Shahi paneer is the richest creamy gravy from Mughal cuisine, made by cooking paneer in milk, cream and curd. This is a white shahi paneer gravy.
The word shahi means royal, originated from the kitchens of Mughal families with all the goodness of nuts, milk and milk products. Yes! We use butter, cream, yogurt and of course milk. The richness and creaminess as usual come along with the various nuts, spices and fats.
In many restaurants, you might have seen this Shahi paneer gravy in bright red color. That is because they use tomato paste or puree. Usually, the royal base gravy is made with tomatoes or yogurt(without tomatoes). I love this sweetish white gravy hence prefer not to use tomatoes. The sour taste is achieved here with plain non-sour yogurt.
Tips to get rich white shahi paneer gravy:
- Don’t use tomatoes. Use plain yogurt.
- Use white or yellow onions which give a mild sweetish tinge to the gravy. Red onions or shallots are too strong and hot.
- Use very few spices and powders, to let the richness of milk and paneer come up in the gravy.
- The flavoring agents are very helpful for making this shahi paneer aromatic. Cardamom, Kasuri methi, dried rose petals are mandatory in Mughal cuisine.
- You can either caramelize onions & paste them or boil onions. I prefer boiling onions with nuts & pasting because caramelizing onions may change the whitish color of the Shahi paneer gravy.
If you like bright red Shahi paneer try, Paneer butter masala and Methi malai paneer.
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White Shahi paneer gravy – stepwise pictures.
Preparation:
- Chop onions. Cut paneer into cubes. If you are using store-bought paneer, soak paneer in warm water for 20mins to make them soft.
Shahi masala:
- Take 1/2 cup chopped onion, 10 whole cashews and 10 almonds in a pan. Add 1/2 tsp of peppercorns and 1 cardamom.
- Add very little water, cover with a lid and boil the onions for 5mins.
- Switch off, let the mixture cool down and grind them into a smooth paste. Set this masala aside.
Recipe for Shahi white paneer gravy:
- Heat a tbsp of butter in a pan, fry 1 bay leaf, 2 cinnamon barks, cloves, 2 cardamoms, 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds and 2 slit green chillies.
- Saute few seconds until a nice aroma comes from the tadka. Add a tbsp of ginger garlic paste and saute well for a minute.
- Next, add the ground boiled onion, peppercorns and nuts paste. Saute few minutes and keep the heat at low settings to avoid burning the onion paste.
- Add the spices, 1/2 tsp of chilli powder, 3/4 tsp of coriander powder and 1/4 tsp of cumin powder. Mix with the masala.
- Next, add a tsp of salt and half a tsp of sugar.
- Add 1/2 cup of non-sour curd or yogurt and mix well, while maintaining the heat at low settings.
- Add the paneer cubes now with a cup of water, mix gently. Cover with a lid and cook the white gravy for a few minutes.
- Open lid, add a tsp of honey. Sugar gives a balance in the taste and honey gives a nice glaze and texture. Also, add the saffron milk to add the golden hue to the shahi paneer gravy.
- Add in required fresh cream, sprinkle few dry rose petals and Kasuri methi leaves, give a quick stir.
- Switch off and serve the rich creamy white paneer gravy with wheat roti or naan or kulchas or phulkas.
Check out the video uploaded in the recipe card and please subscribe if you like to see more videos from my channel.
Shahi paneer | Mughlai paneer white gravy
Shahi paneer is the richest creamy gravy from Mughal cuisine, made by cooking paneer in milk, cream and curd. This is a white shahi paneer gravy.
Equipment
- Cooking pan
Ingredients
- 250 g Paneer
To boil & paste:
- ½ cup Onion
- 10 Cashews
- 10 Almonds
- ½ tsp Peppercorns
- 1 Cardamom
- ¼ cup Water
To make gravy:
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 Cardamom
- 2 Cloves
- ½ tsp Cumin seeds
- 2 Cinnamon sticks
- 2 Green chillies
- 1 tbsp GG paste
- ½ tsp Chilli powder
- ¾ tsp Coriander powder
- ¼ tsp Cumin powder
- ½ cup Yoghurt
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Honey
- ¼ cup Saffron milk (milk+2 pinches saffron)
- 1 tsp Kasuri methi
- ¼ tsp Cardamom powder optional
- 1 tsp Dry rose petals optional
- 1 tbsp fresh cream
Instructions
Preparation:
- Chop onions. Cut paneer into cubes. If you are using store-bought paneer, soak paneer in warm water for 20mins to make them soft.
Shahi masala:
- Take 1/2 cup chopped onion, 10 whole cashews and 10 almonds in a pan. Add 1/2 tsp of peppercorns and 1 cardamom.
- Add very little water, cover with a lid and boil the onions for 5mins. Switch off, let the mixture cool down and grind them into a smooth paste. Set this masala aside.
Recipe for Shahi white paneer gravy:
- Heat a tbsp of butter in a pan, fry 1 bay leaf, 2 cinnamon barks, cloves, 2 cardamoms, 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds and 2 slit green chillies.
- Saute few seconds until a nice aroma comes from the tadka. Add a tbsp of ginger garlic paste and saute well for a minute.
- Next, add the ground boiled onion, peppercorns and nuts paste. Saute few minutes and keep the heat at low settings to avoid burning the onion paste.
- Add the spices, 1/2 tsp of chilli powder, 3/4 tsp of coriander powder and 1/4 tsp of cumin powder. Mix with the masala.
- Next, add 1/2 cup of non-sour curd or yogurt and mix well, while maintaining the heat at low settings.
- Add the paneer cubes now with a cup of water, mix gently.
- Next, add a tsp of salt and half a tsp of sugar cover with a lid and cook the white gravy for a few minutes.
- Open lid, add a tsp of honey. Sugar gives a balance in the taste and honey gives a nice glaze and texture. Also, add the saffron milk to add the golden hue to the shahi paneer gravy.
- Add in required fresh cream, sprinkle few dry rose petals and Kasuri methi leaves, give a quick stir. Switch off and serve the rich creamy white paneer gravy with wheat roti or naan or kulchas or phulkas.
Video
Notes
Tips:
1) This Shahi paneer is a mild sweetish gravy and suitable for bread/roti sides. Not the best option with pulav rice varieties.
2) Peppercorns, green chillies and a little bit of chilli powder are the spices used. If you wish adjust the quantities to suit your taste buds.
1) This Shahi paneer is a mild sweetish gravy and suitable for bread/roti sides. Not the best option with pulav rice varieties.
2) Peppercorns, green chillies and a little bit of chilli powder are the spices used. If you wish adjust the quantities to suit your taste buds.
Nutrition
Calories: 240kcal
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Nice blog to follow while preparing recipes.Thank you so much for sharing with us.
This is mouthwatering dish, curious about it’s taste.