Shahi Paneer

Shahi Paneer is a rich delicious delicacy from the popular Mugalai cuisine. Shahi Paneer is one of the most popular dishes in restaurants. ‘Shahi’ means royal so as the name suggests Shahi Paneer is a royal gravy using paneer from the mughalai cuisine. Shahi Paneer Recipe with step by step photos and video.

Shahi Paneer is a very rich delicious gravy that can be prepared by either using tomato onion nuts base or without tomatoes as in restaurants. I have shared Shahi Paneer Recipe both with tomatoes and without tomatoes.

About Shahi Paneer

Shahi Paneer is made by simmering paneer in a nut based rich creamy gravy along with spices, spice powders, fresh cream and saffron for flavour. This is one of the popular dishes in restaurants. Do try this popular Mughalai Shahi Paneer and enjoy.

If you are looking for a warm, comforting rich sidedish to go with with roti, paratha,phulka, jeera rice, basmati rice then this is a perfect fit. This is also easy and quick to make when compared to tomato based gravies as tomatoes take time to cook. 

I usually make Shahi Paneer using tomatoes, I never knew white gravy existed until I tasted it at an restaurant. We ordered Shahi Paneer waiting for a rich tomato based gravy looking orange in color but we were surprised to see a white gravy. It was too bland for our taste buds and the cream was too overpowering so I decided to recreate it at home as we loved the flavour and aroma of this dish. After that no looking back, this gravy has become our absolute favourite.

What is Shahi Paneer?

Shahi means royal, Paneer is cottage cheese so Shahi Paneer translates to royal cottage cheese. Shahi Paneer is a gravy from Mughalai cuisine where paneer is cooked in a creamy gravy made of onion, nuts along with milk and cream, flavoured with aromatic spices and spice powders. Shahi paneer is a rich gravy made popular by restaurants all over India.

Shahi Paneer Ingredients

• Paneer : Use fresh soft paneer for best results. I have added paneer as such but you can shallow fry them and add too. But soak in hot water after frying to avoid it from becoming hard. If you use frozen paneer thaw it first then add it to gravy.
• Nuts : Cashews, almonds and melon seeds are a must for this recipe. Make sure the nuts are fresh as it is the main base for the gravy.
• Dairy : Milk and fresh cream are used here. I always add boiled milk(cooled) to gravies to avoid milk from curdling.
• Spices : The spices used here are very aromatic like shahi jeera, cinnamon, bayleaf, cardamom, cloves, cardamom along with saffron to give a rich flavourful gravy.
• Spice powders : The basic spice powders including red chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder are used here.

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How to make Shahi Paneer

Make onion nuts paste

1.First boil 2 cups of water.

2.Add onion, cashews and almonds and melon seeds to it.

3.Boil until onions turn soft. Switch off.

4.Strain and reserve the stock.

5.Cool down then add to mixer jar along with little stock. Add very little stock grind then add more if needed. It should a thick paste so be acreful while adding stock / water.

6.Grind it to a fine paste. Set aside.

Temper the spices

7. Heat butter – add shahi jeera cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bayleaf let it fry fro few seconds then add ginger garlic paste and fry fro a minute. Be careful while frying the spices do nit burn as it will alter the gravy taste.

8.Add nuts onion paste.

Add spice powders and milk

9.Cook for 5 mins until it is thick and raw smell leaves. Now add red chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder.

10.Mix well and cook for 2 mins.

11.Add milk, reserved stock and required salt. If stock is more do not add fully, add half of it and use the remaining for soups.

12.Mix well the gravy will be slightly runny at this stage.

13.Boil for atleast 7-10 mins or until the gravy thickens. Then add saffron, cardamom powder and sugar.

Add paneer

14. Give a quick mix and cook for 2 mins then add paneer cubes.

Garnish

15.Mix well then garnish with kasoori methi and fresh cream. Give a quick mix.

Shahi paneer gravy ready.

