What is Shahi Paneer?

Shahi as the name suggests is the ‘royal’ cottage cheese recipe. The word shahi comes from the mughalai ancestry of the dish and no doubt it’s a royal dish. No visit to a north restaurant is complete with out a serving of Shahi Paneer in the buffet. A few days back I had shared the Kadai Paneer recipe and it received a lot of good feedback with a demand to share Restaurant style Shahi Paneer recipe. Also, a common question that I get asked a lot is –

What is the different between Kadai Paneer, Shahi Paneer and Paneer Butter Masala?

These paneer dishes are of course similar, but the biggest difference lies in the gravy of the recipe both in terms of taste and texture. If we go in details, in addition to a few ingredients, the change in proportion of onion and tomatos results in different thickness & texture of it’s curry.

• Kadai Paneer has almost equal number of onions and tomatoes in the curry. Also, it’s usually spicier than others because of more green chilly used.
• Shahi Paneer recipe has twice the number of tomatos as onions give it a more tangy and sweeter taste because of adding cream (yogurt)
• Paneer Butter Masala is even sweeter because some people and has more butter added to the recipe. Some people also like to add sugar in it.

What inspired me to make the Shahi Paneer recipe?

Day before yesterday while taking an Accountancy lecture online, I was teaching ‘Partnership’ to my students. And the question said “Shah and Praneet were two partners sharing profit and losses in the ratio 1:2”. I did end up teaching the students about profit distribution between Shah and Praneet, but I ended up thinking of – Shahi Paneer! So as soon as I finished my class, my menu for lunch was set with Shahi Paneer 😉

My twist to the standard recipe

There are many methods to prepare shahi paneer, even I have used various methods. But the method I’m sharing today is super simple and quick. On a busy and hectic day of work too, you can prepare it as it requires very less time for chopping and we don’t really need to stand in the kitchen and stir the dish all the time. Just put everything in a pan, relax for 20 minutes and get your restaurant style shahi paneer with this recipe!

Let’s get straight to the Shahi Paneer recipe details then

Yield: 750 grams

Restaurant Style Shahi Paneer Recipe

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Shahi Paneer Recipe is cottage cheese cooked in a smooth flavorful tomato based
curry with cream or yogurt to give it a mild creamy texture. The Shahi Paneer gravy uses tomatos and onions in a ratio of 2:1

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Ingredients

• Paneer/Cottage Cheese – 400 gms
• Onions – 4
• Tomatos – 8
• Green Chilli – 2
• Garlic Cloves – 7 to 8
• Ginger – One inch
• Cinnamon Stick/Dalchini – one inch
• Black Cardamom?Kali Badi Elaichi – 1
• Green Cardamom/Choti Elaichi – 2 to 3
• Black Pepper Whole/Sabut Kali Mirch- 4 to 5
• Cloves/Laung – 2 to 3
• Coriander Seeds/Sabut Dhaniya – ¼ tsp
• Shahi Jeera/Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp
• Kashimiri/ Degi Red Chilli Powder – 1 tbsp
• Kasuri Methi (dried fenugreek leaves) – ½ tbsp (optional)
• Pudina Powder – ½ tbsp (optional)
• Salt – 1 tbsp or as per taste
• Cashew Nuts – 7 to 8
• Butter – 2 tbsp
• Fresh Cream- 2 tbsp
• Coriander Leaves – 1 tbsp

Instructions

Chop onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and green chillies roughly and add it in a kadai. Add all the spices; cinnamon, cloves, black and green cardamom, black pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, salt & kashmiri red chilli powder.

Add cashew nuts and 1 tbsp of Amul butter also in the kadhai. Add half cup of water and cover the pan with a lid for about 15 minutes on low-medium flame.

Allow the mixture to cook and tomatoes to release the juice. Once the mixture is partially cooked, let it cool for 15 minutes under the fan.

Grind the mixture into fine paste and sieve this paste into a bowl. Add a little water also in this step as to set the consistency of the curry, this will help the curry to get a beautiful soft and delicate texture.

Now take a new pan/kadai. Add one tbsp of butter to it. Stir fry the pieces of paneer in butter for about a minute.

Add this sieved curry into the paneer and cook it for about 5 mins.

Add 1 ½ tbsp of fresh Amul/Mother Dairy cream to it. And if you are calorie conscious, you can also use 2 tbsp of hung curd instead of cream.

You can also add Kasuri Methi ½ tbsp or Dried Pudina Powder ½ tbsp for flavour enhancement. (This step is optional)

Your Shahi Paneer is ready to serve, it goes deliciously well with lacha pratha or butter naan!

Notes

If you don’t want to make it spicy or hot, simply avoid adding the green chillies. Specially advisable if you’re making this for your foreign friends who’re not used to hot spices.

Recommended Products

I recommend products that will help you make the recipe in the best way possible.

• 
  Shahi Paneer Masala

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 300

If you don’t have all the raw spices, then you can also use the shahi paneer masala available on Amazon.

This recipe is super quick and so easy to make that you will be surprised! Let me know in comments if you enjoyed reading the restaurant style shahi paneer recipe in the comments.