Paneer Korma Recipe (Mughlai Style)

A bowl of Paneer Korma in a rich orange gravy, garnished with herbs, served with pieces of naan bread. Fresh cilantro and green chili peppers are placed around the bowl on a dark background.

4.56 from 29 votes

Paneer Korma Recipe (Mughlai Style)

Paneer Korma is a Mughlai-style paneer dish where paneer cubes are cooked in rich onion-based gravy. This North Indian curry is rich and creamy and goes well with Indian bread.

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian, North Indian

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Servings: people

Author: Neha Mathur

Ingredients

For Korma Masala Paste

4-6 cloves (laung)
1 inch piece of cinnamon stick (dalchini)
6-8 black peppercorns (kali mirch)
3-4 green cardamoms (hari elaichi)
2 black cardamoms (badi elaichi)
10-12 cashew nuts
1 teaspoon white poppy seeds (khus khus) optional
1 cup crispy fried onions (birista)
2 teaspoons chopped green chilies

For The Curry

400 grams paneer cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tablespoons ghee
3 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
1 cup plain yogurt (dahi, curd) whisked with 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour (maida)
1 tablespoon coriander powder
2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
10-12 strands saffron soaked in 2 tablespoon water
2-3 drops kewra essence

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Dry Roast The Spices

Add cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns, green cardamoms, black cardamoms, cashew nuts, and poppy seeds to a pan.
Dry roast on medium heat until they turn light brown in color, stirring continuously.
Remove the pan from the heat.

Make Korma Masala Paste

Add the roasted spices to a blender along with fried onions, green chilies, and ¼ cup of water.
Blend to make a smooth paste. Scrape the sides of the blender a few times while blending.

Fry The Paneer

Heat oil and ghee in a pan over medium heat.
Add paneer pieces to the hot oil and fry until they are browned. Keep flipping the paneer to ensure that they brown evenly.
Transfer the fried paneer to a bowl filled with water and keep them aside.

Make The Curry

Add the korma masala paste and ginger garlic paste to the same pan and cook for a minute on medium heat.
Now add yogurt, coriander powder, chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, salt, and ½ cup of water, and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add saffron and kewra essence and mix well.
Take out the fried paneer cubes from the water and add them back to the pan. Mix well.
Now add some water if the curry is too thick and cook for some more time.

You can use the water in which the paneer was soaked to thin down the curry.

Check for salt and add more if required.
Garnish the korma with crispy fried onions and serve hot.

Video

Notes

Add some unsweetened heavy cream at the end of the cooking to make the curry richer and creamer.

You can also add a little blanched almond paste with cashew nut paste and yogurt.

You can also add vegetables like carrots, green peas, green beans, cauliflower, baby corn, etc, with paneer to make mixed veg korma.

Nutrition