Butter Paneer Masala
Butter Paneer Masala is a rich entre made with Indian cheese and a creamy sauce. This dish is tasty when served over white rice or with Naan or Tandoori Roti.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 3 people
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb paneer cubed in byte size
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 green chili
- 1/4 inch ginger
- 1/2 cup green peas
- 1/2 cup yogurt, whipped (curd, dahi)
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1/8 tsp asafetida (hing)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 tbsp coriander powder (dhania)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric (haldi)
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 2 bay leaves (tajpat)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1 tsp sugar, optional
- 2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped (hara dhania)
Method
-
Deep-fry the paneer on low-medium heat until the paneer has a little golden- brown color. Set aside.
-
Blend tomatoes, green chilly and ginger to make a puree.
-
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to oil; if seed cracks right away oil is ready. Add hing and cumin seeds.
-
After the cumin seeds crack, add the tomato puree, coriander powder, turmeric, red chili powder and bay leaves. Cook for about 4 minutes on medium heat. Tomato mixture will start to leave the oil and will reduce to about half in quantity.
-
Add the whipped yogurt into the gravy. Stir occasionally for about 3 minutes on medium heat.
-
To thicken the gravy, dissolve the cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of water and add to the gravy.
-
Add the green peas and paneer. Let it cook for a few minutes until the peas are tender.
-
Add the garam masala and cilantro. Add a little sugar if the gravy is sour.
Recipe Notes
Variations
You can substitute the yogurt with heavy cream for a richer flavor.
1 tablespoon of fresh or dried methi leaves (Fenugreek leaves) can be added at the end.
Add in the yogurt powder of 4 to 5 cashews to make it creamier.
This gravy can be used in any combination of vegetables you desire.
This recipe is only a method - feel free to be creative and experiment!
Dear Manjula,
thanks for ur recipes. What is the difference between Shahi paneer and Paneer butter masala?…I see the same recipe for both…Please clarify
I cannot for the life of me get the cheese to turn out correctly…what am I doing wrong? What is the secret that it doesn’t melt?
hi,
Paneer is different from cheese, paneer doesnt melt in heat
Dearest Manjula,
Long time ago you gave me courage to try cooking jalebi; ever since, I check your new videos now and again. I love the shahi paneer recipe, and you look lovely with your new hairstyle!
Wishing you all the best from Massachusetts,
Linda
This was delicious as the main dish for dinner tonight. To make it vegan I used extra firm tofu in place of the paneer and soy yogurt in place of the cow’s milk yogurt. Last night I bought some hing in NYC and I loved being able to use it in this dish. Indian food lends itself very well to “veganization” so I look forward to making many more of your recipes.
hello,mam…
thanks for the good receipe..but in usa many problem beacuce here is not availabale KADAI ,..for any iteam in fry…so please help me how to make any dish in nonstick tawa….please….
I tried the recipe, it tastes more like kadhi than paneer butter masala!
snowmoonelk, check “related recipes” and click “No butter in butter paneer masala?”
That should answer your question.
hey manjula aunty,
I wanted to know how to make a yogurt whipped?
Hello Aunty !!
Thanks for the wonderful receipe… My husband said who’s magic has started working in ur cooking. It’s you aunty.
Can u please teach me how to cook Egg Briyani ?
Looks lovely but where is the butter as mentioned in the title?
Wow. Just stumbled across this recipe, gave it a go, loved it so much I immediately cooked it again, this time doubling the amounts! We are sailors from the UK who have sailed to India via the Red Sea. We love cooking and always try the local dishes. Of course being Brits we love our curry and this recipe is being added to our scrapbook. Thank you!
Thank you! You’re a great help. I’ve been looking for Indian recipes everywhere and yours is the most helpful and easy to follow.
Please keep it up!
Brinda
I love the video! I’ve always been wary to try Indian recipes, since they usually take a lot of skill, but seeing how you cook it makes it look so easy and gives me a lot of confidence to try more Indian recipes! Thanks! 🙂
hi manjula
i tried your each dish
i will thank you who made me expert in cooking
Hello Manjula,
I have to thank you for your helping in my cooking. I have been trying a lot and lot of cooking dishes from you website.
I have learnt lot of new and my favorite dishes to cook.
