Butter Paneer | Paneer Butter Masala
Butter Paneer or Paneer Butter Masala.
Both are the exact same recipe and trust me, it’s taste is inversely proportional to the time it takes to cook.
Max 30 minutes, including all of the prep time.
And no, this isn’t one of those “30-minute recipes” where the onions alone take 25 minutes to brown.
It’s rich, buttery, creamy (even without adding the cream), slightly tangy, and has that proper restaurant-style gravy without a ridiculously long ingredient list or three hours of simmering.
The best part? You don’t need to marinate the paneer, roast a dozen spices, or make a separate gravy base. Everything comes together in one pan, and by the time your naan or rice is ready, so is the paneer.
Basically, this is the recipe ( similar to Kadai Paneer or Masala Paneer) for when you’re craving something indulgent enough to feel like a weekend dinner, but your patience is very much giving weekday.
Let’s check it out.
Ingredients
Oil – I use mustard oil. You can use whatever oil you want but trust me, Indian cooking is best done with mustard oil.
Butter
Chopped or Diced Tomatoes, Onions, Ginger and Garlic
Green Chillies
Cashews
Paneer
Cream (Optional) – I am not adding it but if you want, you can.
Turmeric Powder
Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
Garam Masala or Roasted Cumin Powder / Jeera Powder
Salt
Chopped Coriander (optional)
How To Make Butter Paneer?
The first thing that you need to do is soak the cashews in warm water for some time. Just heat some water, put the cashews and keep it aside.
After this we are going to cook the paneer. So what we need to do is add a dollop of butter, let it heat for some time. After that add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and some salt. Stir for 30 seconds in low flame and then add the paneer cubes.
Cook for a couple of minutes, turning the cubes occasionally, until they are lightly golden on the edges. Remove and keep aside.
After that, in the same pan, put some oil (chopped or diced tomatoes, onions, ginger and garlic and the green chillies), add the cut veggies and cook it for some time. Since you are doing it in low flame, it is recommended that you stir the veggies occasionally until they are cooked properly.
Once done, put the veggies, the cashews and some water in a blender and blend it nice and smooth.
Once the paste is ready, in the same pan, add some butter, let it heat for some time and then add the prepared paste. Add some Kashmiri red chilly powder and some garam masala or jeera powder.
Cook this paste for a few minutes. Add some water in between if it thickens up. Once cooked, add the paneer cubes, mix it properly and let it cook for another 2 minutes.
Guess what, your Butter Paneer (or what many call Paneer Butter Masala) is ready.
Enjoy it with hot chapatis/rotis, naan or any kind of rice.
For extra garnishing, you can add freshly chopped coriander as well.
How to Serve Butter Paneer?
Let me tell you one thing. Butter paneer is an extremely versatile dish. It goes well with anything like naan, roti, chapati, paratha or pretty much any Indian bread you have lying around.
Personally, I love having it with some hot butter naan because, well, if we are already making Butter Paneer, we might as well commit to the butter situation properly.
If you are more of a rice person, serve it with plain steamed basmati rice, jeera rice or even a simple pulao. The creamy, slightly tangy gravy works really well with rice and, honestly, you may end up eating a lot more than you planned.
Butter Paneer (Paneer Butter Masala)
Ingredients
For the Paneer
- 200 g paneer (cut into cubes)
- 1 tablespoon butter (2 dollops)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Gravy
- 1 tablespoon mustard oil , or any cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 medium tomatoes , roughly chopped
- 1 medium onion , roughly chopped
- 1 inch ginger , roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 –2 green chillies
- 12 –15 cashews
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala or roasted cumin/jeera powder
- Salt , to taste
- ½ –1 cup water , as required
- 2 tablespoons cream , optional
For Garnishing (optional)
- Fresh coriander, cilantro (chopped)
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a small bowl and cover them with warm water. Set aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a pan over low heat. Add the turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder and salt. Stir for about 30 seconds.
- Add the paneer cubes and cook for 2–3 minutes, turning occasionally, until lightly golden around the edges. Remove the paneer from the pan and keep aside.
- In the same pan, heat the mustard oil. Add the tomatoes, onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies.
- Cook over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion and tomatoes have softened and are completely cooked.
- Transfer the cooked vegetables to a blender. Add the soaked and drained cashews along with a small splash of water. Blend until completely smooth.
- Add 1 tablespoon butter to the same pan. Once melted, pour in the blended tomato-onion mixture.
- Add the Kashmiri red chilli powder, garam masala or roasted cumin powder, and salt to taste.
- Cook the gravy for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a little water as required if the gravy becomes too thick.
- If using cream, stir it in at this stage.
- Add the cooked paneer cubes to the gravy and mix gently until well coated.
- Cook for another 2 minutes over low heat. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander, if desired, and serve hot.
Notes
- Mustard oil gives the dish a particularly good Indian-style flavour, but you can use any neutral cooking oil.
- The cashews make the gravy naturally rich and creamy, so cream is completely optional. However, if you want your recipe to be extra creamy you are more than welcome to add 2 teaspoons of cream.
- Add more or less water depending on how thick you like your Paneer Butter Masala gravy.
- For an even smoother restaurant-style gravy, you can strain the blended tomato mixture before returning it to the pan.