Dhaba Style Paneer Masala Recipe

Dhaba Style Paneer Masala – Highway Dhaba Style Paneer Curry – Dhaba Style Paneer Gravy – How to make Dhaba Style Paneer Curry – Paneer Butter Masala – Highway Dhaba Style Paneer Masala Recipe – Paneer Curry Recipe – Street style Paneer Masala – Easy Paneer Masala – Raodside Paneer Curry – Restaurant Style Paneer Curry recipe – Flavorful paneer Curry – Side dish for Chapati – Side for Naan Bhatura dhabastylepaneermasala #paneermasala #paneercurry #highdhabastylepaneercurry ##dhabastyle 

Dhaba Style Paneer Masala / Curry is one popular gravy served with naan in most highway / roadside eatery joints.  Road trips are something which brings so much joy no matter what your age.. travelling with family, listening to favorite songs,  sight seeing, stopping at mini joints for snacking or for a quick lunch grab are favorite part of travel by road. I had a chance to taste some of the best during my last India trip. 

Pleasing aroma of spices, glittering lights.. sizzling tawas, steaming parathas with aromatic side gravy simmering are never ending fun to watch.  This Paneer recipe is also one such rustic gravy / curry which I happened to taste with Bhatura during one of those road trips…while travelling by road from Delhi to Agra.  All I can remember is, it had fresh curd/ chenna paneer in  aromatic dark gravy with oil floating on top.. rich in spices and had always wanted to recreate that at home. This recipe of Chef Sanjeev Kapoor came to my rescue and I adapted a part of it to suit our taste. 

Mint Mirch Masala – Paneer Mirch Masala

This Paneer Masala / Paneer Curry though appears like the usual paneer butter masala gravy which normally will be loaded with rue, butter, cashew paste, milk and cream is not the same. Dhaba Style Gravies use chickpea flour / gram flour as a thickener and most of their gravies are purely made with oil / ghee and on some rare cases topped with malai.

Cream / Cashews  / Milk are never a part of typical dhaba style paneer gravies and all it uses some butter or ghee for flavor… some parts even use mustard oil for cooking. Adding cream, butter, malai, ghee are only for additional flavoring and also to make the gravy rich. 

Paneer Butter Masala Recipe ~ Restaurant Style Paneer Butter Masala ~ Paneer Recipes

Paneer Chana Masala Recipe – Chana Paneer recipe – Side dish for Chapati

Print Recipe

4.60 from 10 votes

Dhaba Style Paneer Masala

Highway Dhaba Style Paneer Curry made with cottage cheese / paneer, tomato onion base, chickpea flour and malai!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: accompaniment, Main Course

Cuisine: Indian, north indian, punjabi

Keyword: dhaba style, highway dhaba style, paneer curry, paneer masala, paneer recipes, street food, streetstyle

Servings: 6

Author: Mullai Madavan

Ingredients

Paneer - marinade & pan fry

• 15 large Paneer cubes 250 to 300 grams approx
• 1 tsp Oil for marination
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Kashmir Red Chili powder
• 1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Water
• 1 tsp Oil for frying
• 1 tsp Butter for frying

Temper

• 4 tbsp Oil
• 2 tsp Butter optional, substitute with oil or ghee
• 3 small Bay leaf
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 3 small Dry red chili
• 3 small Green chili slit

Saute

• 1.5 cup Onion minced
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tsp Kashmir red chili powder
• 1 tbsp Coriander powder
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp Gram flour / Chickpea flour
• 2 cups Tomato puree 5 large tomatoes crushed
• 1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 1.5 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Kasuri methi leaves / Dry fenugreek leaves
• 1 cup Water
• 1/4 cup Coriander leaves

Optional Ingredients / Substitutes (Read Notes)

• 1 tbsp Fresh malai / Fresh cream / Heavy cream optional
• 1/2 cup Hung Curd optional
• 3 small Green Chili for extra heat

Instructions

To marinate

• Cut paneer / cottage cheese into big chunks or into big cubes.
  
• Add oil, turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, salt and water.
  
• Mix well to coat on all sides and let it in the marinade for 20 to 30 minutes.
  

Temper, Saute & Simmer

• Heat oil and some butter in a deep sauce / fry pan.
  
• Temper with bay leaf, cumin seeds, dry red chili & green chili. Let it sizzle in oil for few seconds.
  
• Add minced onions along with a pinch of salt and saute until it turns light golden and translucent. This is an important step to attain smooth gravy consistency, so fry over medium flame until its browns evenly. ( 5 minutes medium flame )
  
• Once it turns light golden, add ginger garlic paste and fry for few minutes to get rid of raw smell.
  
• Start adding turmeric powder, coriander powder, kashmir red chili powder, cumin powder, black pepper powder, gram flour, salt and half of the kasuri methi leaves.
  
• Fry the onion mixture along with all the masala powders until it browns and turns into a dry thick masala.
  
• Now add tomato puree along with garam masala powder, salt and sugar. Add extra green chillies at this stage if preferred and the rest of dry methi leaves. Cover and cook over low flame for 10 minutes.
  
• Once the tomatoes puree cooks and thickens, add green chilies, some kasure methi leaves and some water to adjust gravy consistency.
  

To pan fry

• Heat oil and some butter in a shallow frying pan.
  
• Place the paneer cubes and shallow fry for a couple of minutes and switch off! Set this aside.
  
• Do not fry long as it would make the paneer go rubbery. Just warm it up in the spices to coat and flavor it. Alternatively you can bake / grill or broil for few minutes to give a tandoori effect.
• Now add the shallow fried paneer along with the oil in which its fried.
  
• Again, cover and cook this gravy until the oil separates on top. ( 5 minutes)
  
• Finally garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
  
• Top it with some fresh malai or cream which is optional, just to make it rich.
  
• Simmer for few minutes and switch off!
  
• Serve hot with naan or paratha along garnished with chopped raw onions!
  

Notes

Tomato puree - Either blanch 5 large tomatoes, remove skin and pulse in a blender to make a puree or just blend 5 large raw tomatoes. If using raw tomato puree, make sure to cook a little long. 

Paneer Cut - Usually dhaba style will have big chunks of fresh paneer/ Chenna.  You may either add big chunks or cut into small size cubes to fit your needs. Fresh chenna tastes better for this recipe than pre made paneer. 

Hung Curd  - Instead of adding cream or malai you can add hung curd / thick greek yogurt to make the gravy look rich and creamy. If you plan on adding then saute along while adding tomato puree. 

Fresh Cream - Thick malai will be used while serving this paneer curry. Adding fresh cream or malai is just optional to make the gravy rich. 

Butter / Ghee - Adding butter / Ghee is also to make it more flavorful and rich. It is optional substitute with any refined oil. 

 

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