It is a fact that Mughlai cuisine is know for its meat-based dishes and biryanis. But it is also true that one of the most delicious and popular recipes from this food repertoire is a vegetarian dish, namely Shahi Paneer. It is deliciously rich, where fresh, unmelting cheese lie in a pool of creamy gravy, perfect for serving with naan or roti. The word ‘shahi’ is ‘royal or royalty’ in English. And I guarantee that this dish is true to its name. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, make it and treat yourself like kings and queens!
About This Shahi Paneer Recipe
Shahi Paneer is a rich and creamy North Indian curry known for its regal and indulgent flavors. Like I mentioned in the beginning, the term ‘shahi’ translates to ‘royal,’ indicating the dish’s opulence.
Thus, the dish can be literally translated to ‘royal paneer.’ It features paneer (Indian cottage cheese) cooked in a velvety tomato or yogurt based curry, enriched with cream, nuts and aromatic spices.
Paneer is a fresh cheese that is popular in Indian cuisine. It is made by curdling milk with a food acid (often lemon juice), then pressed into cubes.
The most notable thing about paneer cheese is that it does not melt, providing a texture similar to tofu. Shahi Paneer is a favorite in North Indian cuisine, loved by vegetarians and those who appreciate rich, flavorful dishes.
While the basic recipe remains consistent, there are regional variations and personal adaptations of Shahi Paneer.
Some versions use tomatoes and butter and others include the addition of fruits like pineapple. I have opted not to use these ingredients, instead using yogurt, nuts and seeds to lighten up the dish considerably.
Including various nuts, seeds together with onions, yogurt, spices makes for a white gravy which is creamy, lightly sweet and a bit tangy.
The shahi gravy is full of fragrant flavors due to the addition of spices and saffron.
Balanced out with a smooth, creamy white gravy, this version of Shahi Paneer is perfect for special occasions, festivals and celebratory meals due to its luxurious taste and appearance.
Now, more than ever, comfort foods are in order. And if you are looking for a warming, comforting vegetarian dish to serve for supper, look no further.
Shahi Paneer is one of my very favorite dishes and is sure to become one of yours, too. This dish is sure to fill your bellies and warm your souls.
How to make Shahi Paneer
While the list of ingredients for Shahi Paneer recipe is quite long, you don’t need to be intimidated. The process for making this dish isn’t particularly technical or difficult.
Preparation
1. Take the nuts and seeds – 2 tablespoons cashews, 1 tablespoon almonds, 1 tablespoon melon seeds (magaz) in a bowl and rinse them a couple of times with water.
Drain all the water and set aside.
2. Simmer the below listed ingredients in 1.5 cup water for for 8 to 10 minutes on medium-low heat.
- ½ cup chopped onions
- 2 tablespoons cashews
- 1 tablespoon almonds
- 1 tablespoon melon seeds (magaz)
- ½ teaspoon chopped ginger
- ½ teaspoon chopped garlic
3. Continue to cook until the onions become soft, then strain some of the stock (the water in which the nuts, seeds, onions were cooked). Set this stock aside for later use.
4. When cooled, place the softened onions, nuts, seeds, ginger, garlic in a blender or grinder-mixer jar. You can peel the almonds if you prefer.
5. Make a fine paste of the cooked onion mixture, adding 2 to 4 tablespoons of the strained stock or as needed.
6. Beat ½ cup fresh curd (yogurt) till smooth and set aside.
Cook Shahi Paste
7. Heat 3 tablespoons ghee in a pan over medium-low to medium heat. Let the ghee melt. You can even use oil or butter in place of ghee.
8. Fry all the whole spices until they release their aroma in the ghee. The whole spices are listed below:
- 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
- 2 to 3 cloves
- 2 to 3 green cardamoms
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahi jeera) – can swap with cumin seeds instead
Tip: Be very attentive here, as spices are delicate and can burn quickly if you aren’t paying attention.
