HARIYALI PANEER | TOFU GREEN CURRY

 Hariyali Paneer or Tofu Green Curry  is a simple and easy-to-make curry recipe packed full of flavor prepared using paneer (Indian cottage cheese) or tofu and few basic ingredients from your kitchen.

This paneer gravy or tofu gravy can be served with any bread such as NAAN, ROTI, CHAPATI, or along with rice items such as steamed rice, JEERA RICE, or GHEE RICE.

Hariyali paneer is different from palak paneer. Palak paneer is prepared using spinach leaves, while hariyali paneer is prepared using green leaves combination like pudina and coriander (dhania or cilantro). This dish is also known as pudina paneer curry.

PANEER BUTTER MASALA, PALAK PANEER, KADAI PANEER, and TIKKA MASALA are popularly found in any Indian restaurant menus. But this hariyali paneer is a very unique dish that you can find only in a few dhabas.

With my new addiction to paneer and tofu, and adding greens to my diet, I ended up preparing this simple yet delicious dish that can be served for vegetarian or vegan, gluten-free dinner or lunch.

For all those who are new to paneer, and want to know how to make paneer at home OR if you are interested to know which is better - paneer or tofu - then click the following link and read the entire post where I have answered all the questions regarding paneer and tofu.

If you know how to make Indian butter masala or tikka masala then making this dish is even simpler. All my tips and tricks to get the best tasting dish remains the same and I have shared the same below.

Ingredients for Hariyali Paneer | Tofu Green Curry

For the masala
2 tablespoon Vegetable oil
1 Onion roughly chopped
8 to 10 Garlic cloves
1 inch Ginger grated
14 to 16 cashews
1 Tomato, finely chopped
⅓ cup Mint leaves or Pudina, loosely packed (reduce the amount if you want a milder flavor of mint)
1 cup, Coriander leaves or cilantro, loosely packed
2 to 3 Green chilies
1 cup water, approximate

Other ingredients
1 tbsp. Vegetable oil
1 Onion, cut into cubes
1 Tomato, cut into cubes

For the gravy
½ to 1 teaspoon Garam masala powder
200 to 250 grams Paneer
1 to 2 tablespoon Cream (use dairy-free version to make vegan or skip)
½ teaspoon Sugar
Salt, to taste

Step by Step Recipe to Prepare Hariyali Paneer | Tofu Green Curry

• Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a pan. Add onion, ginger, garlic cloves, and sauté till onion and garlic cloves become translucent on medium flame and rawness goes off completely.
• To this add cashew nuts, finely chopped tomato, and cook till tomato softens. Switch off the flame and allow the mixture to cool down.
• To fasten up the process, you can blend using ice-cold water.
• Transfer this onion-tomato mixture along with mint leaves, coriander leaves, and green chilies, approximately 1 cup water, and blend it to smooth paste.
• In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon oil and cubed onions. Sauté for a minute or 2 minutes on medium-high flame. Add the cubed tomatoes and sauté it for another 1 minute.
• Transfer this to a plate, and set it aside.
• In the same pan, add the pureed paste, salt to taste, water for desired consistency approx  ½ cup, garam masala powder (start with ½ teaspoon and add more if required) and let the gravy come to a boil and thicken. Taste the gravy and add more salt or garam masala if required.
• Once it's thickened, add cream, sugar, paneer, sauteed onion and tomato, and mix. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes. Switch off the flame.
• Hariyali paneer is now ready. Serve and enjoy.

Tips to make the best Hariyali paneer or Tofu Green Curry

• If you are not a big fan of pudina or mint leaves, either reduce the amount or sauté it along with onion and tomatoes and then grind.
• Cashews can be substituted with almonds or feel free to use half cashews and half almonds.
• If you are preparing this dish for kids or can't tolerate the heat, deseed green chilies, reduce the number of chilies or skip.
• Most of the Indian dishes like tikka masala and butter masala use whole garam masala spices  I generally don’t add any whole garam masala spices while preparing curries as my family is not a big fan of their strong flavors. If you like it, you may add 1 bay leaf, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cardamom pods while sautéing onions, and then remove bay leaf and cinnamon sticks just before blending it to avoid the strong flavor.
• I would not recommend reducing the number of garlic cloves as you are sautéing it in oil, it is only going to enhance the flavor of the dish and not give any pungent flavor. But make sure you saute it on medium flame till it turns golden in color.

• Based on the brand you are using, vary the amount of garam masala powder.
• You can substitute paneer with tofu for a vegan version,  corn kernels, mushroom, cauliflower, baby corn, potatoes, or soya chunks.
• Fresh cream, heavy cream, whipping cream any of these go well. But if you want to skip cream completely, increase the number of cashews.
• You can use butter instead of oil for a richer version of this gravy.

Is there any substitute for paneer or tofu in the gravy?

Yes. If you are a non-vegetarian, then you can use chicken. If you are looking for more vegetarian options then use frozen corn kernels, mushroom, cauliflower, potatoes, babycorn, soya chunks, etc.

WHAT DO YOU SERVE WITH HARIYALI PANEER | TOFU GREEN CURRY | PUDINA PANEER CURRY

Some serving suggestions or accompaniments for any Indian gravy along with this paneer or tofu curry includes

• Garlic Butter Naan Bread – NEW
• Aloo paratha
• Rumali Roti
• Pita Bread – popular on blog
• Thai roti bread – popular on blog
• Tava Naan
• Amritsari Kulcha
• Quick & Easy Vegan Flatbreads – 12 recipes for flat breads
• Corn Flour Bread
• Oats Chapati – popular on blog
• Garlic Cheese Naan
• Ghee Rice or Brown Butter Rice or Jeera rice
• Dinner rolls
• Honey butter rolls

Today I have served this curry with PANEER PARATHA and I will soon share the recipe for the same. Stay tuned!!!

