Learn how to make Kadai Paneer, an Indian restaurant style paneer (cottage cheese) recipe that’s a popular accompaniment to tawa nan or jeera rice. It is easy to make Kadai Paneer at home provided you have the ingredients ready in hand.
I really want to start this post by explaining what a kadai is (an Indian wok, btw) and what paneer is (erm.. Indian cottage cheese) but since I am just not in the mood, let’s get on quickly to the recipe, shall we?
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| Kadai Paneer |
I made Kadai Paneer with fresh homemade paneer which is why it looks very crumbly in the pics. But oh boy! It tasted so good!
I thought and thought but I still have no clue why I have never made kadai paneer before in my life. Seriously!
Kadai Paneer Recipe
Serves 2 – 4
Ingredients:
2 cups paneer, cubed
Half a capsicum / green bell pepper, cubed
1 large onion
2 green chillies
3-4 pods of garlic, crushed
1″ piece of ginger, crushed (or 1tsp ginger garlic paste)
1 tomato, pureed
1 tbsp tomato paste (or another pureed tomato)
A generous pinch of kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves
1 tsp red chilli powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder / dhania powder / malli podi (I add a little more than this)
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander leaves to garnish
How to make Kadai Paneer:
1. Grind the onion along with the green chillies. Heat oil and fry this paste for 2-3 mins.
2. Then add the chilli powder, turmeric, jeera, coriander powder and crushed ginger and garlic (or ginger garlic paste) and mix well, frying for another minute.
3. To this, add the tomato paste..
4. .. and pureed tomato. Fry for 4-5 minutes until the mixture comes together and the oil begins to separate.
5. Next add the capsicum..
6. .. and kasoori methi, with some salt. Fry for 2-3 mins, until the bell pepper is cooked but still crunchy.
7. Finally add the cubed paneer and mix gently until well combined. Simmer for 2 mins and remove from fire.
I didn’t fry the paneer in advance or do the whole dipping in water, squeezing and draining routine because I am very happy adding it as is at the end of this particular dish.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis/chapatis.
Made this yesterday. It was so simple to prepare and tasted great! Thanks!
hey nags… this is the best paneer recipe i've come across! ur step by step demonstrations with pics made it so simple to understand.. and it turned out delicious! thank you so much :)) I've tried some of ur other recipes like unniappam, 10 min rasmalai, besan ladoo, paneer pepper masala, veg upma, eggless wheat waffles and i must say.. each one was a hit everytime! the rasmalai one is my favorite!! i wanted to post a reply earlier,and finally i'm replying now… i must also mention about how awesome ur pics are.. a perfect touch to ur wonderful recipes!! I frequently check in to ur site now and everytime i'm glad i did… so thank you 🙂 – seema
thank you seema! that's very kind of you 🙂
Hi Nags,
I'm making Kadhai paneer for the 1st time and I loved the recipe it was very easy and the end result was yummy now i know where to search for goood yummy north indian recipes…
Thanks a Ton loved the pics 🙂
Hi,
I have never cooked Paneer before and this is the first time I wanted to try. You have mentioned all the steps and Im gonna try today..
Thank you so much..
I have tried kadai paneer receipe of resturant style . tastes exactly like resturant and great . Thanks for this receipe .can You post resurant style Bhindi and Baigan Masala . I will be eagerly waiting for your post
Mamata
I tried it the 1st time nd my dad loved It
thanks a lot
u made it so easy
hi , i need another panner receipe varity, eagerly waiting to make that dishes.
Is it jeera powder, coriander pwoder, or jeera/coriander mix powder that you add – I can't tell which??
thanks
the ingredients list mentions them separately and so do the step by step pictures. i add them separately when making kadai paneer but you can follow whichever you want. Adjust the spices to your taste. We like our kadai paneer recipe a bit on the intense, spicy side.
it is so delicious and tasty, This is a simple Kadai Paneer recipe. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
what abut salt?
Thanks for such a wonderful recipe and step by step pictorial depiction.i tried it and it came out very well,it was an instant hit and everybody loved it..
Thanks for the wonderful pictures. Since most of the websites dont have pictures, I am not sure how it is supposed to look. Now I can compare and cook 🙂
Can light boiled kaju and magaj (water melon seed)paste be added to make gravy more consistent and add little sweet taste and silky texture.
i haven't tried those additions in kadai paneer but i don't see why not
hi thanks for the wonderful recipe !! it came out really delicious:) yummy!!
Hi Nags,
I dont cook but wud luv to try this recipe. However got stuck on how to make the tomato paste and puree…. Please let me know…
tomato paste you can buy in a can. if you don't get that, just blend tomatoes in a blender or mixer to get pureed tomatoes
Thanks Nags for the quick reply. But you have asked us to use both the paste and the puree.
So as per your last, just the puree will still be enough to get the wonderful result all are talking about.
If you just cannot find tomato paste, add an extra tomato and puree it along with the other amount already mentioned. the end result will be less tomato-ey but will still be good 🙂
Wow!! I tried it out yesterday and our guests loved it!! thanks for the delicious and easy to make recipe…Thanks for the lovely pictures too…
Great step by step demonstration…being a boy it was quite difficult for me to make food by own (especially delicious one),,, & guesss??? this site hepled me out with good demonstration in easy and pictorial manner…
regards..
Rahul
it was superrrrrrrrrr………….
and tastyyyyyyyyyyyyy…………
Hi Nags,
First of all, ur website is my top fav !
I was searching for a simple Kadai Paneer recipe and stumbled upon ur website. Tried it for lunch yesterday and OMG! it turned out so well, and my husband went "Yummmmmmmmmmm"…Kudos to you !