Note that the whole spices are not eaten. If you prefer, you can remove the whole spices (after they are fried in the oil) excluding the caraway seeds, with a slotted spoon before adding the onion and nut paste.
9. Add the onion and nuts paste.
10. On a low to medium-low heat mix until the paste is uniform. Then sauté for 7 to 8 minutes or until the fat separates at the sides of the paste.
You will see that on further cooking the paste will thicken and become glossy. Keep stirring non-stop for even cooking. This will also prevent the paste getting burnt from the bottom.
11. Now add ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or cayenne pepper, ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder and 1 teaspoon coriander powder.
You could even replace red chilli powder with ¼ teaspoon white or black pepper powder. You could also use kashmiri red chilli powder.
12. Stir to mix well.
13. Reduce heat to a low or turn off the heat. Add the whisked yogurt, 1 to 1.5 cups of water, ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar and salt according to taste.
You can always alter the consistency of gravy by adding less or more water.
14. Stir well and simmer on a low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the gravy thickens.
15. Add ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder and crushed 15 to 20 saffron strands.
Make Shahi Paneer
16. Stir and add the paneer cubes (200 grams) and 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Add 1 teaspoon of kewra water and stir (optional step). If adding butter, you can add it here. Mix well and turn off the heat.
Preferably use homemade paneer for the best texture and softness. If using store-brought paneer or frozen paneer, follow the package instructions to thaw and use it.
Tip 1: If you are a vegan, you can easily substitute tofu for the paneer.
Tip 2: If you prefer a richer version, feel free to add more cream or butter to the recipe.
17. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves or mint leaves or some saffron strands and enjoy with rice or flatbread.
Serving Suggestions
You can enjoy this creamy textured dish with Roti, or Naan and even paratha. You can also serve it with rice-based dishes like Jeera Rice, or Ghee Rice.
Expert Tips
- Tomatoes: I have not added tomatoes to this dish since I have used yogurt (curd). But you can substitute yogurt with tomato puree in the same proportions. If adding tomatoes, then add 2 to 3 tablespoons cream as it balances the acidity and tanginess of the tomatoes.
- Nuts & Seeds Freshness: Since a major part of the gravy is made from nuts and yogurt, make sure that these ingredients are fresh. The nuts and seeds should not be rancid and the curd (yogurt) must not be sour.
- About Magaz: It is a blend of pumpkin, watermelon, cantaloupe and cucumber seeds. It is an ingredient used in Indian cuisine and can be found in Indian grocery stores. If you don’t have access to magaz or melon seeds, add a total of 2 tablespoons almonds instead. You could also only use watermelon seeds.
- Rich Variant: A very rich version of this Shahi Paneer recipe is made with adding butter and more cream. In this recipe, I have added less cream. Feel free to add more cream or use butter, if you prefer.
- Plant Based Option: Vegans can substitute the paneer with tofu and the dairy-based curd with cashew or coconut yogurt. I don’t advise using soy or peanut yogurt for this dish. If using cashew yogurt, no need to add cashews while making the paste. Alternatively, you can use tomato puree and coconut cream in place of yogurt. Use a neutral tasting oil in place of ghee.
FAQs
From the 1400s to the 1800s, Mughals (“moo-galls”) ruled India. The food that resulted from their rule was very rich, often incorporating nuts, dried fruits and warming spices.
Some other dishes you might recognize that can be attributed to Mughlai (“moog-lie”) rule are biryani, some flat bread variants, and pulao.
Also known as kevda, keora or kewda, kewra water is a fragrant essence similar to rose water that is extracted from the male flower of the screwpine.
If you do not have access to kewra water, you can either omit it, substitute a drop of pandan extract, or use an equivalent amount of rose.
While you can make the dish without alliums, please note that the flavor of the gravy will change. You can substitute a pinch of hing (asafoetida) to the recipe to help mimic the flavors of both the garlic and onion.
I recommend that you only use whole milk dairy curd in this recipe. Using low-fat milk may cause the gravy to break.
