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 the mughal 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.
Tips to make best shahi paneer
- Using fresh curd or yogurt especially homemade is the key as the store bought ones often have a sour flavor.
- Do use good quality paneer. If using store bought, then immerse it in warm water for 15 to 20 mins. Drain & use in the recipe.
- A good garam masala & the whole spices enhance the aroma of the gravy. So do not skip them or reduce the quantity than mentioned in the recipe.
- 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.
Serving suggestions for shahi paneer
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
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- 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)
Instructions
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.
Notes
Nutrition
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.
Arica says
Loved this recipe. Made it once, making it again today.
swasthi says
Thanks Arica
Sonal says
I lov this shahipaneer recipe very easy n tasty thanks dear
swasthi says
Welcome sonal. Glad to know you liked it.
arvind kumar says
really nice method i like this and also try this recpi
very easy nd quit test
swasthi says
Thank you
Punitha says
You didn’t mention ginger garlic paste in the ingredients
Raavie says
Hi Swasthi
Ur recipe gives commendable results an I loved it.. but Im a novice with cooking n have a party to manage day after tomorrow.. will it make aby difference in taste n show making the veggies a day before?? I cant manage all d stuff on ‘D’ day
swasthi says
Thanks Raavie
It actually depends on what foods you choose to cook. Some foods really don’t remain good the next day. It would be good if you can mention what your planning to prepare.
Ellis says
It would be great if you had a “Print” button that would allow to print the recipe only easily.
swasthi says
Hi Ellis,
Will try to add that soon.
Nina says
Made this and came out so very good. so easy and so delicious.
swasthi says
Hi Nina,
Very glad to know you liked it. Thank you
Vijay Kumar singh says
Thanks for the tips
swasthi says
welcome
Hina says
Yummy delicious shahi paneer. very unique and real rich taste. loved it very much. Thank u
swasthi says
Welcome Hina
So glad to know you loved it. Thanks for the feedback
Anonymous says
Very nice thankyou
Nikita Das says
delicious
swasthi says
thank you
Anonymous says
Can we add cream on this as we already put yogurt
swasthi says
yes you can use cream at the last step after cooking paneer.
Anonymous says
Nice recipee
prerna says
Made this, so good. Can’t thank u enough
lina says
my mil cooked this shahi paneer since she found simple and fell for the pictures. we just loved this and she makes this every week to go with a simple matar pulao. Thank you so much. but i had a question, we see many paneer recipes using raisins or apricots. why does your recipe not use, is there any health factor behind not using them in this recipe. we are great fans of your health philo. inspiring.
swasthi says
Hello Lina, sometime back i tried using them in a paneer recipe and found that the gravy looked curdled, a bit grainy after which i didn’t try. some recipes call for cream, so cream and sour dry fruits might curdle the gravy. No health factor i put into this as such. Thanks for all the nice words. iam glad you all love this. you made me happy. Appreciate your time for the feedback
🙂
siri says
Swasthi trried this one too, delicious and finger llicking shahi paneer. thank you
swasthi says
Thank you Siri,
🙂
bhani says
delicious and was tasty
swasthi says
Thank you
Linsy Patel says
love to dig in that bowl with hot rotis
ramya says
yummy shahi paneer and all time favorite