This vegetarian curry uses chunks of creamy paneer in a fragrant butter-style curry sauce. It’s mild enough for the whole family to enjoy, but you can spice up this paneer curry with the addition of some fresh chillies if you like it hotter.
For this paneer curry I’ve gone down a similar route to my butter chicken as my family LOVE the taste of a butter masala sauce and it compliments the paneer so well!
📋 Ingredients
For the spices in this paneer masala I’m using:
- Medium heat curry powder
- Paprika
- Cinnamon
- Garam Masala
- Cardamom
Because we’re not vegetarian I do use chicken stock here but you can replace it with vegetable stock for a full vegetarian version of the is Paneer Curry!
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Blend the onion, garlic and ginger together.
- Sauté the onion mixture in butter and oil for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the spices and cook for a couple of minutes until they release their fragrance.
- Add the rest of the sauce (masala) ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the cardamom and stir through the cream.
- Carefully add the cubes of paneer and cook, stirring gently, for 3 minutes, then serve!
👩🍳PRO TIP I like to sew cardamom pods together with a piece of natural cotton. This makes it much easier to find them and easily fish them out later.
If you wanted to spice this dish up then you could add a a red chilli in with the onions and garlic or half a teaspoon of kashmiri chilli powder when the other spices get added in.
🍽️ What to serve it with
Serve this easy paneer curry with a sprinkling of sliced red onion, fresh coriander and some nigella seeds along with:
- Onion Fried rice or boiled plain rice,
- Toasted Garlic Naan, a Chapati or a roti.
- Homemade mango chutney
- Or go all out and serve with some onion bhaji too!
The tender cubes of paneer have a subtle creamy chewiness, complementing the velvety texture of the butter curry sauce.
🍲 More fantastic meat-free favourites
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Paneer Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tbsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp medium-heat curry powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) chicken stock
- 400 ml (14oz) passata
- 2 tbsp tomato puree (paste in USA)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 6 cardamom pods
- 175 ml (¾ cup) double (heavy) cream
- 450 g (1 lb) paneer cheese , chopped into bite-size chunks
To Serve
- Fresh coriander (cilantro) roughly chopped
- Thinly sliced red onion
- Nigella seeds
- Naan bread
Instructions
- Place the roughly chopped onion, garlic and ginger into a food processor and blend until smooth.1 large onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger
- Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.3 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 tbsp oil
- Add the minced onion, garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion starts to brown at the edges of the pan.
- Add the salt, garam masala, curry powder, paprika and cinnamon. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes, until the spices start to release their fragrance.1/4 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tbsp garam masala, 1 tbsp medium-heat curry powder, 1 tsp paprika, ½ tsp cinnamon
- Add the stock, passata, tomato puree, sugar and cardamom.180 ml (3/4 cup) chicken stock, 400 ml (14oz) passata, 2 tbsp tomato puree (paste in USA), 2 tsp sugar, 6 cardamom pods
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened.
- Remove the cardamom then stir in the cream and allow to heat through.175 ml (¾ cup) double (heavy) cream
- Carefully stir in the paneer and cook for a further 3 minutes, until the paneer is heated through.450 g (1 lb) paneer cheese
- Serve with some freshly chopped coriander, thinly sliced red onion and a sprinkling of Nigella seeds. I like to serve mine with naan bread for dipping too.Fresh coriander (cilantro), Thinly sliced red onion, Nigella seeds, Naan bread
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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We love butter chicken, but had never tried paneer. Pleased to say we loved it and a great option for a meat free dinner.