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Paneer Mutter Butter Masala

Lakshmi Thiru
This is a popular North Indian dish where paneer floats in a creamy, buttery gravy, along with green peas. Rich, indulgent, and utterly irresistible, this dish never fails to impress. It’s my ultimate “restaurant-style at home” recipe, turning any meal into a celebration. Perfect with simple rotis or naan or steaming basmati rice!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine Indian, North Indian
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 1 tbsp Butter
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 1 Red onion finely chopped
  • ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri Red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp Dhania (Coriander) powder
  • ½ tsp Jeera (Cumin) powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 cups Water
  • 2 tbsp Heavy cream
  • 3 cups Paneer cut into cubes
  • ¾ tsp Garam masala (note: I haven't added any other whole masalas)
  • 1 tbsp Kasuri Methi Dry roast in low flame and crush it. Gives a great flavor.
  • 2 tbsp Finely chopped coriander leaves

For the rich masala paste:

  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 1 tbsp Butter
  • 2 Onions roughly chopped
  • 2 Ripe tomatoes roughly chopped
  • 6 Big cloves of garlic roughly chopped
  • 1 inch Ginger roughly chopped
  • 15 Cashews

Instructions
 

Now, lets cook the rich masala!

  • Heat the oil and butter in a pan.
  • Add the bay leaf and the chopped onions and saute for a minute
  • Now add the ginger and garlic.
  • When the onions begin to soften, add the tomatoes and cashews and mix well. Saute for a couple of mins and cover with a lid.
  • Let it cook for about 5 minutes in a low flame. Cool the mixture, transfer to a blender and blend it into a smooth paste and keep this aside.

Let's make the yummy Paneer Butter Masala, oooops.. almost forgot the mutter :)

  • Heat the oil and butter in a pan.
  • Add the finely chopped onions and saute for a minute.
  • Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, dhania, jeera powder and saute for a minute.
  • Let the masalas combine well and the oil separate. Do this in low flame not to burn the powders.
  • Now add the ground rich masala and salt to this, along with water and mix well. Add cooked peas at this stage. You can skip it if you are making just Paneer Butter masala.
  • Add crushed Kasuri methi, and garam masala at this point.
  • Add the soft paneer cubes in and mix well. Simmer for five mins.
  • Finally, drizzle the heavy cream on top of the masala and enjoy with rotis/nan/jeera rice.

Tips

  • I added peas but you can totally skip it.
  • Butter and cream gives the richness to the gravy. If you don't want to use them, switch oil for butter and milk for cream.