Paneer Butter Masala | Paneer Makhani is a very popular Indian dish that is rich, creamy, and flavorful prepared using basic ingredients like butter, onion, tomatoes, paneer, cashews, and cream. Also known as Butter Paneer, this crowd favorite dish is commonly featured in the buffets at all Indian restaurants across the world.
This butter masala dish goes well with any breads like NAAN, ROTI, CHAPATI or rice items such as steamed rice, JEERA RICE or GHEE RICE. This is one of the popular vegetarian dishes served for lunch or dinner.
This delicious dish is available at almost all Indian restaurants along with kadai paneer, PALAK PANEER, paneer lababdar, and paneer TIKKA MASALA.
If you know what paneer is and how to cook it, then directly jump to the recipe for preparing restaurant-style paneer butter masala at home. If you are new to Indian cooking, read the entire post to learn more.
How to make the best restaurant-style paneer butter masala at home?
- Do not add any unnecessary spices. As the name, this dish gets it rich taste from the addition of butter. Other simple ingredients needed to prepare this dish are onion, garlic, tomato, cashews, and cream. That's it.
- Add cashews or almonds in the gravy. This is going to make it rich, sweet and give that authentic restaurant taste and texture. But if you are allergic to nuts then use melon seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, or poppy seeds - of course the taste will vary slightly.
- Do not overcook the paneer. It will only make it more rubbery and chewy. Homemade paneer tastes the best, but it needs time, planning, and prep. So you can use store-bought paneer. You can add this to a bowl of hot water and keep it aside for 15 mins. Again this step of soaking in hot water is optional. Add the paneer to the prepared masala in the final stages of cooking and cook the paneer cubes for a few minutes or until heated through. This way, the paneer will remain soft and melt-in-mouth.
Ingredients
For the Masala
- 1.5 tablespoon Butter (or vegan butter)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds or Jeera
- 1 Onion, roughly chopped
- 8 to 10 cloves of Garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 Green chilies, roughly chopped
- 1 inch Ginger, roughly chopped
- 16 to 18 Cashews
- 3 Tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 cup Water
For paneer butter masala dish
- 2 tablespoon Butter (or vegan butter)
- Salt, to taste
- ¾ teaspoon Red chile powder
- ¾ teaspoon Garam masala powder
- ½ cup Water
- 3 to 4 tablespoon of Cream (or Coconut cream for vegan version)
- 1 teaspoon Kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves (optional)
- 200 to 250g of Paneer (or Tofu for vegan version)
- 2 tablespoon of Coriander leaves or Cilantro chopped, for garnish
Detailed Steps
Steps to make Paneer Butter Masala
- Heat 1.5 tablespoon of butter in pan or kadai. You can add oil instead of butter or use 50% butter and 50% oil in the recipe if needed. But for rich flavor I prefer making this entire dish with butter.
- Add cumin seeds and sauté for a few seconds. Next, add chopped onion, garlic cloves, green chilies, and ginger, and saute till onions and garlic become translucent in color on medium flame.
- Now add cashews and saute for 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes and cook till it becomes soft and mushy. Switch off the flame. Let this mixture cool down. If you want to make this process faster you can start blending with ice cold water.
- Transfer this mixture to a mixer or blender and add approximately 1 cup of water. Blend it to a smooth paste. This is very important step. If this mixture is not blend to a smooth puree then the texture and taste of the final dish may vary. Transfer the ground mixture back to the pan or kadhai.
- In the same pan or kadhai, add 2 tablespoon of butter, salt to taste, red chile powder, garam masala powder, and approximately ½ cup of water, and mix.
- Cover this with a lid and cook on medium flame till the gravy thickens and traces of butter can be seen around the sides and top.
- Keep checking in between and give it a stir. Once the gravy thickens, check for salt and any other spices if needed.
- Add the cream and mix.
- Next, add paneer cubes, if available crush some kasuri methi between the palm of your hands and add it to the gravy. Cook for another 3 minutes on medium heat. Do not overcook the paneer.
- Garnish it with cilantro and some more cream if desired.
Some other tips before making butter masala from my end :
- You can substitute cashews with almonds or use half cashews and half almonds.
- If you are making this dish for kids, skip red chile powder and green chilies from the recipe. Alternatively, you may reduce their quantities by half.
- I generally don't add any whole garam masala spices while making this dish as the highlight here is butter, cashews, and cream. If you like the flavor, 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.
