Paneer Lababdar Recipe– Paneer lababdar is a scrumptious restaurant-style paneer preparation in spiced onion-tomato base curry with the creaminess of cashew nuts. This paneer lababdar recipe has some rich texture imparted by some crumbled paneer in the gravy. Soft paneer is simmered in the rich, creamy and mildly spiced curry to get that heavenly taste perfectly suited for the term “lababdar”
Paneer Lababdar is one of the best paneer recipes that go well with any Indian bread, like chapati, lachcha paratha, roomali roti, or naan thus making it a perfect choice for inclusion in the weekend menu, party menu, or even festivals’ to cook list!
Paneer dishes are the favorite of many of us! you will find many paneer recipes on my blog. Try the following recipes as well along with this recipe of paneer lababdar.
About this restaurant style recipe
1. Take juicy red tomatoes and use kashmiri red chili powder for this paneer lababdar recipe as it will give a bright red color to the gravy.
2. Make sure to saute the onion-ginger-garlic paste until golden brown as the well-sauteed paste will help us to get restaurant-style paneer lababdar flavor.
3.It is recommended to add some paneer in crumbled form also as it enhances the taste for the paneer curry.
4.You can adjust the consistency of the gravy by adding more or less water than specified in the recipe card.
How to make paneer lababdar
Making Tomatoes cashew nuts paste
- Firstly, heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan and crackle 1 tsp cumin seeds into it.
2. Add 4 chopped tomatoes to it.
3. Stir and cook for 1 minute, now add 16 cashews to the tomatoes. Mix and cover with a lid and cook on a slow flame.
4. After a few minutes, when tomatoes are mashed, switch off the flame.
5. Let the mixture tomato-cashew mixture cool and then grind it into a paste.
Making ginger-garlic-onion paste
6. Take 7 cloves of garlic, 1.5 tsp ginger, and 1 big chopped onion.
7. Blend ginger-garlic-onion into a paste.
Making Gravy
8. To make paneer lababdar gravy, heat 3 tbsp ghee in a non-stick pan.
9. Further, add ginger-garlic-onion paste to the ghee.
10. Saute the paste until it turns brown, stir in between the process.
11. Now put the flame on low add the following spice powder to it.
- 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 tsp kasuri methi.
- /8 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp cumin powder
12. Give it a quick stir.
13. Further, add the prepared tomato-cashew paste to it.
14. Mix and cook on medium to high flame now. The mixture will leave the fat from the sides within a few minutes.
15. Now, add 1 cup water to it, mix and let it boil.
Making Paneer Lababdar
16. Take 250gm fresh paneer slab.
17. Cut into triangle pieces. You may cut it into cubes also. Crumble 2-3 pieces of paneer and let other pieces be intact.
18. Add paneer pieces and 3 tbsp crumbled paneer to the curry (gravy).
19. Cook paneer with gravy for 2-3 minutes and switch off the gas.
20. Garnish paneer lababdar with 2 tsp chopped coriander leaves and 2 tsp crumbled paneer.
Restaurant-style Paneer lababdar is ready.
Recipe card for Paneer Lababdar
Paneer Lababdar Recipe
Equipment
- Non-stick pan
- Mixer-grinder
Ingredients
For tomatoes-cashew nuts paste
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 red tomatoes
- 16 cashew nuts
For ginger-garlic-onion paste
- 7 cloves garlic
- 1.5 tsp ginger
- 1 big onion
For gravy
- 3 tbsp ghee
- prepared ginger-garlic-onion paste
- 1 tsp kasmiri red chili powder
- 1 tsp kasuri methi
- 1/8 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp cumin powder
- prepared tomato-cashew paste
- 1 cup water
For Paneer Lababdar
- 250 gm fresh paneer
- prepared gravy
- 2 tsp corinader leaves for garnishing
Instructions
Making tomatoes cahew nuts paste
- Firstly, heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan and crackle 1 tsp cumin seeds into it.
- Add 4 chopped tomatoes to it.
- Stir and cook for 1 minute, now add 16 cashews to the tomatoes. Mix and cover with a lid and cook on a slow flame.
- After a few minutes, when tomatoes are mashed, switch off the flame.
- Let the mixture tomato-cashew mixture cool and then grind it into a paste.
Making ginger-garlic-onion paste
- Take 7 cloves of garlic, 1.5 tsp ginger, and 1 big chopped onion.
- Blend ginger-garlic-onion into a paste.
Making gravy
- To make paneer lababdar gravy, heat 3 tbsp ghee in a non-stick pan.
- Further, add ginger-garlic-onion paste to the ghee.
- Saute the paste until it turns brown, stir in between the process.
- Now put the flame on low add 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder,1 tsp kasuri methi, 1/8 tsp turmeric powder,1 tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala powder,1 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp cumin powder
- Give it a quick stir.
- Further, add the prepared tomato-cashew paste to it.
- Mix and cook on medium to high flame now. The mixture will leave the fat from the sides within a few minutes.
- Now, add 1 cup water to it, mix and let it boil.
Making Paneer Lababdar
- Take 250gm fresh paneer slab.
- Cut into triangle pieces. You may cut it into cubes also. Crumble 2-3 pieces of paneer and let other pieces be intact.
- Add paneer pieces and 3 tbsp crumbled paneer to the curry (gravy).
- Cook paneer with gravy for 2-3 minutes and switch off the gas.
- Garnish paneer lababdar with 2 tsp chopped coriander leaves and 2 tsp crumbled paneer.
- Restaurant-style Paneer lababdar is ready.
Notes
FAQ
I will define lababdar as so lip-smacking that you strongly crave it!
Paneer lababdar is a super-delicious paneer dish made by simmering soft paneer in rich onion-tomato-cashew gravy to get that heavenly taste, strongly desired by many.
Paneer lababdar tastes the best with Indian bread like chapati, naan, paratha. However, you can serve it with any rice or pulao also.
Consider making the consistency a little thin by addition of some more water in the gravy and adjust the spice accordingly in case you are serving it with rice or pulao.
You can prepare tomato-cashew paste and ginger-garlic-onion paste in advance and refrigerate it so you will be able to make paneer lababdar quickly with the availability of these prepared pastes.
Surely, you can use tofu instead of Paneer(Indian cottage cheese).In that case, this dish will be called tofu lababdar. Tofu is a preferred choice for weight-watchers.
Yes, you can! Ghee gives a good flavor to the curry. But you can substitute ghee with oil or butter also.
However, if you are using butter, then use little oil with the butter so that the butter does not burn.
