Dahi Paneer Curry Recipe
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Dahi paneer is proof that a paneer curry doesn’t need onion, garlic, or tomato to taste like a treat. Yogurt brings the tang, cashews and melon seeds bring the cream, and one spoon of roasted besan holds it all together. The gravy comes out golden, thick, and just sharp enough to make you reach for a second paratha.
Table of Contents
What Is Dahi Paneer?
Dahi paneer (dahi wala paneer, dahi ka paneer) is a North Indian curry in which spiced, pan-fried paneer cubes simmer in a gravy made with plain yogurt (dahi). A paste of cashews and melon seeds makes it creamy, roasted gram flour keeps the yogurt from splitting, and whole spices fried in mustard oil give it a warm, pungent edge. There’s no onion, no garlic, and no tomato in it, and it’s ready in 30 minutes.
This is the paneer curry I make when I have guests who don’t eat onion and garlic, during Navratri or other vrat days, and on any day when an onion-tomato gravy feels like one thing too many.
Ingredients
To Fry The Paneer
- Paneer – Fresh, packaged, or frozen all work. Rinse it before cutting. If it’s hard or chewy, soak the cubes in warm water for 10 minutes first. Boiled potatoes are a good swap if you’re out of paneer. If you’d like to make your own, my collection of paneer recipes includes a quick how-to.
- Mustard Oil – I like the sharp, pungent flavor it gives both the fried paneer and the curry. Any neutral cooking oil works if you don’t have it; the curry will taste milder.
- Spices – You will need coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt, Kashmiri red chili powder, garam masala powder, and cumin powder.
- Others – You will also need Kasuri methi, ginger paste, and salt.
To Make The Curry
- Oil – I like to make this curry in mustard oil, but feel free to use any cooking oil.
- Whole Spices – You will need cumin seeds (jeera), green cardamom (hari elaichi), and cloves (laung).
- Yogurt (Curd, Dahi) – Use fresh, whole-milk yogurt at room temperature. Homemade or store-bought both work. Sour yogurt makes the gravy sharp and is more likely to split. In the US, plain whole-milk yogurt is the closest match; Greek yogurt works if thinned with a little milk.
- Roasted Chickpea Flour (Besan, Gram Flour) – It keeps the yogurt from curdling and thickens the gravy. Roasting it first removes the raw flavor.
- Spice Powders – You will need coriander powder, turmeric powder, and Kashmiri red chili powder.
- Cashews and Melon Seeds make the curry rich and creamy, and slightly thicker. You can replace cashew nuts or melon seeds with almonds or poppy seeds.
- Others – You will also need fresh ginger, Kasuri methi, cilantro (fresh coriander leaves), and green chilies for the dahi paneer recipe. Adjust the chilies as per your taste.
How to roast besan?
Heat a pan over medium-low heat, add the besan, and stir frequently until it turns golden brown and smells nutty, about 8–10 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight jar.
How To Make Dahi Paneer Curry
Fry The Paneer
Cut, rinse, and dry the paneer. Cut 1 lb (500 g) paneer into 1-inch pieces, rinse with water, drain, and pat dry with a paper towel. Dry paneer takes the marinade better and doesn’t spit in the oil.
Mix the marinade. In a large mixing bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon mustard oil, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, ½ teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon kasuri methi, 2 teaspoons ginger paste, and ½ teaspoon salt.
Coat the paneer. Add the paneer to the bowl and turn the pieces gently until every side is coated. Be gentle; paneer breaks if you stir it hard.
Heat the oil. Heat 2 tablespoons mustard oil in a flat skillet over medium-high heat until it just starts to shimmer.
Fry the paneer. Arrange the pieces in a single layer and shallow-fry until lightly browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a plate. Frying gives the paneer a thin crust so it holds its shape in the gravy and adds a layer of toasted flavor a plain cube can’t.
You’re looking for the color in the photo below: golden and a little blistered at the edges, not deep brown.
If you prefer very soft paneer, drop the fried pieces into a bowl of warm water. Use that water in the curry later so nothing goes to waste.
Make The Cashew And Melon Paste
Boil the nuts and seeds. Bring 2 cups of water to a rolling boil in a small pan. Add ¼ cup melon seeds and ¼ cup cashews and cook for 5 minutes. Boiling softens them so the paste blends smoothly instead of being gritty.
Blend. Drain, then blend the cashews and melon seeds with ¼ cup cold water to a smooth paste.
Make The Curry
Whisk the yogurt with everything. In a bowl, whisk 1 lb (500 g) plain yogurt with 2 tablespoons roasted chickpea flour, 2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, 1 teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon salt, and the cashew-melon paste until completely smooth. Set aside.
Mixing the spice powders into the yogurt instead of frying them in oil is deliberate. There’s no onion-tomato base here to protect them, so they’d scorch in the hot oil. The yogurt carries them in gently.
Temper the whole spices. Heat 1 tablespoon of mustard oil in a pan over medium heat, then pour in the oil left over from frying the paneer. Once hot, add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 2–3 green cardamoms, and 2–3 cloves. Let them crackle for 4–5 seconds.
Add chilies and ginger. Add 2 teaspoons of chopped green chilies and a 1-inch piece of julienned ginger. Fry for 20–30 seconds.
Add the yogurt. Reduce the heat to low and pour in the whisked yogurt mixture. It will splatter, so stand back and stir right away. Cover the pan and cook for 2–3 minutes, lifting the lid to stir a few times.
Low heat is the whole trick. Yogurt proteins clump when they hit high heat fast; the roasted besan and the low flame together keep the gravy smooth.
Plenty of recipes tell you to remove the pan from the heat entirely before adding the yogurt. I don’t, and I don’t need to. The roasted besan and the cashew paste are already holding the yogurt together, so low heat is enough. Keeping the pan on also means the gravy starts thickening straight away, rather than sitting cold for a minute.