If you know pasta dishes, please post those items also.
Thanks
Husband usually is not fond of meatless main dish, but he enjoyed this. I did fry the cheese carefully so that it was all browned around the edges. He doesn’t like peas, so I soaked some dried green lentils for about an hour and tossed them in as soon as I put the tomato puree in the pot and I served it all over rice. I made your potato paneer appetizer, too. Very tasty meal and husband was quite satisfied even though there was no meat. If I keep cooking your recipes, we might end up vegetarians yet.
Hello Manjula aunty,
I live in Bangalore, India. I got married recently and I attained most of my cooking skills (remaining was from my mother) from watching you on this website. Thankfully, the dishes I do turn out well and are liked by my husband. All thanks to your simple-yet-delicious approach to cooking.
I had one doubt about paneer dishes. Whenever I cook paneer, it turns out hard and not soft like we eat at restaurants. Why is it that in paneer butter masala, you deep fry the paneer and in kadhai panner you shallow fry them? what would happen if we don’t fry the paneer at all?
I have also heard and seen many people cutting the paneer into cubes and putting them in lukewarm water and then frying. Does that help in making them soft?
I would be greatful to you if you could help me with these queries. Being a bengali we don’t know much about paneer dishes, so my mom also will be waiting for your reply 🙂
Thank you for all the amazing cooking that you have been doing and sharing with us for all these years.
Love and Regards
Anindita.
Hi Manjula,
my husband is fond of veg. pulao and veg, biryani as he is vegeterian i use to do my best to satisfy him with restaurant taste but i always fails.
but believe me i tried ur receipes of veg. pulao and veg, biryani it cooked so delicious u know. my hubby loved it… and i think this credit goes to you…. thank u sooooo much..
i am very fond of dishes , and i always prefer your dishes so keep making like this dishes and i wanted to say that if u can make something more of paneer i will be very glad to u specially shahi paneer thank you
I tried this recipe and it came out tasting like tomato sauce and salt.
Hello,
I have recently started watching the videos of your recipes.
i saw one of the rajma and butter paneer masala.
they came out really great.
you haven’t used either onion or garlic in both of them..
are we not supposed to use them in either recipes..
surabhi
This recipe was SO DELICIOUS. It was much better than what I usually get when eating out. I just served it to two dear friends and they loved it as well. Thanks so much for your great videos!!
Thanks from Baton Rouge, Louisiana! It’s always nice to find a recipe that breaks away from the ordinary, and your recipe for paneer and Butter Paneer Masala really hit the spot, especially since I recently decided to take part in Meatless Mondays for health reasons. Also, this may sound strange, but Butter Paneer Masala also tastes FANTASTIC when served on cornbread.
Thanks for the recipe. It came out great!!
hey .
Manjula Aunty when we will see your Mango ice cream recipe.. it’s being soo long since we saw your latest recipes.. Please , post some new recipes.
hi how are you i would like to see some recipes if you send us by email i would be appriciated moong dal halwa
and shahi paneer butter chikan thanks
No chicken recipes. This is a strictly vegetarian website.
very easy recipe that delivers excellent results! thank you Manjula Aunty – you’re the best 🙂
hi manjula ji
thanks so much for your recipe
i was wondering, i have to make butter chicken for a school project and wanted to ask cud we replace the paneer with chicken?
thanks
luv ur kooking
Hi manjula ji and readers,
i tried this recipe and used tofu instead of paneer .. it turned out well .. i didnt put any sugar as baby peas are abit sweet .. i added onions and garlic as well .. you are doing a great job manjula ji .. thnx 🙂
hello Mrs, Manjula,
I was just going through some recipes on Google, and i found your video clips interesting, your recipes are very simple and mouth watering. i study in the U.S in a suburb area where there is no Indian grocery store so i have to get someone to drive me to another city (Rochester) to buy my Indian supplies (EerrrrrR)!! I buy one of the paneer brands but don’t remember the name, whenever i fry them, they become rubbery and stick very easily to other paneer cubes. what can i do to avoid this?
hi khilna..
submerge the paneer in water and let it cook in microwave oven for 2-3 mins or put it in hot water for a few mins….it wud make paneer very soft and taste like paneer we get in india…or somepeople fry paneer and then put it in very hot water for a couple of mins ….it usually helps…hope it works for u too …
thanks Rhea, i will do that.
sure netime……i had faced almost the same problem…iam new in US and hate the gopi and nanak brand of paneer we get here..but it helped me …neways take care n happy cooking:)
hello , manjulaji how are you. I have to learn how to make vegetrain cake.
hi aunty,
i live in westmont il.
mujhe recipes ke liye market se ki brand ka panner lena hai…………
Hello Ruchi,
Where I live Patak is the only brand available.
