Kadai Paneer Recipe, How to make Paneer Kadai (Step by Step & Video)

Kadai Paneer Recipe with step by step photo and video instructions is a simple and very yummy dish. It is so simple to make that it will soon become your favorite. I simply can’t get enough of the paneer in any form. Be it paneer tikka, paneer butter masala, chilli paneer or paneer roll, it’s hard to live without paneer for a long time.

With simple spices, the kadai paneer gravy recipe is surely an awesome way to treat yourself when you are craving paneer. The aroma that emanates from the roasted spices is beyond words. It fills your home with an amazing smell.

Table of Contents

What is Kadai Paneer Recipe?

Kadai Paneer recipe is nothing but a paneer dish that is made in a kadai The spices are first dry roasted and cooled. They are then ground into paste along with ginger, garlic and tomato. This paste is added to the fried onion before adding the paneer cubes to make a deliciously good dish.

What is a Kadai?

Kadai is a deep, circular pan similar to the wok. This is a pretty famous cookware in Asian cooking. The kadai is made of all types of materials. It is made of non-stick, aluminum, cast-iron, anodized or clay pot. In this recipe, I have made the dish in clay kadai as that is my favorite way to cook food.

What is Kadai Masala?

The kadai masala is the masala prepared for making the recipe. The spices are dry roasted til a nice aroma emanates from them. Then they are cooled and made into fine powder. You can store this kadai masala for months in an air tight container.

Is paneer good for health?

Paneer is very good for health. Full of proteins, this can be a great substitute to meat. The paneer is especially good for muscle building. You can check out how to make paneer at home in this methi paneer recipe.

Do you fry paneer before cooking?

Some recipes call for lightly frying the paneer before adding them to the dish. But in this kadai paneer recipe, we do not fry them and directly add them to the prepared masala.

Pro Tips / Important Things to remember while making the kadai paneer recipe

This recipe calls for minimum oil to get the maximum benefit out of it. You can add in more oil if you prefer.
Add little water while cooking if your kadai paneer recipe is too dry.
You can also add julienne green capsicum.

Step by Step Pictorial of the making the Kadai Paneer Recipe

First, start with taking all the whole spices in a kadai. Dry roast them on low flame till a nice aroma emanates from the spices. Allow these roasted spices to cool down completely.

2. Take the cooled spices in a mixie jar and add the ginger, garlic and tomato to it.

3. Make a fine paste with them. Set aside this masala. If you want to store the kadai masala, you can omit the ginger, garlic, tomato and dry grind the spices to make a fine powder. Store this powder in an air tight container.

4. Heat oil in a kadai and add the chopped onions. (Provigil) Fry till the onion turns golden brown in color.

5. Add the ground paste to the browned onion.

6. Next, throw in the green chili, salt and red chili powder. Fry well till the raw smell vanishes from the paste. You can also add green capsicum at this stage.

7. Add the paneer cubes along with coriander leaves. Mix gently. You can add in water at this point if you would like a more gravy kind of kadai paneer.

8. Cook until the paneer is done and the oil starts separating from the masala. Serve hot with roti or tice.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve this kadai paneer recipe hot.

You can serve this with any kind of Indian roti or nan. This also tastes great with plain rice or variety rice like peas pulao, jeera rice, etc.

More paneer recipes:

Learn How to Make Kadai Paneer Recipe