Kadai Paneer ( Kadhai Paneer)
Kadai Paneer ( Kadhai Paneer) is an Indian curry . It’s made by cooking Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) in onion , tomato gravy and Kadai masala.
Kadai Paneer ( Kadhai Paneer) is a popular party dish in India and is served with roti , paratha , naan or poori. It’s available in almost every restaurant in India. Paneer is a good source of protein and makes this recipe protein rich.
Kadai masala is freshly ground masala and it has strong flavor of spices. These spices are first roasted till they become aromatic then ground to a coarse powder.
It is called Kadai Paneer because its generally cooked in Kadai which is an Indian wok used to cook curries in Indian kitchens. You could also use any other pan to cook this.
There are two ways of making Kadai Paneer – (1) Kadai Paneer Dry (2) Kadai Paneer Gravy
Kadai Paneer with Gravy is good if you want to have it with rice.
Dry Kadai Paneer recipe is also same but with lesser amount of water. This is good for lunchbox and easy to carry . Just make a roll with chapati, parathas and you are good to go.
It’s generally spicy but you can add spices based on your taste and health. So lets see how to cook Kadai Paneer.
Kadai Paneer ( Kadhai Paneer)
Course: MainCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Medium4
servings30
minutes40
minutesIngredients
- For Kadai Masala
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Fennel Seeds
1 tsp Coriander Seeds
8-10 Whole Black Pepper
1-2 Dried Red Chilli
- For Gravy
1 Onion – Roughly Chopped
1 Tomato – Roughly Chopped
4-5 Garlic Cloves
1 inch Ginger
4-5 Cashews
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Kasoori Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves)
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
Salt to Taste
- Other Ingredients
200 gm Paneer / Cottage Cheese – Cut in cubes
1 Capsicum – Cut in cubes
1 Onion – Cut in cubes
Oil
Directions
- Prepare Kadai Masala
- Dry Roast all the ingredients mentioned above for kadai masala, Let it cool and then grind them coarsely.
- Take a wok/ pan heat some oil around 4 tbsp.
- Once oil is hot, sauté cubed capsicum for around 1 minute, take out then sauté cubed onion for around 1 minute, take out , then in same pan sauté cubed paneer for 30 seconds then take them out.
- In same pan add 1 roughly chopped onion lightly fry then add 1 tomato, garlic, ginger and cashews.
- Fry for a minute then take them out and let it cool.
- Once cooled grind them to paste and add in same pan.
- Now add turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and mix.
- Add fried capsicum, onion mix well and let it cook for a minute.
- Add paneer, garam masala, kasoori methi then mix and cook for 30 seconds until spices mix altogether.
- Serve hot with chapatis, paratha, naan, rice.
Recipe Video
Tips
- You can prepare kadai masala in large quantity and can store it.
- If paneer is fresh then do not fry it for long, but if it frozen then fry for 30-40 seconds.
You could find more Indian curries here-