Paneer Makhani (No Onion No Garlic) / Jain Paneer Makhani

This Paneer Makhani is creamy, flavorful, delicious, exquisite, and without onion and garlic! It is one of the most famous Paneer curry dishes in India.

Making Paneer Makhni is extremely easy and straightforward, but at the same time, it is one of the most enjoyable and delightful. It is homemade but no less than restaurant-style in taste and flavors!

Jump to:

• About Paneer Makhani
• Why You Will Love Paneer Makhani
• Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Directions
• Serving Suggestions
• Helpful Tips
• Frequently Asked Questions
• More Paneer Curries
• Recipe Card

About Paneer Makhani

Paneer is a staple food for my family. I regularly use it to make different dishes, from appetizers to desserts.

This curry is a mix of tomato gravy with soft Paneer pieces. If you are new to Paneer recipes or if you are a beginner cook, you might find all the paneer curries the same. When we look at the no onion, no garlic recipes, it sounds like each recipe is similar, paneer in tomato gravy! Then why are there different names?

But before you move away, let me assure you that each recipe is different, delicious, and unique in its own way. It whole lot depends on the gravy. How we make the gravy, which spices we use, and the cooking method distinguish each dish from the other.

In this recipe, we have boiled tomatoes with other ingredients, including whole spices and powdered spices. And the boiling of all the elements will infuse all the flavors together.

Why You Will Love Paneer Makhani

• This paneer curry is rich and creamy.
• It is flavorful and scrumptiously delicious.
• Making Jain Paneer Makhani is easy and straightforward.
• It is vegetarian and without onion and garlic.
• The recipe gives homemade curry but no less than restaurant-style.
• It consists of soft paneer steeped in flavorful gravy.

Ingredients

1. Butter: As the name (Makhani) suggests, butter is used in this recipe. However, I have kept the very controlled use of butter. I added 1 tablespoon butter to make gravy and then used another tablespoon of butter to saute Paneer. If you like to use more butter, you can absolutely add more. It will make the dish more lustrous and rich. And if you prefer less, do not use butter to saute Paneer. However, I would highly recommend adding butter to make gravy, making gravy glossy and rich.
2. Whole Spices: We do not need a whole bunch of whole spices. Some readily available spices in our pantry will do the work. I have used green cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, dry red chili, and bay leaf. And after boiling the tomatoes and spices, I removed the cinnamon stick and bay leaf before blending it. If we blend cinnamon and bay leaf along with other ingredients, they will dominate the flavor and taste of gravy. So I will highly recommend removing these two spices before making the gravy. I have used Kashmiri dry red chili, which is not spicy but gives a nice red color to the gravy. If you are using a spicy red dry chili, you might want to cut down on red chili powder. If dry red chili is not available to you, skip it.
3. Cashews: Cashews provide creaminess and thickness to the curry. Mostly in No Onion, No Garlic Recipes, cashews are essential. They provide the gravy with the necessary volume, creaminess, richness, and consistency. I like to use cashews or cashew cream for some recipes that call for heavy creams. So I cut down the amount of cream or omit it completely and use either cashew or cashew cream. Sometimes I cook cashews, tomatoes, and other ingredients and then blend into the puree. Or sometimes, I add cashew cream to the curry, depending on the dish.
4. Paneer: Always, always use fresh and soft Paneer. If your Paneer is stale and rubbery, it will ruin the whole dish. Also, it will not be pleasing or tasty at all. If you are making Paneer at home, try to make it the same day or a day before making Paneer Makhani. If you are buying from the store and the Paneer is hard, make it softer before using it in the recipe.
5. Ginger: For the strict Jain diet, you can skip fresh ginger. Instead, use dried ginger powder. You can add ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger.
6. Tomatoes: Choose tomatoes that are ripe and pulpy. Ripe tomatoes will not be very sour. In this recipe, we are cooking tomatoes before blending. The cooking will remove the rawness of tomatoes. 
7. Celery: If you have checked my other recipes, you may know by now that I love using celery in my recipes. Specially curries. Because celery provides volume, cuts the tanginess of tomatoes, in some recipes, provides crunch, and also adds nutritional value. However, if you do not have celery, you can skip it.
8. Sugar: Adding a pinch of sugar will not make this curry sweet. In fact, it will enhance the taste of other elements. Sometimes even though we choose ripe tomatoes, they are sour. And that sourness takes away the flavor of other ingredients. But sugar will help to balance that tanginess and will help to enhance the flavor of other elements. But you can skip sugar, or if you like, you can also add honey instead of sugar.

Step-by-Step Directions

• Take cumin seeds, green cardamoms, cloves, a cinnamon stick, bay leaf, dry red chili, ginger, chopped tomatoes, chopped celery, and cashews in the pan.

• Add 1 cup of water to the pan.

