Paneer Makhanwala is a popular Indian side dish made from cottage cheese in a rich cream, buttery sauce. This dish used to be a part of Mughal meals and hence comes the richness and creaminess.
Paneer Makhanwala is a famous Indian gravy made from cottage cheese in rich cream, buttery sauce. This dish used to be a part of Mughal meals and hence comes the richness and creaminess.
If you know me, I substitute tofu for paneer in every dish. I really wanted to keep it authentic, and incidentally, I also had paneer in my freezer. I added sour cream to my gravy to make it rich and creamy and it worked great. Try this recipe and pass on your comments.
Preparation time – 15 mins
Cooking time – 45 mins
Difficulty level – medium
Ingredients to make Paneer Makhanwala - Serves 6
The ingredient list is quite long, but don’t change your mind yet. This dish is absolutely yummy!!
- Paneer – 1 block (around 400gms)
- Butter – 2 tbsp
- Oil – 1 tbsp
- Dhania jeera powder – 1 tsp
- Chili powder – ½ tsp
- Garam masala – 1 tsp
- Sour cream – 2 tbsp
- Kasoori methi – 1 tbsp
- Honey – 1 tbsp
Grind together for masala with no water
- Onion – 2
- Tomatoes – 3
- Red chilies – 3
- Ginger – 1-inch piece
- Garlic – 3 cloves
- Grated coconut – 2 tsp
- Poppy seeds – 2 tsp
- Cashews – about 10
- Cinnamon – 1 stick
- Cloves – 4
- Cardamom – 3
- Saunf/fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Procedure –
- Cut the paneer into 1-inch pieces and shallow fry it in oil until lightly golden.
- Grind the above-mentioned masala into a smooth paste, without adding any water.
- Heat the butter in a pan and add the ground masala. Fry the masala in medium flame, until it thickens and the oil separates. Be patient, this takes about half an hour, but it is really worth it. The more the masala fries the better it tastes.
- Now add the dhania jeera powder, garam masala, and chili powder. Fry for 2-3 more mins.
- Then add salt, honey, kasoori methi, and sour cream and stir well to combine.
- Let it cook for a couple of minutes and then add the fried paneer pieces to it and let it simmer for about 5-8 mins. Add some water if needed to get the right gravy consistency.
- Remove from flame and garnish with butter.
- Serve the Paneer Makhanwala hot with Chapattis, parathas, or naan!!!
Flatbreads That Pair Well With This
- Amritsari Kulcha – Potato stuffed flatbread
- Garlic Naan | Oven Baked Indian Flatbread
- Sheermal | Shirmal - Saffron Flavored Flat Bread
- Taftan Bread | Taftoon Persian Bread
- Mooli Ka Paratha | Radish Paratha
- Sweet Potato Paratha Recipe
- Mahjouba | Algerian Crepes
- Qutab Flatbread | Kutab | Azerbaijani Stuffed Flatbread
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Recipe
Paneer Makhanwala Recipe
Equipment
- pan
Ingredients
- 1 block Paneer Around 400gms
- 2 tbsp. Butter
- 1 tbsp. Oil
- 1 teaspoon Dhania jeera powder
- ½ teaspoon Chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala
- 2 tbsp. Sour cream
- 1 tbsp. Kasoori methi
- 1 tbsp. Honey
GRIND TOGETHER FOR MASALA WITH NO WATER
- 2 Onion
- 3 Tomatoes
- 3 Red chilies
- 1 inch piece Ginger
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 2 teaspoon Grated coconut
- 2 teaspoon Poppy seeds
- 10 Cashews
- 1 stick Cinnamon
- 4 Cloves
- 3 Cardamom
- 1 teaspoon Saunf/fennel seeds
Instructions
- Cut the paneer into 1-inch pieces and shallow fry it in oil until lightly golden.
- Grind the above-mentioned masala into a smooth paste, without adding any water.
- Heat the butter in a pan and add the ground masala. Fry the masala in medium flame, until it thickens and the oil separates. Be patient, this takes about half an hour, but it is really worth it. The more the masala fries the better it tastes.
- Now add the dhania jeera powder, garam masala, and chili powder. Fry for 2-3 more mins.
- Then add salt, honey, kasoori methi, and the sour cream and stir well to combine.
- Let it cook for a couple of minutes and then add the fried paneer pieces to it and let it simmer for about 5-8 mins. Add some water if needed to get the right gravy consistency.
- Remove from flame and garnish with butter.
- Serve the Paneer Makhanwala hot with Chapattis, parathas, or naan!!!
Deboral Jabaseelli says
Wow tis is deboral cute pictures yummy its tempting my tongue wanna eat nw superp keep going wid different dished
Lavanya says
Very creamy and yummy gravy....grt pictorials!!I must try it for my daughter's birthday party coming up, thanks for sharing.
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Lavanya !! Please try it and let me know how it turned out 🙂
Krupa says
Beautiful, step by step pics.... chance ye ills, ing a our photo yedukarathe mudiyala... Super. Love the gundu gundu, cubed panner sandhya, i don't get panner here 🙁 So i used to make at home, but its not so perfect to cube.. Will surely give it a try.. Looks so yummy 🙂
My Cooking Journey says
Thank you so much krupa 🙂 It is a news to me that you don't get paneer there. Definitely try it with tofu, if you get them.