There is also “Nanak” brand paneer sold in U.S.
hi manjula aunty,namasthiiii jiii,
mam can u expalin me ,vl it gve an extra flavour r taste by addng methi leaves.i fried tha paneer as u mentioned bt
tha paneer rough(hard)&can v add onion paste to thssss….all ur recipies r excellent keep rocking jiiii….thank u…
Thank You For the simple Jain food..Me Bengali married Jain !! Muhua
Hello auntiji
mai to apne desh se bahut door hoon maagar apka recipes deck to muh me paani aa jato hai…. thanks a lot for helping me to
learn different dishes…..
i am surewhen i come to you with many doubts u will be there to help me……
HAPPY HOLI
Good afternoon Mrs. Manjula– Could you tell me if I add the ground cashews, do you recommend toasting the cashews first or leaving them raw?
Also a general bahut shukriya for all the work in testing these recipes, the measurements are always perfect!
Happy Holi, and many thanks again,
Kate
Hi Kate,
use the raw cashew.
Hello AUnty
I want to ask the smae question? Can we add onions also
Wow……this recipe seems to be great!! I ‘lll try it tomorrow for sure! I tried ur Kadhaayi Paneer recipe too…and it tasted really very good!!! My question is : Can we add onions also??? If yes, then how??? annd yeah, I want to learn Shahi paneer as well…..When will u teach us that???
Hi Aunty,
Which brand of yogurt u used for paneer butter masala? How we can prepare curd at home .thanks
any brand will work I will do how to make yogurt soon.
Here in the US I use Dannon brand. I prefer the whole milk yogurt over the low fat as the taste and consistency is better. I never use non-fat yogurt in raitas – it doesn’t come out good.
Another excellent tasting dish! Thank you, Manjula
hi manjulaji,
i tried butter paneer masala and it came out very well. My family members liked it a lot. It is easy to make . It is quick to make .
Thanks a lot.
at last i got a recipe site that does not use onion and garlic. thanks a lot! pls give more veg recipes.
Many Indians, Jain and non-Jain do not eat onions and garlic. If you like onions and garlic, you can add them into the recipe.
hi manjulaji
why are you noy use oninon in any your recipe?
we people like onion in all punjabi dishes
so witch recipe you use onion ..tell me plssssssssssss
thanks
hi supriya, i read somewhere on majula Ji’s website that as she is jain and so she does not use onion and garlic and that is how jain people cook.She also mentioned that the real tastes of food is without onion and garlic as they overpower the real taste of he other ingredients.It is also good for health and easy on stomach for digestion.she does not have any recipes with onions (don’t think so).hope this helps.
Thank you very much Manjula Ji for your recipes I have regularly been watching. We bengalies are normally nen-vegetarians but certainly follow some veg-days once or twice in a week for religious purpose. So, on those occassion your pure veg -recipes are really helping me a lot. Again a many many thanks from the bottom from my heart. Please keep posting recipes for us . Regards. Swati Roy
Hello Aunty,
Why is this dish called ‘butter’ panner when we dont use butter?
Also I find that the process and ingredients for butter panner masala and mattar paneer are the similar except for the yoghurt in butter paneer masala. What is the diffrence?
Hello manjula-ji
cooking is my hobby, and i’ve tried out some recipe’s from your site and its amazing.
and my wishes to keep up the work.
Delicious, and so easy, because I cheated and used canned tomatoes and packaged paneer! 🙂
Hello mam,
Every receipe is very useful for us to learn so thanks a lot for spending time and wonderful receipes.Once again thanks a lot and keep going
sorry !someone had already asked about the alternative to cornstarch..I read your reply to that..thanks anyway Manjula-ji !!
Hello Manjula-ji,
Is there an alternative to corn-starch that I can use to thicken the gravy?