• Add salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, Garam masala powder, and butter.

• Mix well and turn on the heat.

• Cover the pan and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes.

• Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down.

• Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick before blending the mixture.

• After removing the bay leaf and cinnamon stick, take the mixture into the blender.
• Blend it into a smooth puree.
• If you feel your puree is not smooth, strain it through a fine sieve.
• Set the gravy aside.

• Heat butter and oil in a pan.
• If you do not want to use butter, then add an extra teaspoon of oil.

• Add chopped ginger and slit green chili, and saute for a few seconds.

• Add Paneer Cubes and sprinkle some salt to taste.
• Saute the Paneer cubes for 3-4 minutes on low to medium speed.
• Stir them gently a few times, making sure not to break the pieces.

• Add red chili powder.
• Use Kashmiri red chili powder to get a nice color.
• You can skip the red chili powder if you do not prefer more chili in your curry.

• After adding red chili powder, immediately pour the gravy into the pan.
• If you do not pour it right away, the red chili powder will be burnt.

• Give it a good stir and add some water to adjust the consistency if required.
• And continue cooking for 4-5 minutes.

• Add crushed Kasoori Methi (dried fenugreek leaves), chopped coriander, and sugar (if you prefer to add).
• If you prefer to add cream, add 2-3 tablespoon now.
• It will enhance the creaminess of the curry.
• I haven’t added at this step; instead, I garnished the curry with little cream at the time of serving. You can either add the cream at this point or garnish with the cream at the time of serving.

• Mix well and turn off the heat.
• Take Paneer Makhani into a serving bowl and serve it hot with Rice, Roti, Paratha, or Naan.

Serving Suggestions

• Serve this delicious curry with any Indian flatbread of your choice.
• It goes well with Roti, Tandoori Roti, Naan, Kulcha, Paratha, or this Whole Wheat Kulcha (No Yeast) / Kulcha On Tawa.
• You can also serve it with plain rice, Jeera Rice (Restaurant Style), or Pulao.
• If you want to make a festive meal, pair Paneer Makhani with other Dal preparations and accompaniments like Boondi Raita, Pomegranate Raita / Anar Raita, or Cucumber Raita.

Helpful Tips

• Tomatoes: It is best to use fresh and ripe tomatoes.
• Cashews: Cashews bring richness and creaminess to the gravy, so don’t skip them. But in any case, if you don’t want to use cashews, add 3-4 tablespoon of cream to the curry in the final step. Or check below for tips for substituting cashews.
• Gravy: The key to smooth gravy is to blend the tomato mixture well. If your blender doesn’t grind it well, make sure to pass the sauce through a fine sieve. That will make the gravy silky smooth and velvety. Also, cook the gravy for long enough to remove the raw taste of tomatoes.
• Butter: Do not skip butter, as it makes the curry flavorful and lustrous.

Frequently Asked Questions

How To Make Store-Bought Paneer Softer?

Place the whole block of paneer or paneer cubes into a ziplock bag or a container. And submerge the plastic bag or container of paneer in hot water. Leave it in hot water for at least 20 minutes. Meanwhile, if the water gets cold, replace it with hot water. You can also directly place the paneer block or cubes into hot water and leave it for 20 minutes. Then drain the water completely before adding it to the gravy.

Can I Replace or Skip Cashews?

Cashews bring richness and creaminess to the curry. Also, it makes the gravy thicker. So I would not recommend skipping it, but if you don’t want to use cashews, try to replace it with other options. 

1. Instead of cashews, use blanched almonds (almonds without skin).
2. Replace with melon seeds (Magastari Seeds), and add 3 tablespoon of melon seeds instead of cashews.
3. Use heavy cream instead of cashews. Add 3-4 tablespoon of cream in the recipe’s final step. 
4. We can use Khus Khus (poppy seeds) in the recipe to replace cashews. Soak 1 tablespoon poppy seeds in hot water for 15 minutes, drain the water, and use soaked poppy seeds instead of cashews.
5. You can combine 2 tablespoon melon seeds and 1 tablespoon poppy seeds, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes, drain them, and use them instead of cashews.

How To Make The Gravy Silky Smooth?

The gravy of Paneer Makhani should be smooth and velvety. To blend the tomato mixture, use a high-power blender and grind it until the sauce is silky smooth. But if your blender does not make the gravy very smooth, make sure to strain it. So after blending, pour the sauce through the fine sieve. This way, any remaining pieces will be left out, and the gravy will be velvety smooth.

More Paneer Curries

You May Like More Paneer Recipes

• Palak Paneer Paratha
• Palak Paneer Stir-Fry / Spinach and Paneer Stir-Fry
• Kalakand / Easy Kalakand Recipe
• Paneer Jalfrezi (No Onion No Garlic)
• Paneer Kheer / Paneer Payasam

Recipe Card