If you’re not a bread lover, this Shahi Paneer also pairs beautifully with rice, should you wish to opt for a simple curry and rice bowl for dinner.

Make it as a stand-alone hero dish, or as a spectacular addition to any North Indian-style thali.

What’s in Shahi Paneer?

There’s a world of different recipes for Shahi Paneer and everyone has their own favourite way of making it. My version is made with aromatic spices like cardamom, saffron and cloves, nuts, dried mango and butter-soft paneer.

What’s the difference between Shahi Paneer and Paneer Makhani, Paneer Butter Masala, etc?

Meme culture has made a joke out of the similarities between these dishes for years. Shahi Paneer, Paneer Butter Masala, Paneer Makhani, Paneer Tikka Masala, Paneer Lababdar, Kadai Paneer, Nawabi Paneer, the list goes on.

Some restaurants generally tend to serve one of the aforementioned paneer dishes.

However, many will serve them all. It’s when the menu lists 10 similar-sounding paneer dishes that brain melt occurs and choices become difficult.

Which one do you go for?

Of course, each restaurant will have its own takes on these dishes, but there are some subtle differences that can help identify one paneer dish from another. Here are a few of them:

Shahi Paneer

A right royal affair. Expect nuts, fruitiness, saffron, cardamom and copious amounts of cream. Khoya (milk solids) may even be added. Fewer tomatoes than its counterparts — the sauce is often more yellow than orange. Some preparations can also be white in colour.

Paneer Makhani

The clue is in the word “Makhani”. In Indian cookery, “makhan” refers specifically to white butter.

White butter is different to the more commonly-sourced yellow butter we use in our homes today.

It’s made from the “malai” or uppermost fatty layer of boiled and cooled milk, i.e. The cream.

This cream is churned clockwise and anti-clockwise to separate the whey and butterfat. What you’re left with is a white butter that is free from the same sodium and preservatives found in yellow butter.

However, the two types of butter are used interchangeably these days and are the reason why makhani dishes are so luxuriously silky.

Expect lots of tomatoes, mild spices and of course, a great deal of makhan or butter.

Paneer Butter Masala/Butter Paneer

Paneer Butter Masala is the yellow butter sister to Paneer Makhani. Again, the focus is on butter in this dish.

Usually yellow butter is used but each recipe and preparation will vary. The finished dish is a burnt orange colour, similar to makhani gravy.

Generally speaking, the spices are mild and the gravy is rich in tomatoes. The final tadka (tempering) is prepared in butter. Find my Paneer Butter Masala here.

Paneer Tikka Masala

True Paneer Tikka Masala should include *drumroll please* paneer tikka. That is, paneer that has been marinated in spices and grilled in a tandoor (for restaurants), oven or pan (if you’re cooking it at home).

After grilling, the tikka pieces are folded into a silky reddish-orange makhani-style sauce. Expect smokiness, sweetness and tangy tomato goodness. Find my Tofu Tikka Masala recipe here.

Finally, one thing all of these dishes have in common is that they are all typically finished with cream and kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves).

How to make vegan Restaurant-Style Shahi Paneer

Simply switch the paneer with medium-firm tofu, use oil instead of butter/ghee and finish with oat cream for a silky finish.

Since the bulk of the creaminess in my Shahi Paneer recipe comes from the cashews and almonds, it can easily be made vegan with delicious results!

Can I use something else in place of paneer or tofu?

Of course. Feel free to substitute any cooked vegetables or protein in place of the paneer in this recipe.

Indeed, some delicious options include: Cauliflower, pumpkin, courgette, mushrooms, turnips, chickpeas, white beans or tempeh.

Why do you use dried mango in your recipe?

Mughlai cuisine is rich in many ways. Hero ingredients include nuts, fruits, cream and spices. Most recipes for Restaurant-Style Shahi Paneer will include a sweetening element (often sugar) to balance the heat of the spices, and compliment the richness of the dish.

As dried fruits are such an integral part of recipes from India’s historical royal kitchens, it makes sense to include them.

My preferred options are either soft dried mango or apricots, for they lend sweetness as well as a subtle, yet welcome tang.

If you have neither of these options to hand, you can use the same measure of golden sultanas (not raisins), or simply add a tablespoon of sugar to the dish. I don’t use raisins as they will affect the colour of the Shahi Paneer.

How to make the most of your saffron

Make your saffron work harder. It’s expensive stuff and a little goes a long way if you try this nifty trick. Simply dry roast it in a pan or microwave it for 30 seconds.

