Shahi paneer recipe – Delicious, rich & creamy restaurant style shahi paneer. Shahi dishes originated in the royal kitchens of the Mughals and were meat based. Shahi paneer is popular in the Indian restaurants & is made in several ways. Similar to the other mughlai foods, this shahi paneer is prepared with nuts, onions, spices & yogurt or cream. The use of yogurt or curd elevates the taste of the gravy with the aroma of spices infused.
Many sources mention that mughlai foods were made rich with the use of nuts, saffron & curd. Tomatoes were not used as they did not exist in India during their reign.
Restaurants serve shahi paneer made in different styles, some even use tomatoes. The recipe shared here does not use tomatoes but I have included tips in the recipe card if you prefer to use it. Using both yogurt & tomatoes makes the gravy very tangy which can be balanced with the addition of extra cream.
To make shahi paneer recipe, most restaurants serving mughlai foods use kewra water for the aroma. Without that one may not feel the dish so special. Though kewra water doesn’t add any taste to the food, it definitely brings in a great aroma to mughalai foods. But if you don’t like its fragrance just skip it.
If you want to make shahi paneer recipe with white gravy, just skip using red chili powder and use green chili to add the hint of heat or spice. I have used almonds / badam just to reduce the quantity of cashews. If you like to use all cashews, just replace almonds with cashews.
Shahi paneer is best served with plain Basmati rice, Roti, Naan or even with flavored rice dishes like Jeera rice or Ghee rice.
More Paneer recipes
Paneer butter masala
Palak paneer
Malai kofta
Kadai paneer
Paneer makhani
Shahi paneer recipe
Shahi paneer recipe
Shahi paneer recipe - A rich and creamy delicious gravy prepared with paneer or Indian cottage cheese. Serve shahi paneer with basmati rice, jeera rice, roti or naan.
Ingredients (240 ml cup used)
- 1 ½ cup paneer cubes (approximately 225 to 250 grams)
- ½ cup curd or thick fresh yogurt (avoid sour curd)
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
- ¼ tsp red chili powder (optional)
- 1/8 tsp turmeric or haldi
- ¾ to 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 Pinch saffron (optional)
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp Ghee or oil
- 2 to 4 drops Kewra water (skip if you do not have)
- ¾ cup water
- 2 to 3 tbsp cream (optional)
Spices
- ½ tsp cumin or jeera or shahi jeera (optional)
- 2 to 3 cloves
- 1 to 2 inch cinnamon
for shahi paste
- 12 whole cashewnuts split or kaju
- 8 almonds or badam
- 1 cup onions cubed
- 3 green cardamoms or elaichi
- 1 green chili slit (optional)
How to make the recipe
Preparation for shahi paneer
- Add one tablespoon ghee to a pan, heat it. Add cashews, green cardamom, almonds, lightly golden fry them.
Next add cubed onions, green chili and fry until they turn transparent. If using tomato, chop 1 small ripe tomato. Add it now and fry till mushy. Transfer these to a plate and cool.
- Blend this with very little water to a smooth puree or paste.
You can fry the paneer lightly in ghee. This step is optional. Keep the fried paneer aside.
How to make shahi paneer
Heat up the same pan with the rest of the ghee or oil. Add dry spices & saute until they turn fragrant.
- Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off.
Next transfer the onion cashew paste, chili powder, garam masala, turmeric & salt. Fry for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Beat the curd well with a fork. Lower the flame completely and then add it to the pan. Mix well. Cook till it begins to leave the sides of the pan.
Pour ½ to ¾ cup water. Add saffron if using. Cook till the gravy thickens. Or till u see traces of oil over the gravy. Taste the gravy and add more salt if desired.
Add paneer and cook for about 2 minutes. If sauteed in ghee before then just add paneer and do not cook further. Pour kewra water & cream if using and stir.
- Transfer shahi paneer to a serving bowl to prevent it from cooking further.
Garnish shahi paneer with cream or coriander leaves. You can also sprinkle some crushed pepper for extra heat.