Pooja
Thank you so much Pooja 🙂 I love kadai paneer too. In fact, any paneer recipe or dish is always a YES 😀 You must try the paneer butter masala, restaurant style recipe I have posted. I am sure you would love that too.
so glad you liked the paneer recipes 🙂
Continuation of my comment on Chilli Paneer….success!! These both were amazing to taste and so easy to make, thank you for all the pictures Nags! 🙂 🙂
really good
Wow !! Recipe with images is so super cool n easy to understand ! Thanks a ton ya !!
Simple and yummmm recipe. I have many types of paneer, this is simply the best.
Good recipe,
I keep some whole basic masala items, cardamom,leaf initially.
If you fry capsicum bit with little oil before u add with gravy, the texture will be very rich..
Thanks.
Srinivas.
Thanks for the recipe. My kids loved it and it was really yummy.
so glad you liked the kadai paneer recipe 🙂
Hi, Nags.
I tried this recipe today…and it worked like a dream! I never imagined I could cook "kadhai paneer" in the morning and bring it to work for lunch! The only alteration I made was adding an onion (diced) along with the green pepper.
Thanks so much! m/
I just followed this recipe and my roommates stole all of it! Just amazing. Kasoori methi before paneer made a lot of difference.
that looks yummyyyyyyy and I am going to try this today 🙂
i just made this, it was so good, thanks!!
Garlic cloves please, as shown in pic 🙂
Hi there….was going through ur recipe wanted to clarify whether it is 3-4 garlic pods or 3-4 garlic cloves as shown in the pic. 3-4 garlic is too much right???
What a lovely recipe… i tried it out promptly and it came out super-good! Keep posting such recipes…. thanks in advance.
Sangeetha.
good point! a lot will depend on the kind of chillies you use, quality, etc.
This is the first Online recipe which came out good. I had home made panner. It came out very good except that it turned out to be very Hot inspite of adding 1/2 tsp of chilli powder. 2 chilles and 1 tsp chilli powder was too much
SM, the cup size I use is around 200ml.
Oh man this looks delicious! And your photographs are beautiful! Everything here looks great!
I recently launched my own blog, I'd love for you to check it out and let me know what you think! 🙂 Thanks!
http://www.prettygoodfood.com
Hey Nags,
thanks for the prompt reply, I am really looking forward to making this on the weekend, have made a list of all the ingredients i need to buy.
I posted another question on the homemade paneer recipe, don't see it there not sure why. Please could you let me know what is the cup size you use…? how many ml…
SM, tomatoo paste is more concentrated than puree, that's the only difference (as far as I know). I usually buy the brand Delmonte (you can see if in this page if you scroll down: http://www.cookingandme.com/2009/08/tomato-spinach-pulao-step-by-step.html)
You can also find tomato paste in Hunt's. I am positive the same brand is available in US or UK or wherever you are. Even in India, you should get some brand of tomato paste, I am guessing.
Hi Nags,
what is the difference between tomato puree and tomato paste?
do you buy the tomato paste- if yes which brand?
because the pics of it always look so pretty
thanks.
I can just keep staring at your screen until my eyes doze off..I've been here for a while now already…LOL!
Really…why did you not make this before.
This looks really good. I'm a paneer lover. I don't know how to cook, so the step-by-step is super!
That looks freakin' awesome!!! Great job! Kinda like a paneer buji.
loved last click….paneer looks great and yum!
Hi, just made this KP recipe and it came out so well; it was so difficult not to finish it off immediately but wait till dinner time! loved it! thanx…
that look super yummy….i have to give this a go!
thats my fav paneer dish and you made just the way I love. creamy and flavourful.
What a delicious looking paneer dish !! This is my fav.
Btw thanks for visiting me n the lovely words:)
take care n do keep in touch!
http://usmasala.blogspot.com/
Well, when you do write what Kadai is, let me know; I'd want to know 🙂
Delicious kadai paneer.. Bookmarked..
Oh My..lovely post, looks so yummy.
Wow, I am drooling all over it. Love the pics and they are sooooo tempting. Thanks for step by step pics 🙂
Love Love Love that dish!
I have not been able to lay my hands on good quality, soft paneer in US till nw.Those at Indian stores give some hard core competition to JK tyres !:)
Tried at home few times but it came out a little grainy.But will keep on trying!:)
love this kadai paneer …its my all time favorite …thanks for sharing
Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com
Of all the things on my bookmark list, making paneer is on the top. I dunno why, but I just procrastinate.. and now u just made me drool!
Thanks Nags!
Simply Irresistable!
wow! nice kadai paneer….perfect with roti…
love your superb description….nice clicks…
Nice ..Thnx for the step by step pics 🙂
Have tried this once…..luv the taste. Didnt know this was so easy..looks so tasty…Liked the first click very much!
this is my all time fav and love this dish for its simplicity.
I still remember till date the first time i had this in a restaurant(I m not a big paneer fan though).. We ordered for a Kadai Paneer n a mushroom Kadai(this was for me though)… The first dish which came was KP n i was damn hungry without a second thought i just grabd it n ate it nd was super…. nd the mushroom kadai was left over nd we packed it bac home…
I never tried this til now at home… I love home made paneer nd m gona try it… 🙂
Nice recipe…looks yumm!yay,I have this kadai too :):)
lovely post Nag!! I made kadai Paneer last week ..too and taste was perfect.. except for the chewy store bought paneer.
Cheers
Sandy
Looks like my blog is on the way to becoming your shadow blog.I tried the pound cake and the Mint rice.have bookmarked the Apple Crumble and Paneer and now this…ah!![no regrets though,hehe].
Ouch..I am bowled wid this my fav kadai paneer..looks super yummm