Hello Aunty,
Just wanted to say thank you for taking your time to share with us your recipes.
Love to videos, and you have a great selection of foods available.
two thumbs up to you!!
Thank you for your time. I really like the way to explain step by step . appreciate it.
Hello Aunty ,
Just loved this one , everything turned out beautifully . It almost had a professional touch to it . Now here is a recipe I can make without thinking twice .My husband though not a huge paneer fan , simply loved it . Thanks so much for this and all the other recipes , will let you know when i try some other recipes from your website . And the video and trascript together make it very easy for novice cooks like us 🙂
My niece absolotely loved it. its looks very tampting indeed
Hi aunty,
Could you please send me the receipe for gobi manjurian.Thanks.
Hi Dhairya,
I have not found good Indo-Chinese recipes so far, although I love Indo-Chinese food.
If ever I do locate some, I will pass the information along to you all. 🙂
Hello Dhairya, I enjoy italin and maxican but I have never tride chinese. Sorry
Manjula
well thanks for the tip and a quick reply to the question.
but u didnot mention anything about chinese(the indian way) recipes
cheers
Hi Dhairya,
I also don’t deep fry my paneer, BUT…what does work is to fry them in a non-stick fry pan with a thin layer of Pam oil spray (if you live in U.S. it’s easy to find).
You can also add the paneer as is, without any frying.
I haven’t tried baking or toasting paneer because it may dry it out too much – but if you want to experiment with a few pieces and see how it comes out, that’s what cooking is all about. 🙂
Hi Manjula,
I highly appreciate you in putting the effort to compose these videos extensively while paying attention to every little detail.
I just had a suggestion for this recipe. In the beginning you fry the paneer pieces until they turn pinkish in colour. I just had an idea for the people who want to consume less oil. Instead of frying it, how about if we just sort of barbeque them in the toaster oven on the grill? i mean if the purpose here is just to get them a bit crispy and pinkish in colour then why not try this. moreover, everyone in north america has the toaster oven
Just a suggestion
keep up the good work.
P.S- would it be possible to put up some videos cokking about chinese food. like vegetable manchurian or noodles or something.
Hello Jaya,
Thanks a lot for ur reply.
hi jaya
thanks again, I am in the gulf, so I am not sure exactly where I would find it, but as u said maybe in large grocery shops , I will check with that, and I will let u know if I found that or not…:)
Hi Eva,
“Cilantro” is also called: “Chinese Parsley”, “Coriander”, or “Coriander Greens”. In Hindi it is called “Hara Dhania”.
You can get it at any Indian grocery store, most natural health food stores if they carry fresh produce, and most American grocery stores.
Just make sure you get “Chinese Parsley” and NOT the Italian type Parsley. The Italian Parsley that all American grocery stores sell cannot be substitued. It has a totally different flavor that doesn’t work with Indian spices.
If you can’t get Cilantro/Chinese Parsley, just omit it from the dish.
Dear Manjuladi,
I like your butter paneer receipe but I want to know what is “cilantro”.
Hi Munna,
I’m in the U.S. and cheese cloth is available in the kichen section of most larger grocery stores, or try stores like Linen ‘n Things or Wal-Mart. Natural health food store might also carry it.
hi jaya
thanx a lot for ur reply, i will try with wot u said…..is “cheese cloth” vailable in market? if yes which type of store should I look for it….?
Hi Munna,
Any clean, thin woven, cotton kitchen towel will work. You can use a type of towell called “cheese cloth”, but anything similar works fine. Don’t use thick bath-type towels.
Hi aunty
thanks a lot for your reply. Can u pls tell me what type of cloth should ne used for draining paneer, or any cloth will do?
Hi Munna
It is sap of the tree. In english its called Asofetida.
what is hing?
Hi manjula aunty
yours is the best site I have seen because you know how to teach cooking very well, Pls i have a suggestion could you also try to include chinese didhes like chicken fried rice and other recepies and also pls include butter chicken…..thankyou:)
Thank you Kailas,
I do not worry about what to cook every day, I just open your web site and pick the great tasting recipe you have. I have made Moong dal dosa. My family loved it.
Thanks for great contribution.
Welcome @ Stephanie
@ Manjula: I cooked your “Paneer Masala” with my kids in school. They really love it!