Recipe Notes
If you wish to use tomatoes, add 1 small chopped tomato to the pan after frying onions and fry everything till tomatoes turn completely mushy. Ensure your yogurt is not sour, if you are using tomatoes.
Preparation for shahi paneer recipe
1. Fry paneer lightly in 1 tbsp. ghee and set aside to a plate. This is optional. I choose not to fry.
2. For making the shahi paste, onions and nuts can be blanched or sauteed in ghee. Sauteing brings out the aroma of the nuts and mild sweetness from onions. So i prefer to saute than to blanch. Heat a kadai with 1 tbsps. Ghee. Add green cardamom, cashews, almonds, and fry till they turn slightly golden.
3. Add onions, green chili and fry till translucent. I forgot to add green chili. Take these to a wide plate and cool.
4. Transfer them to a jar with very little water.
5. Make a smooth paste.
How to make shahi paneer
6. Heat the same pan or kadai with rest of the ghee or oil. Fry cinnamon & cloves for a min. Do not skip the spices since we do not use much of garam masala powder in this recipe. These tempering spices add flavor to the gravy. I have also added the optional ingredients small bay leaf and shahi jeera. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears.
7. Add the ground onion paste, red chili powder, turmeric, salt and garam masala. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
8. Beat the curd to smooth with a fork. Lower the flame and add it to the pan.
9. Cook until it leaves the sides of the pan.
10. Add ½ to ¾ cup water,add saffron strands. stir and begin to cook till curry thickens. By then you can see traces of oil over the gravy.
11. Add cubed paneer and cook for 3 minutes. If you have already sauteed the paneer in ghee, then switch off the stove immediately after adding paneer to gravy. You can also add deseeded slit green chili now for that distinct flavor. Sprinkle kewra water & cream if using. Give a good stir.
Transfer immediately to a serving bowl else paneer can turn rubbery if left in the hot pan for longer.
Shahi paneer is ready. Garnish with cream.
Jayashreeramachandra says
I tried it so much thank u it came out well , all liked it ,
swasthi says
Thank you Jayashree
Purity Cardozo says
Hi i tried your shahi paneer recipe and it was delicious, yummy and tasty. I felt that i was having my lunch in the resturant. Thanx alot for the recipe God bless u
swasthi says
Welcome Purity
Thanks a lot for the wishes. Happy to know it came out delicious.
Barbara says
This recipe is amazing, thank you for sharing!
swasthi says
Welcome Barbara
Arslan Masoud says
Great Recipe Mostly People Really Like Shahi Recipes I Love also Shahi Cooking
swasthi says
Thank you
Duncan says
Absolutely delicious. Didn’t use the Kewra water as couldn’t find it, and fried the paneer first. Will definitely repeat!
Sakshi says
Please put one more recipe of paneer chilli . A humble request because your recipe are very catchy,.
swasthi says
Thanks Sakshi
You can find the recipe of chilli paneer here
Sushil kumar says
Thanks for such good recipie , i am not good in cooking , first time I made it and everyone in my home like it .
swasthi says
Welcome
Happy to know you all like it
Sandhya says
Hi Swasthi, Thanks for sharing this recipe. I was so tempted to try it out for dinner tonight.
But I don’t know something didn’t work well in my dish. I think because I added curd to it.. the dish was sout in taste. Also, by adding curd I could see lumps in the dish which was not that appealing. I really want to make this dish again please let me know how can I make a better version without any flaw. Also, want you to know that I didn’t add tomatoes to it.
swasthi says
Hi Sandhya
I guess the whole dish got ruined due to the curd used. Did you use store bought curd.?
Yes the sourness could be due to sour curd. While using curd for any recipe, only curd that is not sour must be used otherwise it will not turn out good.
lumps means the curd got coagulated while cooking. To prevent this you can use chilled curd and beat it well before adding to the pan. Also store bought curd may get coagulated.
Next time try with homemade curd that is fresh and not sour. Beat well and use.
Hope these help.