While this dish will store in the refrigerator for a few days, it is best served fresh from the stove. I also don’t understand how someone could make this delightful dish and not want to eat it straight away!
More Paneer Recipes To Try!
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Shahi Paneer Recipe (With White Gravy)
Ingredients
For cooking onions and nuts
- ½ cup onions – chopped
- 2 tablespoons cashews
- 1 tablespoon almonds
- 1 tablespoon melon seeds – without the skins (magaz)
- ½ teaspoon garlic – chopped, or 3 to 4 small to medium-sized garlic
- ½ teaspoon chopped ginger – chopped or 1 inch ginger
- 1.5 cups water
Other ingredients
- 3 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter) or oil or butter
- 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder (ground coriander)
- ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
- ½ cup Curd (yogurt), 125 grams – whisked till smooth
- 1 to 1.5 cups water or add as needed
- ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar or add as required
- salt as required
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 15 to 20 strands saffron – crushed lightly
- 200 grams Paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream or add as required – optional
- 1 teaspoon kewra water (screwpine water) or rose water – optional
whole spices
- 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
- 2 to 3 cloves
- 2 to 3 green cardamoms
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahi jeera)
Instructions
Preparation
- Take the nuts and seeds in a bowl and rinse them a couple of times with water. Drain all the water and set aside.
- Cook onions, cashews, almonds, magaz or melon seeds, ginger and garlic in 1.5 cups water for 8 to 10 minutes until the onions soften.
- Strain some of the stock (water in which the onions, nuts etc were cooked) and set it aside. Let the onions cool at room temperature.
- Make a fine paste of the cooked onions, ginger, garlic along with the nuts and melon seeds, adding 2 to 4 tablespoons of the strained stock.
- Whisk fresh curd (yogurt) till smooth and set aside.
Sautéing onion paste
- Heat ghee in a frying pan on medium-low to medium heat.
- Fry all the whole spices (listed in the above ingredients) until they release their aroma in the ghee. Be very attentive here, as spices are delicate and can burn quickly if you aren’t paying attention.
- Add the ground onion paste and mix very well.
- On a low heat sauté stirring non-stop for 7 to 8 minutes or until the fat starts to leave the sides of the paste.
- Add red chilli powder or cayenne pepper, garam masala powder and coriander powder. Mix well.
Adding curd and simmering further
- Reduce heat to a low or turn off the heat.
- Add the whisked yogurt, water, sugar and salt as required.
- Mix very well and simmer gravy for 10 to 12 minutes until it thickens.
Making Shahi Paneer
- Add the cardamom powder and crushed saffron.
- Stir and add the cubed paneer and cream.
- Mix gently and turn off heat.
- Add the kewra water and stir. You can even add rose water.
- Garnish Shahi Paneer with some coriander leaves or mint leaves or a few saffron strands. Serve the Shahi Paneer with cumin rice or roti, naan or paratha.
Video
Notes
- Making a richer version: In this shahi paneer recipe, I have not used butter and added less cream. Feel free to add more cream or use butter if you prefer.
- Tomatoes: I have not added tomatoes as I have used yogurt (curd). But you can substitute yogurt with tomato puree in the same proportions as mentioned in the recipe. If adding tomatoes, then do add 2 to 3 tablespoons cream to balance the tang from tomatoes.
- Vegan options: Use tofu and cashew yogurt. I won’t suggest using soy or peanut yogurt. If using cashew yogurt then you don’t need to add cashews while making the paste. Use a neutral tasting oil in place of ghee.
- Freshness: Since a major part of the gravy is made from nuts and yogurt, do make sure that these ingredients are fresh. The nuts and seeds should not be rancid and the curd (yogurt) must not be sour.
- Consistency: You can make a thicker consistency or a medium consistency of the gravy by adding less or more water.
- Fats: For the fats, you can use any neutral tasting oil or butter or ghee. Though butter or ghee will make the gravy richer.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Shahi Paneer recipe post from the archives first published in January 2013. It has been updated on November 2024.