Printable Recipe for Hariyali Paneer | Tofu Green Curry | Pudina Paneer

Recipe card

Hariyali Paneer | Tofu Green Curry | Pudina Paneer Curry

Kushi

Hariyali Paneer or Tofu Green Curry is a simple and easy-to-make curry recipe packed with full of flavor and prepared using paneer (Indian cottage cheese) or tofu and a few basic ingredients from your kitchen.

5 from 11 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Indian, north indian, punjabi, South Indian

Servings 4 people

Calories 321 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the Masala

• ▢ 2 tablespoon Vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 medium Onion , roughly chopped
• ▢ 8 to 10 cloves Garlic
• ▢ 1 inch Ginger , grated
• ▢ 14 to 16 Cashews
• ▢ 1 Tomato , finely chopped
• ▢ ⅓ cup Mint leaves or Pudina loosely packed (reduce the amount if you want a milder flavor)
• ▢ 1 cup Cilantro or Coriander leaves, chopped, loosely packed
• ▢ 2 to 3 Green chilies
• ▢ 1 cup Water , approximate

Other Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 small Onion , cut into cubes
• ▢ 1 Tomato , cut into cubes

For the Gravy

• ▢ ½ to 1 teaspoon Garam Masala or Curry Powder
• ▢ 200 to 250 grams Paneer (tofu for vegan version)
• ▢ 1 to 2 tablespoon Cream (use dairy-free version to make vegan or skip)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Sugar
• ▢ Salt , to taste

Instructions

 

Step I

• Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a pan. Add onion, ginger, garlic cloves and sauté till onion and garlic cloves becomes translucent on medium flame and rawness goes off completely.
  2 tablespoon Vegetable oil, 1 medium Onion, 8 to 10 cloves Garlic, 1 inch Ginger
• To this, add cashews and finely chopped tomato, and cook till the tomato softens. Switch off the flame and allow the mixture to cool down. Check tips.
  14 to 16 Cashews, 1 Tomato
• Note: To fasten up the process, you can blend using ice-cold water.
• Transfer this onion-tomato mixture along with mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chilies, approximately 1 cup water, and blend it to a smooth paste.
  ⅓ cup Mint leaves, 1 cup Cilantro, 2 to 3 Green chilies, 1 cup Water

Step II

• In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon oil and cubed onions. Sauté for 1 or 2 minutes on medium-high flame. Add the cubed tomatoes and sauté for another 1 minute.
  1 tablespoon Vegetable oil, 1 small Onion, 1 Tomato
• Transfer this to a plate, and set it aside.

Step III

• In the same pan, add the pureed paste (from Step I), salt to taste, water for desired consistency (approximately  ½ cup), garam masala powder (start with ½ teaspoon and add more if required), and let the gravy come to a boil and thicken. Taste the gravy and add more salt or garam masala if required.
  Salt, ½ to 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
• Once the gravy has thickened, add cream, sugar, paneer (or tofu), sauteed onion and tomato (from Step II), and mix. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes. Switch off the flame.
  1 to 2 tablespoon Cream, ½ teaspoon Sugar, 200 to 250 grams Paneer
• Hariyali paneer or Tofu Green Curry is now ready. Serve and enjoy.

Notes

• If you are not a big fan of pudina or mint leaves, either reduce the amount or sauté it along with onion and tomatoes and then grind.
• This paneer gravy or tofu gravy can be served with any bread such as NAAN, ROTI, CHAPATI, or along with rice items such as steamed rice, JEERA RICE or GHEE RICE.
• Cashews can be substituted with almonds or feel free to use half cashews and half almonds.
• If you are preparing this dish for kids or can’t tolerate the heat, deseed green chilies, reduce the number of chilies, or skip.
• Most of the Indian dishes like tikka masala and butter masala use whole garam masala spices  I generally don’t add any whole garam masala spices while preparing curries as my family is not a big fan of the strong flavors. If you prefer, you may add 1 bay leaf, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cardamom pods while sautéing onions, and then remove bay leaf and cinnamon sticks just before blending it to avoid the strong flavor.
• I would not recommend reducing the number of garlic cloves as you are sautéing it in oil, it is only going to enhance the flavor of the dish and not give any pungent flavor. But make sure you saute it on medium flame till it turns golden in color.
• Based on the brand you are using vary the amount of garam masala powder.
• You can substitute paneer with tofu for a vegan version,  corn kernels, mushroom, cauliflower, baby corn, potatoes, or soya chunks.
• Fresh cream, heavy cream, whipping cream any of these go well. But if you want to skip cream completely, increase the number of cashews.
• You can use butter instead of oil for a richer version.

Nutrition

Calories: 321kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 9gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 245mgPotassium: 251mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 727IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 283mgIron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

If you like this Hariyali paneer or Tofu Green Curry

Don't miss to check out other delicious Indian curry and gravy recipes

Paneer Butter Masala	Chole / Chickpeas Masala / Chana Masala
Chicken Tikka Masala	Butter Chicken
Palak Paneer	Mushroom Butter Masala

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