The vegetarian counterpart to butter chicken: cubes of paneer in a bright orange-red gravy of tomatoes, butter, cashews, and cream, finished with dried fenugreek leaf. Where Shahi Paneer is pale, nutty, and built on milk and dairy, Paneer Butter Masala is tomato-forward, tangier, and a deeper red, with butter rather than nuts doing most of the rounding. It is among the most ordered restaurant dishes in North India.
Paneer Butter Masala is the paneer adaptation of the makhani (butter) gravy made famous at Moti Mahal in late-1940s Delhi, where Punjabi refugee cooks built the tomato-butter-cream sauce that defined butter chicken and dal makhani. Applying the same makhani base to paneer gave vegetarian diners a dish in the same register, and it spread through North Indian and diaspora restaurants over the second half of the 20th century. The cook and exact date of the first paneer version are not documented; it is understood as a vegetarian offshoot of the makhani family rather than a single invention.
Paneer cubes in a smooth, almost glossy orange-red sauce that clings rather than runs. The taste leads with cooked-down tomato — tangy and faintly sweet — then butter and cream, then the unmistakable herbal-bitter note of crushed dried fenugreek leaf rubbed in at the end. Mild to medium heat. A swirl of cream on top, naan alongside. If it tastes raw and sharp, the tomato base wasn't cooked long enough to lose its acidity.
The base is a tomato gravy cooked down hard to drive off raw acidity and concentrate sweetness, blended with a little cashew paste for body and silk. Butter and cream go in toward the end, the cream off the boil so the acidic sauce does not curdle it. Crushed kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaf) rubbed in at the finish supplies the signature aroma. Because paneer is bland and firm, it is added late so it warms and softens without turning rubbery; some cooks soak the cubes in warm water first to keep them tender.
Variations
The line between Paneer Butter Masala and Paneer Makhani is blurry and varies by kitchen — some treat them as identical, others make the butter masala slightly more spiced and the makhani sweeter and creamier. Restaurants adjust the red with chili powder or a little food color; home versions skip the cashew and lean on extra butter. A smoky version gets a quick dhungar (charcoal smoke) finish.
On the Palate
Where Paneer Butter Masala sits in the Indian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 115 min
Soak a small handful of cashews in warm water; soak the paneer cubes in warm water separately to keep them soft.
- 218 min
Simmer chopped tomatoes with a little water, ginger, garlic, and whole spices until very soft, then blend smooth and strain.
- 34 min
Grind the soaked cashews to a paste.
- 412 min
Melt butter, add the strained tomato puree, and cook it down hard until it darkens and the raw smell goes.
Watch outCook the tomato puree down hard until it darkens and the raw smell goes — this reduction drives off the sour edge and concentrates the sweetness the whole gravy rides on.
- 56 min
Stir in chili powder, the cashew paste, salt, and a pinch of sugar; cook until glossy and thick.
- 65 min
Loosen with a little water to gravy consistency and simmer a few minutes.
- 73 min
Add the drained paneer cubes and warm through 2 to 3 minutes.
Watch outAdd the paneer late and warm it only 2 to 3 minutes — simmer it long and the bland cubes turn rubbery; soaking them in warm water first keeps them tender.
- 82 min
Take off the heat, crush dried fenugreek leaf between your palms over the pan, swirl in cream, and serve.
Watch outSwirl the cream in off the heat — add it while the acidic sauce still boils and it splits into curds.
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