Paneer Lababdar (Restaurant Style Recipe)
Paneer Lababdar presents a straightforward method to achieve a restaurant-quality curry featuring cottage cheese cubes in a creamy, delicately tangy, and slightly sweet sauce. This vegetarian recipe for Paneer Lababdar is also inherently free from gluten, ensuring a delightful dining experience for those with dietary preferences.
Ingredients
For Tomato-Cashew Paste
- 1.5 cups chopped tomatoes (ripe and red), 250 grams
- 10 to 12 cashews
- 1 inch ginger – chopped
- 2 to 3 garlic (medium-sized) – chopped
- ½ cup water
- 1 green cardamom
- 2 cloves
More Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
- ½ cup finely chopped onions – 100 grams
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder (ground cumin)
- ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder (ground coriander)
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder or kashmiri red chili powder or cayenne pepper
- 1 or 1.25 cups water or add as required
- 1 or 2 green chilies or serrano peppers – slit
- salt as required
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon sugar or add as required
- 200 grams Paneer (cottage cheese)
- 2 tablespoon grated paneer
- ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) – crushed
- ¼ cup low-fat cream or 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon Butter added later – (optional)
For Garnish
- 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (cilantro leaves)
- 1 inch ginger – julienne
Instructions
Preparing Tomato-Cashew Paste
- Take chopped tomatoes, cashews, chopped ginger and garlic, green cardamom, cloves and water in a small pan. Use tomatoes which are not too tangy or sour.
- Turn on the stovetop and simmer this mixture on a low heat.
- Cook until the tomatoes are softened. If the water dries up and the tomatoes are not softened, then add about 2 to 3 tablespoons water and continue to cook.
- Allow this mixture to become warm or cool completely and add to a grinder or blender jar.
- Grind to a smooth paste without any cashews or tomato chunks or pieces. You may add some water if required while grinding. Keep this ground tomato-cashew-spices paste aside.
Sautéing Onions And Tomato-Cashew Paste
- Heat butter in pan or kadai or wok. Add the tej patta and sauté for a couple of seconds.
- Add finely chopped onions. Stir well.
- Then continue to saute as well as stir and cook till the onions become light golden or golden.
- Then add the tomato-cashew-spices paste. The mixture will splutter if there is water in it, so be careful. Stir very well.
- Add cumin powder, coriander powder and red chili powder.
- Stir and saute this masala. You will see the masala clumping and gathering around itself.
- Saute till you see fat leaving the sides of the masala paste.
Making Paneer Lababdar
- Then add water. Mix very well.
- Add the slit green chilies.
- Stir and allow the gravy to come to a simmer. Then season with salt and sugar.
- Add paneer cubes and grated paneer.
- Gently mix and combine.
- Then sprinkle kasuri methi which has been crushed with the garam masala powder. Stir very well again.
- Lastly add the low-fat cream or heavy whipping cream. Switch off the heat & combine very well. You can also add 1 tablespoon butter at this step. This is optional.
- Garnish paneer lababdar with chopped coriander leaves and ginger julienne. Serve with chapati, tandoori roti or naan. It also goes well with cumin rice or veg pulao.
Nutrition
Calories: 353kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 10gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 442mgPotassium: 205mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 1021IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 303mgIron: 1mg
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