Rich, delicious and naturally creamy Indian style cashew paneer (cottage cheese) curry made with simple pantry ingredients. Easy Indian vegetarian curry to enjoy with rice or naan.
With full honesty and pride I can announce that my house-help: "R" (also the amazing assistant to this blog) makes the most delicious Indian style paneer curries. There is so much that I have learned from her in the past couple of years and this easy vegetarian paneer curry is one of those many recipes, that she has happily authorised for me to publish and share on this website and I cant wait to share more!
So rich, so creamy (without any cream or malai), this tomato based paneer (Indian cottage cheese) curry is something between paneer butter masala and paneer tikka masala. Frankly we could not even think of an ideal name for the recipe, because it seemed so basic and has such a short list of ingredients with cashews being the real hero making the gravy of this vegetarian paneer recipe so naturally thick, creamy, luscious and rich.
There's the never ending argument of picking naan or rice or rotis to enjoy Indian curries and even though I absolutely love eating naans (specially garlic naan - recipes for both coming soon!!), I truly enjoy curries with rice, specially when the gravies are so rich and comforting. I highly recommend serving this recipe with some homemade cumin rice (jeera rice).
For this cashew paneer curry, prepare yourself for bits of caramelised onions (I am still not over them!) cooked in some tomato-cashew puree, with slight addition of basic Indian kitchen spices (masalas) and cooked until a thick tomato sauce is formed. You are adding some pan fried crispy paneer that has beautiful crunchy texture on the outside and still soft and creamy inside. Let me walk you through this recipe now.
How to make Indian cashew paneer curry?
Three simple steps and 20 minutes in hand - thats all you need to make this yummy paneer recipe.
- Step 1: Cooking the onions -> Simply thin cut onions cooked on low flame in some oil until they are caramelized and just begin to pan fry. They should be light golden brown in colour.
- Step 2: Tomato gravy -> While the onions are cooking, add chopped (fresh) tomatoes with cashews and ginger to a food processor or blender and puree until a smooth paste is formed. Now add this mixture to the pan fried caramelized onions and cook until the tomato sauce (gravy) thickens.
- Step 3: Crunchy pan fried paneer -> While the sauce thickens... to a hot pan, add cubes of paneer with a couple of tablespoons of oil and cook until all sides of cubed paneer are crispy brown. Add them to the rich orange gravy.
No added food colour, no fancy or complicated spices, just basic home cooked comforting curry that is so good when enjoyed with some rice. Hope you enjoy this recipe, as much as my family does.
More Indian curry recipes to try from the blog:
- Kadhai paneer recipe
- Indian butter chicken recipe
- Restaurant style shahi paneer
- North Indian malai kofta recipe
- Basic Indian cumin rice (jeera rice)
Indian Cashew Paneer Curry
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25-30 minutes
- Yield: 4-5 servings 1x
- Category: Mains
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Rich, delicious and naturally creamy Indian style cashew paneer (cottage cheese) curry made with simple pantry ingredients. Easy Indian vegetarian curry to enjoy with rice or naan.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 large red onions (150 grams) sliced
- 5-6 large tomatoes (400 grams) see notes
- 1 tsp ginger (cubed or grated) - this will go in the blender
- 8-10 pieces cashews (20 grams)
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder or paprika
- salt
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup (see notes)
- 4 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves - kasoori methi
- 200 grams paneer: Indian cottage cheese (cubed)
Instructions
- Cooking the onions -> To a wok, add oil and let heat for a minute on medium low flame. Add thinly sliced onions and cook on low flame until they are caramelized and just begin to pan fry. They should be light golden brown in colour.
- Tomato gravy -> While the onions are cooking, add chopped (fresh) tomatoes (see notes) with cashews and ginger to a food processor or blender and puree until a smooth paste is formed. Now add this mixture to the pan fried caramelized onions and cook until the tomato sauce (gravy) thickens. Roughly 6-8 minutes on medium low flame. Keep stirring consistently.
- Crunchy pan fried paneer -> While the sauce thickens... to a hot pan, add cubes of paneer with a couple of tablespoons of oil and cook until all sides of cubed paneer are crispy brown.
- Spices -> Once the sauce (gravy) and paneer is ready. Add salt, chili powder, milk, ketchup and cardamom powder to the gravy. Mix and cook for a few minutes until a smooth, thick gravy is formed. Add pan fried paneer, mix well. Add dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) and cook for about 2 more minutes. Serve hot with rice.
Notes
- Tomatoes - Use fresh tomatoes for this recipe. I have not tried this paneer recipe with store bought tomato puree - it might work well, however keep in mind, that it would be sweeter, so skip the ketchup.
- Ketchup - When I learned this recipe, I was equally apprehensive about addition of ketchup. I promise it acts as the magic ingredient - do not skip!
Keywords: vegetarian, curry, meatless, Indian, recipe, gravy
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