- You can add ginger garlic paste instead of garlic cloves and ginger but nothing can beat the flavor from fresh ginger and garlic cloves 🙂
- Some people add ½ teaspoon of sugar to balance out the sourness from the tomatoes to the dish. So once you taste the gravy you may add ½ teaspoon sugar if desired.
- Depending on the brand you use, vary the amount of red chile powder and garam masala powder.
- I have made this dish both with and without kasuri methi. The dish tastes good in both versions. Dry crushed kasuri methi has a unique umami flavor, so add it if you can find some easily.
- You can substitute paneer with tofu, corn kernels, mushroom, cauliflower, baby corn, potatoes or soya chunks.
- Fresh cream, heavy cream, whipping cream any of these can be used. If you want to skip cream completely, increase the amount of cashews.
FAQ
Paneer is a soft, smooth, and creamy non-melting Indian cottage cheese prepared by curdling milk using an acidic agent. This can be used to prepare both sweet (desserts) and savory dishes.
Paneer is rich in calcium content and protein. It is also high in saturated fat. So if you eat paneer in balanced way it is considered to be healthy. It is also a great substitute for any meat in several recipes prepared across the subcontinent.
Paneer can be easily made at home by using 2 ingredients : whole milk and curdling it using an acidic agent like lemon juice or vinegar. The curdled milk is then drained and pressed with a heavy object to get a large block of paneer, which are then eventually cut into cubes. Check this post for detailed steps on how to make cottage cheese or paneer at home.
Paneer is an Indian cottage cheese that looks a lot like tofu but is dairy-based, creamier and flavorful. Tofu on other hand is vegan, high in iron content, low in fat and calories - prepared from soy milk. So if you are looking for a healthier weight loss option, then tofu is the best choice but if you are looking for a rich taste and texture, paneer is the preferred choice.
Paneer is also known as Indian cottage cheese in many countries like USA, UK, Australia, and Canada. But this cottage cheese is different from the one consumed by people in the West which is available in curdled form in plastic or glass jars, is spreadable, some times squeaky when chewing, and has a mild taste. As mentioned earlier Paneer is a non-melting cheese available as blocks or cubes, and is not fermented or aged.
Paneer butter masala is a creamy buttery curry made using basic onion tomato masala, along with ground cashews, cream, and butter. Paneer cubes are then cooked for a few minutes in this silky tomato gravy and served as a side with flat breads or rice.
Some serving suggestions or accompaniments for butter masala include
Pita Bread – popular on blog
Garlic Butter Naan Bread – NEW
Thai roti bread – popular on blog
Rumali Roti
Tava Naan
Quick & Easy Vegan flatbreads - 12 recipes for flat breads
Amritsari Kulcha
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
Makhan means butter and makhani means buttery. Ideally, all three dishes are one and the same. However, when some restaurants list butter masala and makhani separately on their menu, the difference lies in the level of spiciness. In such cases, butter masala is on the spicier side, and makhani is less spicy and on the sweeter side.
You can make butter masala without onion and garlic. This is popularly called Jain-style butter masala. As a result, you can also have this dish during fasting or vrat days.
If you want a substitute cream to make it vegan, then use coconut cream or cashew paste. In my experience, the best option is to increase the amount of cashews or almonds in the recipe. I would even suggest soaking them for an hour or so in hot water before grinding.
I have also been asked several times if milk can be used as a substitute for cream. Based on experiences from the past, the answer is No. Milk curdles when added to tomatoes-based (acidic) gravy and spoils the taste and texture of the entire dish.
Make the gravy as mentioned in the steps below. Do not add cream and paneer. Cool the gravy completely and refrigerate or freeze in airtight containers. When ready to use, thaw and reheat the gravy in a pan till it starts simmering. Then add cream and paneer, and garnish with cilantro and crushed kasuri methi if available.
Yes. Store it in airtight containers in refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
You can substitute paneer with tofu, frozen corn kernels, mushroom, cauliflower, potatoes, babycorn, soya chunks, etc.
Yes, you can substitute paneer with extra-firm tofu or any other vegetables as substitutes (mentioned above). Substitute butter with any vegan butter and substitute cream with vegan cream or cashew paste or almond paste.
