Paneer Do Pyaza is a rich, creamy North Indian curry made with paneer and onions cooked in two styles - finely chopped and caramelized for depth, and blanched onion petals for crunch and sweetness. This mildly spiced, flavorful dish features a flavorful tomato-onion gravy with spices, herbs, cream and is best served with roti, naan, or rice.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: Mughlai, North Indian

Ingredients

  • 75 to 80 grams or 2 onions ((small to medium-sized) or 5 to 6 button onions or small pearl onions or shallots, as required)
  • 75 to 80 grams or 2 tomatoes ((small to medium-sized))
  • water (- as required)
  • 2 teaspoons butter (- for sautéing blanched onions)
  • 2 tablespoons oil (- neutral flavored)
  • 75 to 80 grams or ½ to ⅔ cup onions (- finely chopped)
  • ½ teaspoon ginger garlic paste (or ½ inch ginger and 2 small garlic cloves crushed in mortar-pestle)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder ((ground turmeric))
  • ½ teaspoon coriander powder ((ground coriander))
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder ((ground cumin))
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
  • ¼ teaspoon garam masala
  • 2 pinches grated nutmeg (or nutmeg powder - optional)
  • 250 grams paneer ((Indian cottage cheese))
  • ¼ cup light cream (or low-fat cream or cooking cream or 2 tablespoons of heavy or whipping cream)
  • salt (as required)
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 3 green cardamoms
  • 2 to 3 cloves
  • 1 single strand of mace (- optional)
  • 1 tej patta ((medium-sized) or 2 small-sized)
  • 2 to 3 dry red chilies ((seeds removed if preferred))
  • 1 teaspoon ginger julienne (- optional)
  • ½ to 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves ((cilantro))
  • 1 tablespoon grated paneer ((Indian cottage cheese))

Method

Blanching onions and tomatoes

  1. Peel and rinse the onions. Rinse the tomatoes. Halve or quarter the onions.
  2. You can also use pearl or button onions instead of regular onions
  3. Blanch halved or quartered onions and tomatoes in hot water. For this method, first boil water in a pan till the water begins to boil.
  4. Add the onions and tomatoes and let them cook for a minute or two. Then switch off the flame.
  5. Cover the pan and let the onions and tomatoes blanch in the hot water for about 20 to 25 minutes.
  6. Drain and once the onions are cooled, separate each onion layers and set aside. If the onion layers are large, then chop them in halves.

Sautéing blanched onions

  1. Heat butter in a pan.
  2. Add the onion layers and sauté until they are lightly browned from the edges. Set aside.

Chopping fresh onions and blanched tomatoes

  1. Peel the skin from the blanched tomatoes and chop them finely.
  2. Also peel, rinse and finely chop two small to medium onions. You will need ½ to ⅔ cup of finely chopped onions.

Sautéing spices and onions

  1. Heat oil in the same pan. Lower the heat and add all the whole spices - cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, mace, bay leaf and dry red chilies. Mix and sauté the spices for some seconds until aromatic. Take care not to burn them.
  2. Add the chopped onions. Stir and sauté the onions until they become golden.

Sautéing tomatoes

  1. Add the blanched and finely chopped tomatoes. Mix well.
  2. Then add ginger-garlic paste. Mix and stir the masala mixture very well and sauté on a low to medium-low heat until the oil begins to release from the sides.
  3. The tomatoes should soften and be completely cooked.
  4. Keep heat to a low and add ground spices - coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, black pepper powder, nutmeg powder and garam masala powder.
  5. You can also add red chili powder if you prefer. Add about ¼ to ½ teaspoon of red chili powder depending on your taste.
  6. Stir and mix the ground spices very well on low heat.

Making paneer do pyaza

  1. Then add the blanched and sautéed onion layers. Mix and sauté for 2 minutes on low heat.
  2. Add the paneer cubes.
  3. Season with salt and stir everything well.
  4. Add the light cream or low-fat cream. Mix gently and cook for about thirty seconds to a minute. If you have whipped cream, then add 2 tablespoons of it.
  5. You can also add kasuri methi at this step. Add about ½ teaspoon of crushed kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves).
  6. Garnish with coriander leaves, ginger julienne or grated paneer.
  7. Serve paneer do pyaza hot or warm with Indian flatbreads like chapati, roti or naan.

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.