Variations

• You can add tomato puree to this gravy, Check for tomato version below this recipe.
• You can replace milk with curd.
• If you don’t like flavouring skip kewra / rose water.
• I used whole cashews you can use broken cashews too.
• Replace butter with ghee if you wish to.
• If you want to make the gravy a bit more spicy then add 1.5 teaspoon red chilli powder along with 3/4 teaspoon coriander powder and 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder.

Serving and Storage

Serve Shahi Paneer along with roti, paratha,phulka, jeera rice, basmati rice etc.

As nuts and dairy is the base for this recipe I would suggest to consume it the same day you have prepared. But if you wish you can store in fridge heat it up and use it for the next day but not beyond that.

Expert Tips

• You can add more cream if you like say 1/4 cup but balance it with spice powders accordingly. I usually add 1 tablespoon cream and more of milk still the gravy is rich and creamy.
• Always use fresh ingredients be it nuts or milk or paneer as it forms the base of this dish.
• If using curd make sure it is not sour.
• If adding tomatoes make sure they are ripe and juicy.

FAQs

1.Why is Shahi Paneer called Shahi?

Shahi is the term for royal (in reference to the Imperial Court of the Mughal Empire). Paneer is a persian word for cheese. Hence Shahi Paneer literally translates to roya cottage cheese.

Source : Wikipedia

2.What goes well with Shahi Paneer?

Shahi Paneer goes along with any flatbreads like roti, paratha,phulka, nan etc and rice dishes like pulao, , jeera rice, basmati rice etc.

3. Can I make this dish vegan?

Yes you can. Replace tofu for paneer and add cashew or almond milk / yogurt to make the gravy. If using cashew / almond milk for this recipe then skip it while grinding.

4.Can I make it low fat?

Yes you can make shahi paneer low fat by adding low fat yogurt or low fat milk. Skip cream, cashews and proceed with the recipe. Instead of cashews you can add 4 tablespoon almonds itself.

5.What is the difference between PB Masala and Shahi Paneer?

There is a whole lot of difference in taste and flavour between the two. PB Masala is a tomato based gravy which is medium spicy but Shahi Paneer is slightly on the sweeter side with full flavour that comes from nuts and dairy.

6.Which one tastes good Shahi Paneer with tomatoes or without tomatoes?

I personally prefer the restaurant style white colored ivorish Shahi Paneer as it tastes unique from our regular tomato based paneer gravies. But if you are a person who cannot have gravies without tomatoes then shahi paneer with tomatoes version is just right for you. So it is purely your personal taste and preference.

Shahi Paneer with tomatoes

Ingredients

• 200 gms paneer 
• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 1/4 cup fresh cream
• a generous pinch of kasoori methi
• a tiny pinch of cardamom powder (optional)
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder

To blanch and grind:

• 2 small sized big onions
• 8 nos garlic cloves
• 1/4 inch piece ginger
• 10 nos almonds
• 5 nos whole cashews
• 1 teaspoon melon seeds

To temper:

• 2 teaspoon oil
• 1/2 teaspoon shahi jeera
• 1 no black cardamom
• 1 no green cardamom
• 1 no clove
• 1/4 inch piece cinnamon
• 1/4 torn bayleaf
• salt to taste

Shahi paneer step by step

1. Chop onions lengthwise,peel garlic and keep other ingredients ready. Boil water.
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2. When it starts to boil add the ingredients listed under ‘to blanch and grind’. Boil for a minute and switch off.
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3. Cool down then transfer it to a mixer jar. Grind it to a fine paste.Cube the paneer and set aside.
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4. Chop tomatoes roughly ,transfer to mixer jar and puree it.
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5. Heat oil in a pan – add the items listed under ‘to temper’ let it crackle then add tomato puree.
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6. Let it boil in low flame for 2mins, then add all the spice powders along with required salt.
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7. Cook until the mixture is dry and the raw smell of tomatoes goes. Now add cashew onion paste.
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8. Mix well,cook for a minute the mixture will be thickish, now add fresh cream.
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9. Add cardamom powder along with required water.
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10. Let the gravy boil for 5mins in low flame.
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11. Add paneer cubes along with kasoori methi,mix well cook for 2mins then switch off.
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Serve hot.

Serve hot with any mild pulao or roti.We had it with soft phulkas.