This Paneer Lababdar is creamy, rich, and flavorful. It does not contain onion or garlic and is one of the easiest paneer curry recipes!
Paneer Lababdar is pleasing, comforting, and very satisfying. It is a quick and easy recipe with a few ingredients. It is perfect for lunch or dinner and best served with Naan or Rice.
Easy and Quick Paneer Lababdar
If you search online for the meaning of Lababdar, it says Lababdar means something you strongly desire and which is creamy and delicious. However, I would define it as something quick, delicious, and comforting.
I often make Paneer Lababdar for dinner because it is not only pleasing but also because it is super easy and quick to prepare.
Paneer Lababdar is a little spicy and mildly sweet (only if you add sugar). However, one can adjust the spiciness by adding or reducing the spices.
The dish is rich and creamy with cashews, and I have used melon seeds to make the gravy thick. Cashews and melon seeds also help to balance the sourness of tomatoes.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Quick and Easy Recipe
- Creamy, Rich, and Delicious
- Requires only a Few Ingredients
- Comforting and Satisfying Meal
- Best Served with Naan, Roti, or Rice
Ingredients
- Paneer: A fresh and soft Paneer is a must for any Paneer recipe. I usually make Paneer at home, which guarantees a soft, fresh, and creamy Paneer block. Making Paneer at home is not difficult at all; you can check out this Homemade Paneer recipe. If you are buying a store-bought Paneer, make sure to bring it to room temperature before adding it to the gravy. If Paneer is hard, place it in a Ziploc bag or container and keep it in hot water for 20 minutes. Keeping it in hot water will make the Paneer soft.
- Tomatoes: The gravy for Paneer Lababdar, No Onion, No Garlic, is tomato-based only. So we need to choose fresh and ripe tomatoes. I have added cashews and melon seeds to balance the sourness of the tomatoes. But still, if we use unripe tomatoes, the curry will be unpleasant and sour.
- Cashews and Melon Seeds: Since this is no onion, garlic, or Jain recipe, we need to add other ingredients apart from tomatoes. Cashews and melon seeds make the sauce thick and creamy and balance the tanginess of tomatoes. Also, I have not added cream to the recipe, but cashews make the dish creamy and smooth. However, you can skip the melon seeds if you don’t have access to it.
- Spices and Sugar: We need regular basic spices to make Jain Paneer Lababdar. One can use either Garam Masala powder or Kitchen King Masala powder for this recipe. I will recommend using Kitchen King Masala if you can find this masala without onion and garlic. Or use the regular Garam Masala powder or Punjabi Garam Masala. You can check out this homemade Punjabi Garam Masala recipe.
- Milk: I haven’t used cream in this recipe; instead, I have added low-fat milk to adjust the consistency of this curry. You can also add water, but adding milk will enhance the flavors of the curry. Instead of milk, we can also use whisked yogurt. However, if you prefer, you can also add cream to the Paneer Lababdar, but the cream will make the dish heavier.
Step by Step Directions
Making The Gravy
- Heat oil in a pan and add green cashews and melon seeds.
- Saute them for a couple of minutes or until lightly golden.
- Add chopped tomatoes and green chili and mix well.
- Then add turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, and Garam masala or Kitchen King masala powder, and mix well.
- I have used Kitchen King masala powder, which I made at home, without onion and garlic.
- You can use Garam Masala powder, but I will suggest using Kitchen King Masala if you can find it without onion and garlic.
- Add ½ cup of water, and continue cooking until tomatoes are soft and pulpy.
- Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down a bit.
- Take the tomato mixture into a blender jar and blend it into a fine and smooth puree.
Making The Paneer Lababdar
- Heat the gravy in the same pan and cook it until it starts boiling.
- Now add Paneer cubes and salt to taste, and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes.
- Then add sugar, milk, and dried fenugreek leaves. Mix well and continue cooking for a minute.
- Turn off the heat, garnish with coriander leaves, and serve Paneer Lababdar hot with Naan, Roti, or Rice.
Serving Suggestions
- Before serving, along with coriander leaves, we can also garnish this curry with a tablespoon of cream or whisked yogurt.
- We love to have Paneer Lababdar with Naan.
- But it goes well with Roti or Paratha as well.
- For a lighter and comforting meal, serve Paneer Lababdar with steamed basmati rice or Jeera rice.
Helpful Tips
- Make-Ahead: We can prepare the gravy in advance; it stays in the fridge for up to two days. Heat the gravy on the day of making Paneer Lababdar and follow the next steps.
