Warm, richly spiced, and built for a satisfying meal, Kadai Paneer Recipe (Restaurant Style) is a gluten-free, vegetarian North Indian, Punjabi main course made with simple everyday ingredients in about 30 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Ingredients

  • 5 to 6 kashmiri red chilies (- broken and seeds removed)
  • 1.5 tablespoons coriander seeds
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • ⅓ to ½ cup (90 grams or 1 medium-sized) onions (- finely chopped)
  • 2 teaspoons (ginger-garlic paste)
  • 2.5 to 3 cups (400 grams or 5 to 6 medium-sized) tomatoes (- finely chopped)
  • ¾ to 1 cup (1 medium to large) capsicum (- thinly sliced)
  • 1 to 2 green chilies (or 1 small serrano pepper - slit)
  • ½ cup water (or add as required)
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • 250 grams paneer (- cubed (Indian cottage cheese))
  • 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (- crushed (kasuri methi))
  • 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (- chopped (cilantro leaves))
  • 1 inch ginger (- julienne)
  • salt (as required)

Method

Making kadai masala

  1. In a spice-grinder or mixer-grinder or mortar-pestle take the coriander seeds and red chilies.
  2. Grind to a semi-fine powder or fine powder and set aside.

Making kadai paneer

  1. In a kadai or frying pan, heat oil. Add finely chopped onions and sauté them till they turn translucent.
  2. Then add ginger-garlic paste. Saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
  3. Now add the finely chopped tomatoes. Saute tomatoes for 3 to 4 mins.
  4. Then add the ground kadai masala to the tomatoes.
  5. Saute the tomatoes till the whole mixture become like a paste and starts to leave oil. The mixture will also look glossy and you will see oil releasing from the sides.
  6. Now add the capsicum julienne. Saute the capsicum for about 3 to 4 minutes.
  7. Then add green chilies and water.
  8. Mix very well and saute till the capsicum is half-cooked.
  9. Add salt and garam masala powder. Mix these well.
  10. Next add the paneer cubes and gently stir to combine with the sautéed masala base.
  11. Lastly add crushed frenugreek leaves, ginger julienne and coriander leaves. Mix again.

Serving Suggestions

  1. Serve kadai paneer, hot or warm with Indian flat breads - roti, paratha or naan.
  2. You can also serve it with a soft bread or fluffy dinner rolls and even jeera rice or peas pulao or steamed rice. Remember to serve with a side of thinly sliced onions and lemon wedges.
  3. You can make grilled sandwiches, toasties or a wrap or roll with the dry kadai paneer. Add some melting cheese when making these warm sandwiches or rolls.
  4. Another idea is to make a pizza with the semi-dry kadai paneer and mozzarella cheese as toppings.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.