By Paneer Lababdar Dhaba Style a popular North Indian paneer preparation is lusciously rich and creamy (without adding cream) dish with succulent paneer/cottage cheese cooked in aromatic and flavourful onion-tomato gravy. Oh-so indulgent when served with naan or parathas.
Hi guys!!
Hope you all had a lovely weekend. We had a good one, very lazy weekend though. Had planned so many things but ended doing nothing. We are masters of procrastination you see. 🙈
Anyways one good thing happened though, this “paneer lababdar“.
Weekend we were craving for something super rich and luscious. So we finally settled on this ah-mazing North Indian style Paneer Lababdar to go with our garlic naan.
Each and every bite of this indulgent lababdar, took me back to my Indian restaurant/ dhaba days. It is so so good and kinda little healthy in a way, you will definitely not miss the restaurant style lababdar at all. Trust me!
I have made paneer lababdar in desi ghee completely. Seriously guys I highly recommend you to make it in ghee for that perfect restaurant or dhaba feel. As this is not something we have it on regular basis right. So a little cheat is fine sometimes. Any ways I said it’s healthy in a way because I have not used a drop of cream in this creamy paneer lababdar. the creaminess is yielded from cashew nuts alone. Isn’t it amazing?!
Even my little one enjoyed it thoroughly.
What ingredients are used to make Paneer Lababdar?
This is definitely a pantry loving dish. If you don’t want to go to the store to get paneer, and if you have milk at home then make your own homemade paneer by following these simple steps. And the rest of the ingredients I am sure each and every Indian kitchen is always stuffed with. Let’s take a look at the ingredients.
- Paneer
- Onion
- Tomato
- Cashew-nuts
- Bay leaves
- Dried red chilli
- Green cardamoms
- Black Cardamom
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Mace
- Nutmeg
- Kashmiri Chilli powder
- Turmeric powder
- Coriander powder
- Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- Garam masala
- Salt
- Sugar/sweetener
- Ghee/Oil
Let’s hop on to the detailed recipe to see how it is made.
Here are Paneer recipes that you can try.
Savoury Paneer and Veggies Multigrain Pancakes
Palak Methi Paneer (Saag Paneer)
Shorshe Paneer (Cottage Cheese in Mustard Gravy)
Chana Paneer Madra Himachali recipe
Paneer Fulkopi diye bhaja Moong Dal
Chanar Dalna (Bengali style Paneer Curry)
30 minute Paneer Vegetable Stew
Kashmiri Paneer (Cottage Cheese) in Tomato – Fennel Curry
Paneer Lababdar Dhaba Style
Paneer Lababdar Dhaba Style | Restaurant Style Paneer Lababdar
Equipment
- large thick bottomed pan
- mixer grinder
Ingredients
- 200-225 grams Paneer cubed
- 50 grams Paneer (grated)
- 2-3 Bay leaves
- 2 tsp Kasoori Methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- 1/2 tsp Garam masala
- 1-2 tsp Sugar/Sweetener
- Salt (as per taste)
- 2 tbsp Ghee/Oil
To Ground into paste:
- 1 medium Onion roughly chopped
- 3 Large Tomatoes roughly chopped
- 18-20 Cashew nuts
- 2 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
- 2-3 Dried Red chillies broken
- 1 inch Cinnamon roughly pounded
- 3 Green Cardamoms roughly pounded
- 1 Black cardamom roughly pounded
- 3-4 Cloves roughly pounded
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg/Jaiphal grated
- 1/4 tsp Mace/Javitri broken into pieces
- 1 1/2 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp Coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp Ghee
Instructions
- Heat 2 tbsp of ghee/oil in a large frying pan or skillet on medium high heat. When hot temper it with dried red chillies, black cardamom, green cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves, mace and sauté until you get a beautiful aroma of the spiced.
- Then toss in the chopped onions and saute for 3-4 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Add the ginger and garlic paste and saute until the raw smell disappears.
- Next toss in the tomatoes and cashews along with 1/2 tsp of salt and saute for 3-4 minutes until the tomatoes are soft.
- Add in the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and nutmeg powder and saute for 2-3 minutes and take it off the heat. Let it cool.
- Add the masala along with 2 tbsp of water in a mixer grinder and ground it into a fine and smooth paste.
- In the same pan add the rest of the ghee/oil heat it on medium heat. When hot temper it with bay leaves saute for 10 seconds. Then slowly pour in the prepared masala paste and cook in medium heat stirring continuously for 7-8 minutes, until you see little oil seeping through and the masala pulls from the sides.
- Now add 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil, stirring intermittently.
- Add salt and sugar/sweetener and continue cooking on medium heat for a minute.
- Now slide in the paneer cubes and the grated paneer and mix everything well. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes on low heat, stirring intermittently.
- Finally add in kasoori methi and garam masala and mix well. Cook for another two minutes and take it off the heat.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it hot with naan or paratha or jeera rice.
I hope you enjoy this Paneer Lababdar as much as we do!
I would love to see your creations. If you have tried this recipe, just click a picture and don’t forget to tag me @gastronomicbong or #gastronomicbong on Instagram or on Facebook.
Bon Appetit!!!
Stay Safe! Stay Positive!
angiesrecipes
May 18, 2020So delicious and great to go with flatbread or rice 🙂 o man…this has me so HUNGRY!
Arpita@Gastronomic Bong
May 20, 2020Thank you Angie!!! Yes it goes perfectly with flat breads❤️
Bhoomika Choudhury
June 24, 2020This recipe is a stunner. I can safely say this is the best paneer dish I’ve made at home. Thank you so much Arpita. I now know what to make when I’m hosting vegetarian guests at home.
Arpita@Gastronomic Bong
June 24, 2020Thank you so much Bhoomika.. This made mw so happy ♥