Greetings from Germany
Tobi
Thank you Tobi
Hi anty,
I Love Paneer butter Masala n u make it so easy to prepare at home itself. Tank u 4 ur teaching.
With love,
Sindhu
Hello Tobi Thanks for the garam masala recipes.
…sorry for the typos at the end of my comment below!
In U.S., “Asian” groceries stores usually imply Japanese, Korean, Chinese kind of Asian. Go only to “Indian” grocery stores. Even though India is in Asia, the term Asia almost always refers to the “oriental” countries.
ANY “Indian” or “Inidan/Pakastani” grocery store will have Garam Masala. It’s too staple of an ingredient for them not too.
Garam Masala
8 cardamom pods
2 indian bay leaves
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
5 cm piece of cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon cloves
Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods. Break the bay leaves into small pieces. Put them in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar with the remaining spices grind to a fine powder. Stor in a small airthight container until needed.
Alternative:
10 dried chillies
5 cm cinnamon stick
2 curry leaves
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp chilli powder
– Dry-roast the whole dried red chillies, cinnamonsticks and curry leaves in a kharahi, wok or large pan over a low heat for about 2 minutes.
– Add the coriander and cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cloves, fenugreek and mustard seeds, and dry-roast for 8-10 minutes, shaking the pan from side to side until the spices begin to darken in colour and release a rich aroma. Leave the mixture to cool
– Using either a spice mill or a stainless mortar and pestle, grind the roasted spices to a fine powder.
– Transfer the powder to a glass bowl and mix in the chillipowder….
As u can see there are lots of different recipes for Garam Masala.
I searched for Garam Masala in asian-shops but I didn´t found it. Can I mix it by myself? Which ingredients do I need to make it?
Garam Masala is a spicemixture you can buy in any asian-food-shop.
@ Manjula: Great authentic recipes. I feel like back in India.
Greetings from Germany
Tobi
Hello,
what is Garam Masala?
Fabulous!
Hello.How do you make yoghurt.What is the difference between curd(dahi) and youghurt? thankyou!
I use corn starch to give some thickness to gravy, you can use lightly roasted plain flour
Hi! it looks so lovely the paneer butter masala. i would love to try but what is corn starch? i cant find it. Can i substitute with something else?
Hey, my name is Priyanka, I watched your website recently while trying to cook Samosas. For the first time in life I made samosas and they were awsome. My husband liked them very much and since then I am your fan. I have watched almost all of the receips and made few dishes. Thanks so much and the best part is that you don’t use onions as well as garlic and still the food is amazing. Good Luck and keep adding 🙂
Awesome! 🙂 Thank you Aunty. Website looks rocking!
Shashi
Dear Manjula Aunty,
I recently watched your website and got to know the live recipe of all the dishes I felt as if you are teaching me in my own kitchen being next to me. I use to watch many website where I could see only the recipes written only some time it comes out well. But your website is good to learn even for the person who is a starter to cook. I wish to know more recipe like masala puri, vegetable biryani and many more new recipes.
Thank you auntyji,
Priyaa
Hi mital
Becasue manjula aunty is jain and they do not use garlic and onion in any food.
i like the way u make all ur recipe. i have a see almost all ur video but in none of the i saw u using onion, y is it so????????
Dear Manjula Aunty
i found your site from youtube. I really liked your style and simple way. ilove to cook and love to try different food. I made cabbage pizza and paneer masala following your receipe and they tunred out really really good. Can’t wait to try more stuff. Please aunty post receipe for pani puri as it is really hard to find in nj where we lives. Thanks again for the all the hard work you are doing for the people who lives away from home.
Hello Indra, I will show soon how to make paneer.
Can you please let us know how to make panneer?
hai manjulaji,
tried paneer butter masala and it came out very well. thanks a lot. I am going to try batura soon, thanks a lot.
Dear respected manjulaji,
y can’t I see this video as I haven’t tried this recipie also your chola tikkie recipie was great kids liked it they say thanks to u but would like to learn more vegtables & tandoori roti your style thanks & regards
The recipe carnival is up at Expatriate’s Kitchen. Thanks for participating.
hi, manjula ji. reyali your myk v.good food i am tring.my famlie v. like.