will use fresh next time. I was concerned the paneer might end up rubbery since I did not soak in hot water; it was the texture of provolone or Swiss when I opened the package. But it softened up perfectly in the final stage.
Thank you Swasthi for a much-needed win!
Thank you so much Joe! So happy to know it turned out good.
Super easy and tasted great. Thanks Swasthi!
Glad to know Jane