Recipe card
Paneer Butter Masala | Paneer Makhani | How to make paneer butter masala
Equipment
- 1 Kadhai or Pan
Ingredients
For the masala
- 1.5 tablespoon Butter or vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 Onion roughly chopped
- 8 Garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 2 Green chilies roughly chopped
- 1 inch Ginger roughly chopped
- 16 Cashews
- 3 Tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1 cup Water
For paneer butter masala dish
- 2 tablespoon Butter or vegan butter
- ¾ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
- ¾ teaspoon Red chile powder adjust to taste
- ¾ teaspoon Garam masala powder
- ½ cup Water
- 3 tablespoon Cream adjust for desired creaminess, dairy-free cream for vegan version
- 1 teaspoon Kasuri methi or Dried fenugreek leaves optional
- 200 g Paneer Tofu for vegan version
- 2 tablespoon Coriander leaves or Cilantro chopped, for garnish
Instructions
Step I
- Heat 1.5 tablespoon of butter in pan or kadai. You can add oil instead of butter or use half portion oil and half portion butter in recipe if needed. But for rich flavor, I prefer making this entire dish with butter.1.5 tablespoon Butter
- Add cumin seeds and sauté for few seconds. Next add onion, garlic cloves, green chilies, and ginger and saute till onion and garlic becomes translucent in color on medium flame.1 teaspoon Cumin seeds, 1 Onion, 8 Garlic cloves, 2 Green chilies, 1 inch Ginger
- Now add cashews and saute for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook till it becomes soft and mushy. Switch off the flame.16 Cashews, 3 Tomatoes
- Let this mixture cool down. If you want to make this process faster you can start blending with ice cold water. Transfer this mixture to mixer or blender and add approximately 1 cup of water. Blend it to a smooth paste. This is a very important step. If this mixture is not blend to a smooth puree then the texture and taste of the final dish may vary. Keep this aside.1 cup Water
Step II
- In the same pan, add 2 tablespoon of butter, ground paste, salt to taste, red chile powder, garam masala powder (start these spices with ½ teaspoon and then adjust to taste), approximately ½ cup water, and mix.2 tablespoon Butter, ¾ teaspoon Salt, ¾ teaspoon Red chile powder, ¾ teaspoon Garam masala powder, ½ cup Water
- Cover this with a lid and cook on medium flame till the gravy thickens and traces of butter can be seen along the sides and top. Keep checking in between and give it a stir. Once the gravy thickens, check for salt and any other spices if needed.
- Add the cream and mix.3 tablespoon Cream
- Add paneer cubes, crush kasuri methi between the palm of your hands and add it if available. Cook for another 3 minutes on medium heat. Do not overcook the paneer. Garnish it with cilantro and some more cream if desired.1 teaspoon Kasuri methi or Dried fenugreek leaves, 200 g Paneer, 2 tablespoon Coriander leaves or Cilantro
- Paneer Butter Masala is now ready. Serve hot and enjoy with naan, roti, chapati, steamed rice, ghee rice or jeera rice.
Notes
- You can serve this dish with NAAN, ROTI, CHAPATI or along with steamed rice, JEERA RICE or GHEE RICE
- You can substitute cashews with almonds or use half cashews and half almonds.
- If you are making this dish for kids, skip red chile powder and green chillies. Alternatively, you may reduce the quantities by half.
- I generally don't add any whole garam masala spices while making this dish as the highlight here is butter, cashews, and cream. If you like the flavor of garam masala, 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.
- You can add ginger-garlic paste instead of whole garlic cloves and ginger. In my opinion, nothing can beat the flavor from the fresh ginger and garlic cloves 🙂
- Some people add ½ teaspoon of sugar to balance out the sourness from the tomatoes to the dish. So once you taste the gravy you may add ½ teaspoon sugar if desired.
- Depending on the brand of spices you use, vary the amount of red chile powder and garam masala powder.
- I have made this dish both with kasuri methi and without it. It tastes great both ways.
- You can substitute paneer with tofu, frozen corn kernels, mushroom, cauliflower, potatoes, babycorn, soya chunks, etc.
- Fresh cream, heavy cream, whipping cream any of these can be used. If you want to skip cream completely, increase the amount of cashews.
Nutrition
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Amanda Wren-Grimwood
Made this last night and it turned out perfectly. So rich and creamy!
Jacqueline Meldrum
It's breakfast time here in Scotland and I'm drooling! That looks so good.
Heather
Never tried paneer but dying to make this recipe! Looks so flavorful and delicious!