Shahi Paneer Recipe

Prepare the base gravy. On a medium-high flame, set a 10-inch shallow pan. Add oil and butter to it. Once the oil starts to heat up, add all the cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and black peppercorns. Sauté for 1-2 minutes to release their aroma. 

Add the dried red chile, ginger garlic paste and roughly chopped onion. Stir well and cook for 3-4 minutes until there is no raw smell of onions and they have become translucent.

Stir in the roughly chopped tomatoes and raw cashews. Allow them to cook for 2-3 minutes. 

Stir in the salt and water. and continue cooking for about 8-10 mins until both tomatoes and cashews have softened up. 

Discard the bay leaf and allow the mixture to cool down for 10-15 minutes.

While the gravy cools down, soften the paneer. Soak the cubed paneer in warm water and keep it aside.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth.

Once blended, strain the base gravy in batches using a sieve to achieve a fine and smooth texture and remove any whole spices that were not properly blended. Set aside.

Prepare the sahi paneer. In the same shallow pan used for the base gravy, add ghee (or butter or oil) to the pan and set it to medium-high heat. Once hot, add the ginger-garlic paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Cook for only a few seconds to avoid burning the spices. Be quick with this step. 

Add the base gravy to the pan. Mix well and reduce the flame to medium-low. If the gravy is too thick, you can adjust it to your desired preference by adding hot water at this stage. Let it cook for 7-8 minutes until the gravy has thickened and is creamy in texture.  

Drain the water from the soaked paneer. Add only the cubed paneer to the cooking pan. Gently stir to coat the paneer cubes with the gravy. 

Add the honey (or sugar), garam masala, kasuri methi, crushed mint leaves, and chopped fresh coriander leaves. Add half of the cream in this step. Stir gently until well mixed. Check for seasoning and adjust salt, if needed. Cook for 1-2 mins. Turn off the flame.

Drizzle remaining fresh cream as garnish. Enjoy with hot rotis, naan or any other Indian flatbread of your choice.