- Cashews: Using whole cashews is unnecessary; we can also use broken cashews, which are cost-effective.
- Milk: Add more or less milk to the curry, depending on your desired consistency.
- Freezing: This curry is freezer-friendly; we can freeze it for up to a month. After making it, let it cool down completely, pack it in the freezer-safe container, and freeze it immediately. On the day of serving, heat it into the pan. Garnish as you desire and serve immediately.
More Paneer Curry Recipes
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Recipe Card
Paneer Lababdar No Onion No Garlic / Jain Paneer Lababdar
Video
Ingredients
For The Gravy:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 tablespoon melon seeds (Magajtari seeds)
- 12 whole cashews
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 green chili chopped (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric Powder
- 2 teaspoon red Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 2 teaspoon kitchen king masala or garam masala
- ½ Cup water
For The Paneer Lababdar:
- Prepared gravy
- 300 – 350 grams Paneer or Homemade Paneer cut into cubes
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon sugar (See notes)
- ⅓ cup milk (See notes)
- 1 teaspoon Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- Coriander leaves chopped for garnishing
Instructions
Making The Gravy
- In a non-stick pan or Kadai, heat oil and add melon seeds and cashews. Saute them for a couple of minutes on a medium flame. Add chopped tomatoes and green chili, mix well.
- Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, and Garam Masala or Kitchen King Masala powder. Mix well and add ½ cup of water.
- Continue cooking the tomato mixture until tomatoes are soft and pulpy. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down a bit.
- Take the mixture in the blender jar, and blend into a fine and smooth puree.
Making The Paneer Lababdar
- Heat the gravy into the same pan and continue cooking until it comes to a boil. Add paneer cubes and salt to taste. Cook it for a couple of minutes.
- Add sugar, dried fenugreek leaves, and milk. Mix well and continue cooking for a minute.
- Turn off the heat, garnish it with finely chopped coriander leaves. Serve Paneer Lababdar hot with Naan, Roti, and Rice.
Notes
- Melon Seeds: These seeds provide volume, creaminess, and thickness to the gravy. Also, it helps to balance the tanginess of tomatoes. However, if you don’t have access to it, skip it.
- Cashews: Cashews are necessary for this recipe. I haven’t used cream in this dish because cashews make the curry creamy and smooth. But if you want, you can use only 5-6 cashews and add ⅓ cup of cream instead of milk to the curry.
- Sugar: Sugar enhances the flavor of Paneer Lababdar and does not make it sweet. However, you can either skip it or use less amount of sugar.
- Milk: I have used low-fat milk to adjust the consistency of the curry. Instead of milk, we can also use whisked yogurt or non-dairy milk like cashew milk or almond milk.
Bhavi
Mouthwatering recipes n easy to cook.. Keep it up dear.. Looking forward for more n more recipes
Jigna
Thanks Bhavna, please stay tuned for more recipes.
Vanita Amin
Jignaben,
Jay Swaminarayan
Will try to make this dish at home. It’s really a great move to published such a useful recipes for family like us which don’t eat onion and garlic. Will update you once we prepared
Thanks
Jigna
Jay Swaminarayan Vanitaben, thanks a lot for encouraging me and will look forward for your feedback. I know you are a great cook, so your words mean lot to me. Please stay tune for more recipes.
Bhawna Jaiswal
Yummy
Jigna
Thanks?
leah
Can we skip melon seeds?
Jigna
Hi Leah, yes, we can absolutely skip melon seeds. There will be no change in the taste. I hope this will help.
Rajlaxmi Das
I had tried this recipe for lunch today. It’s such an easy recipe, with minimal ingredients, delivering maximum flavour. My family loved it. I’m going to recreate this often. Thank you so much for sharing.
Jigna
Thank you Rajlaxmi, I am very glad that you like the recipe. I really appreciate that you took some time to drop kind words. Means a lot.😊
Anonymous
My husband is a picky eater :). He loved this recipe. Thank you for No onion garlic recipe. I started browsing your site for all no onion and garlic recipes 🙂
Jigna
Thank you so much! I am delighted that you like the recipe. Please stay tuned for more no onion no garlic recipes.😊
Tharini
I tried your recipe, without the sugar and used walnuts instead of cashews. It turned out super delicious. Thank you very much for this recipe.
Jigna
Hi Tharini, I am glad that you like the recipe. Thank you so much for trying the recipe and providing your feedback!
I liked the idea of using walnuts instead of cashews.😊
Preeti
Good gravy and Jain diet friendly too ! Loved it .
Jigna
Thank you, Preeti!