This will make it brittle enough to grind into a powder. When you add this saffron to your dish, the colours will be a beautiful shade of sunflower, and the flavours as intense as can be.

How to make Shahi Paneer

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Restaurant-Style Shahi Paneer

Delicious, rich & creamy Shahi Paneer is a vegetarian food hero in North Indian cuisine. Scoop this curry up with flaky parathas or serve with basmati rice.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword almond, cheese, curry, mughlai, north indian, paneer, shahi, vegetarian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Author Sanjana

Ingredients

• 450 g paneer cut into triangles or cubes

For the sauce:

• 10 cashews (30g)
• 10 almonds skins removed (30g)
• 3 tbsp chopped soft dried mango or apricots (60g)
• 1 tbsp butter, ghee or oil (I use butter)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 cloves
• 2.5 cm cinnamon stick
• 3 green cardamoms cracked
• 1 black cardamom
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 2 red chillies slit lengthways (use 1 if you prefer mild head)
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 red onions cut into wedges (150g)
• 2 large cloves garlic crushed
• 2 cm piece ginger grated
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 small pinch saffron 8-10 threads
• 4 tomatoes cut into wedges (300g)
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 250 ml water + 150ml extra

For the tempering:

• 1 tbsp butter
• 2.5 cm piece ginger julienned
• 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 80 ml cream
• 1 tsp kasoori methi crushed
• 2 green cardamom pods seeds finely ground
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• Saffron strands, dried rose petals, chopped coriander leaves and cream to garnish

Instructions

• Heat 1 tbsp butter, ghee or oil in a large pan. Add the whole spices (cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon, green cardamom, black cardamom and bay leaf). Allow to sizzle for 20-30 seconds and then add the chillies, onions, ginger, garlic, nuts, apricot or mango pieces, tomatoes, saffron, turmeric, salt and 250ml water. Stir well and cover with a lid. Simmer on a medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes until everything is soft. Allow to cool down. Remove the bay leaf, black cardamom and cinnamon stick and discard.
• Blend the mixture until completely smooth and creamy. I use a NutriBullet and give it a good 60-90 seconds.
• Pass the mixture through a sieve to remove any unwanted skins and seeds from the tomatoes and spices. Add the remaining 150ml water to the blender jar and swish around to catch the rest of the sauce. Pass this through the sieve and into the sauce too.
• In the same pan, heat up the butter until melted and bubbling. Add the ginger juliennes, chopped coriander and Kashmiri chilli powder. Return the strained sauce to the pan and stir well. Fold in the paneer. Cover and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
• Switch the heat off and stir in the cream, kasoori methi and ground cardamom.
• Serve hot, garnished with optional saffron strands, chopped coriander leaves, dried rose petals and cream.

Video

Notes

• Serve with laccha paratha, naan roti or rice.
• For Punjabi dhaba-style Shahi Paneer, reduce the sauce by half (simmer over a low heat, stirring often) until thick and creamy. Add the paneer along with an additional 2.5cm ginger juliennes. Heath through and serve. This thick-style is popular in roadside cafes and pair beautifully with roti or paratha for a rib-sticking vegetarian dinner.
• Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Re-heat thoroughly before serving.
• This Shahi Paneer is suitable for freezing. Keep in an airtight and freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature and heat through until piping hot. Freezing may affect the texture of the paneer. If you like, you can make the sauce and freeze, ready to add the paneer later.

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If you like Shahi Paneer, you’ll love this recipe for Tofu Tikka Masala

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The post Restaurant-Style Shahi Paneer appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

The flavour of these buttermilk naans is slightly tangy and so delicious with a slick of salty butter. Use them to scoop up your favourite curries, or dunk them in daal for a a comforting meal — you won’t believe they aren’t from a restaurant!

How to make restaurant-style naan at home

What would you say if I told you that you can make them without a tandoor, and have them on the table in under 40 minutes? If you love the flavours of sourdough bread, you will go wild for these delicious Indian restaurant-style naans. They’re quick, easy and require no yeast or time for raising. Simply mix the ingredients, knead the dough, rest it for a short time and then roll and cook.

The shape of the naan doesn’t have to be perfect either. In fact, I think that the more rustic and imperfect the edges, the better they look.

What makes this Quick Buttermilk Naan recipe so special?

The revolutionary thing about this naan recipe is the cooking method. You don’t need to switch on the oven or grill. They are made on a tawa on the gas cooker. The only requirement is that the pan is not a non-stick one and the cooker has an open flame. This method won’t work on an electric cooker or induction hob. If you don’t have a traditional Indian tawa, a cast iron frying pan or skillet is ideal.

