Paneer Butter Masala | Paneer Makhani | How to make paneer butter masala

Paneer Butter Masala garnished with cilantro and a drizzle of cream and served in a white bowl.

5 from 31 votes

Paneer Butter Masala | Paneer Makhani | How to make paneer butter masala

Restaurant-style Paneer Butter Masala or Paneer Makhani is a very popular Indian dish that is rich, creamy and delicious, prepared using basic ingredients like butter, onion, tomatoes, paneer, cashews, and cream. This can be served with any flatbreads like naan, roti, chapati, pita, or along with steamed rice, jeera rice, ghee rice, or pulav.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: Indian, north indian, punjabi

Servings: people

Calories: 348kcal

Author: Kushi

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