Add hot water and cook. Add 1 cup of boiling hot water and cook uncovered for 10–12 minutes, stirring frequently. The water must be hot; cold water shocks the yogurt. By the end, the gravy thickens, darkens a shade, and oil shows at the edges. That’s the besan and yogurt fully cooked; stop early, and it tastes raw.
Add the fried paneer. Stir in the paneer and cook for 4–5 minutes. Add a splash more water if the curry is thicker than you like.
Finish. Add 1 tablespoon of kasuri methi and 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro, and cook for 1 more minute. Check for salt. Serve hot.
Pro Tips By Neha
Room-temperature yogurt. Take it out when you start cutting the paneer. Cold yogurt in a hot pan is the main reason gravies split.
Roast the besan ahead. Keep a jar of bhuna besan in the pantry. It’s useful for kadhi and laddoos too, and it saves 10 minutes here.
Crush the cardamom and cloves lightly before adding them to the oil. Whole, they give up very little in 5 seconds.
Don’t skip patting the paneer dry. Wet paneer steams instead of browning, causing the oil to spit.
Keep stirring during the 10–12 minute cook. Besan gravies catch at the bottom if left alone.
A pinch of sugar rounds off the tang if your yogurt is on the sour side. Not traditional, but useful.
The mistake I made, and the one I see most often: unroasted besan. I once ran out of bhuna besan and used it straight from the packet, thinking twelve minutes of simmering would cook it out. It didn’t. The gravy had a chalky, raw edge that no amount of kasuri methi could cover. Roast it properly until golden and nutty, or don’t make the curry that day.
Variations
With onion. If you’re not making it for a fast, add ½ cup of finely chopped onion after the whole spices and cook until golden before adding the chilies and ginger. It makes the gravy sweeter and a little heavier.
With capsicum. Fry ½ cup of cubed green bell pepper with the paneer, then add both to the gravy. It’s how many dhaba-style versions serve it.
For a strict vrat. Swap regular salt for rock salt (sendha namak). Check your family’s rules on besan; some households replace it with singhara (water chestnut) flour. Everything else in the recipe is already fast-friendly.
Aloo instead of paneer. Boiled, cubed potatoes fried the same way make a good dahi aloo from the same gravy.
Serving Suggestions
Dahi paneer is mild and tangy, so it pairs well with a plain bread and something spicier on the side. Serve it with phulka, plain tawa paratha, lachha paratha, or naan.
It’s just as good with steamed rice or jeera rice.
For a festive spread, pair it with a red gravy like matar paneer or kadai paneer for contrast on the table.
Storage Suggestions
Dahi paneer tastes best the day it’s made, while the fried paneer still has a bit of crust and the gravy hasn’t tightened up.
Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a day or two.
To reheat, warm the curry in a pan or on a tawa over low heat with a splash of hot water, stirring gently until it’s heated through. Skip the microwave, which heats unevenly and can make the yogurt gravy separate.
It is not freezer-friendly; the yogurt curdles when thawed.
To make ahead, fry the paneer and make the cashew-melon paste up to a day in advance, then refrigerate both; the curry itself takes under 20 minutes.
Other Paneer Recipes We Recommend
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Dahi Paneer Curry Recipe
Ingredients
To Fry The Paneer
- 500 grams paneer
- 3 tablespoons mustard oil (or any other cooking oil, divided)
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon Kasuri methi
- 2 teaspoons ginger paste
- ½ teaspoon salt
To Make The Curry
- ¼ cup cashew nuts
- ¼ cup melon seeds
- 500 grams plain yogurt (dahi, curd) (at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons roasted chickpea flour (bhuna besan, roasted gram flour)
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon mustard oil (or any other cooking oil)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2-3 whole green cardamoms (hari elaichi)
- 2-3 cloves (laung)
- 2 teaspoons chopped green chilies
- 1 inch piece of ginger (julienned)
- 1 tablespoon Kasuri methi
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)
Instructions
Fry The Paneer
- Cut paneer into 1-inch pieces and rinse them with water. Drain well and pat dry using a paper towel.
- Stir together 1 tablespoon mustard oil, coriander powder, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, garam masala powder, cumin powder, Kasuri methi, ginger paste, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the paneer pieces to the bowl and coat them well with the spices. Be very gentle otherwise, the paneer may break.
- Heat 2 tablespoon mustard oil in a flat skillet over medium-high heat.
- Arrange the paneer pieces on the skillet in a single layer and fry from both sides until lightly browned.
- Remove on a plate.
- Tip – If you like soft paneer, then dunk the fried paneer pieces in warm water. You can later use the water in the curry.
Make The Cashew & Melon Paste
- Boil 2 cups of water in a pan over medium-high heat.
- Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add melon seeds and cashew nuts to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and drain the water.
- Add the cooked cashew nuts and melon seeds to a food processor with ¼ cup of cold water and blend to make a smooth paste.
Make The Curry
- Whisk yogurt with chickpea flour, Kashmiri red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt, and, cashew nut and melon paste. Set aside.
- Heat mustard oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the remaining oil from frying the paneer to the same pan.
- Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds, cardamoms, and cloves, and let them crackle for 4-5 seconds.
- Add green chilies and ginger and fry for 20-30 seconds.
- Reduce the heat to low.
- Now add the yogurt whisked with the spices to the pan. The yogurt will splatter a lot, so be very careful.
- Cover the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring a few times.
- Add 1 cup of boiling hot water and cook uncovered for 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the fried paneer cubes to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes. You can add some more water if the curry is thick for your liking.
- Add Kasuri methi and cilantro and cook for another minute.
- Check for salt and add more if required. Dahi paneer is ready. Serve it hot.