How to cook naan without a tandoor

Lets face it, a home tandoor is nothing more than a pipe dream for the average Indian home cook, myself included. Luckily, there’s a quick and inexpensive way to give naans a beautifully-blistered surface without a tandoor.

Simply heat up a tawa until smoking hot, wet the surface of the naan with water and place it water-side down on the tawa. It will begin to puff slightly. After 20 seconds, grab the pan handle (wearing a heatproof glove if the pan doesn’t have a wooden handle) and flip it upside down to cook the surface directly over the open flame.

Water is the magic ingredient!

The water you sprinkle on the base ensures the naan remains stuck to the pan so you can turn the pan upside down without it falling off. The surface will begin to char and puff, leaving the naan perfectly cooked in 25-30 seconds.

A note on flavouring naan

This is a basic recipe for plain butter naan. If you would like to flavour your naan, there are lots of delicious options open to you. A popular choice and personal favourite of mine is garlic naan, whereby the cooked naan is brushed with a mixture of melted butter and fried garlic. You can also add chopped coriander leaves to the butter emulsion if you like.

Another option is to make chilli naan, also known as “bullet naan” in many Indian restaurants. To make chilli naan, melt the butter in a pan and add chopped chillies. Allow to sizzle for a moment before using this butter to brush the entire surface of the naan.

Kulcha

Then there’s the world of kulcha or stuffed naan. To make Kulcha, are layer up naan dough like paratha and stuff them with a spicy filling. I will write a separate post on these because the possible variations are extensive and utterly deserve of their own deep dive.

Ingredients you’ll need to make Quick Buttermilk Naan

• Plain flour
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Sugar
• Any flavourless oil of your choice
• Buttermilk

Step-by-step: how to make Quick Buttermilk Naan

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Quick Buttermilk Naan

Make lip-licking naans that are thin, tender and chewy, with perfectly-puffy blisters, just like in Indian restaurants. The flavour of these buttermilk naans is slightly tangy and so delicious with a slick of salty butter. Use them to scoop up your favourite curries, or dunk them in daal for a a comforting meal — you won’t believe they aren’t from a restaurant!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Keyword bread, naan, north indian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Author Sanjana

Equipment

• Cast iron, steel or aluminium frying pan (not a non-stick pan), about 25cm in diameter
• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment (optional, you can also make these by hand)

Ingredients

• 400 g plain flour plus more for rolling out
• 300 ml buttermilk
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder not baking soda
• 100 ml flavourless oil
• 1 tsp kalonji (nigella seeds) optional
• Water for sprinkling on the surface of the naan
• Butter for spreading on the cooked naan melted

Instructions

For the naan dough:

• In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and optional kalonji seeds. Give it a quick stir and then add the oil and buttermilk. Mix to form a wet, shaggy dough.
• Now, either by hand or using the dough hook attachment of your stand mixer, knead the dough until soft and smooth. This will take 6-7 minutes by hand or 3 minutes in the stand mixer running at medium speed. Cover the dough with a damp cloth or tea towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

To roll the naan:

• Divide the dough into 10 equal portions and roll into balls.
• Heat the frying pan or tawa over a medium heat. It should be scorching hot. It's a good idea to open a window at this point.
• On a very lightly floured surface, roll one of the dough portions into a round-ish shape. It doesn't have to be perfectly round. You could also roll it into an oblong or teardrop shape. The choice is yours. The most important thing is that the surface is of an even thickness so it all cooks evenly. Aim for a thickness of about 1/2 cm.
• Use your fingers to sprinkle and lightly spread water on the entire surface of the naan. Be gentle, you don't want to tear the naan or rub it in.

To cook the naan:

• Carefully, using two hands, pick the naan up and place it water-side down on the hot pan. It will sizzle and bubbles will quickly begin to appear on the naan. Allow to cook for 15-20 seconds.
• Using a heatproof glove, grab the pan handle and carefully tip it upside down to cook the uncooked side directly over the open flame. It will take 20-25 seconds to puff up and blister.
• Remove the naan from the head and use a metal spatula to carefully unstick and lift the naan from the pan. It should come away fairly easily and be nice and charred on the bottom. Wrap it in a dry tea towel to keep warm while you roll and cook the rest of the naans. Keep them together, wrapped in the tea towel until you're ready to serve.
• Brush the naans with melted butter before serving.

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If you like these, you will love this recipe for Soft Spinach Roti (Chapati).

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The post Quick Buttermilk Naan appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.