Shahi Paneer is a beloved vegetarian side dish. “Shahi” means “royal”. What a crown this side dish has among dishes!
This royal dish is a deep red gravy with Paneer. It is the latest in my arsenal of paneer dishes.
I enjoy making paneer at home, click this link if you want to try it out too. You will find many dishes with paneer in this space, including this paneer steak noodles that are a great favourite at my home. Meanwhile, let us talk about this shahi paneer picture!
Foods that are “Red” has another level of “Delicious” written all over it. But I am totally against using colours. One of the reasons why I cook at home instead of eating out is to avoid the food additives that are so harmful to us.
So I was really glad to stumble upon this hack for getting a red colour. While tomatoes will add a reddish tone, this trick will get you an amazing hue!
The Secret of this Shahi Paneer
Spilling the beans…sharing the secret of this colour today…
It’s by adding red bell pepper!
This red capsicum became soft in my fridge. So something I normally added to salads was not suitable for salads any more!I then planned to use it up in some cooked dish.
And this resultant colour in the gravy just blew me away!
So this is how to make shahi paneer at home. The shahi paneer ingredients are similar to what you would see otherwise, except for the absence of cream… yes, you can add cream, but it is quite good even without cream.
As you can see in the image of the shahi paneer I have made, it is so beautiful. All people would love to have this dish made in the Punjabi or North Indian style, but modified into the kitchen rings style to make it healthy, tasty and simple!
Enjoy this vegetarian recipe with your chappaties, roties or pulao. Don’t let the list of ingredients scare you. You will find these ingredients useful in all kinds of Indian food. It’s worth stoking them up, and store them in the fridge or the freezer if you do not use it too much.
Here’s the full recipe in the video format, followed by the written recipe.
Shahi Paneer
Course: SidesCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy6
servings15
minutes25
minutesThis brilliant dish is easy to make and the red colour is completely natural.
Ingredients
Paneer made from 1 1/2 litre milk (about 250 g)
3 medium-sized onions, quartered
6-7 medium-sized tomatoes, quartered
Spring onions…few
4-6 pepper corns
4 cardamoms
1+1 tsp butter
1/2 cup cashew nuts
1 tsp oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp kasoori methi/ dry fenugreek leaves (optional)
1/2 + 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green and 1/2 yellow bell peppers, chopped
1/2 tsp paprika/ kashmiri chilli powder
Directions
- Fry cardamoms and pepper corns in 1 tbsp butter.
- Fry tomatoes for 4-5 minutes, don’t let it change colour. Set aside.
- Add 1 tbsp butter and now fry onions. It should become translucent in a few minutes. Add 1/2 of a red bell pepper. Again, don’t let it change colour.
- Now drop in the cashews.
- Finally add the salt, sugar and kasoori methi, if using. Sprinkle the paprika/ kashmiri chilli powder.
- Grind to a smooth paste.
- Add oil to the same pan. Fry a few spring onions. Now add the ground paste. Rinse the blender jar with water and add it to the pan. You can add upto 3 cups of water.
- Now pop in the paneer pieces.
- In a few minutes, add chopped bell peppers.
- Garnish with spring onions and coriander leaves.
Notes
- Serve with roties or pulao. Enjoy!