Dhaba Style Paneer Recipes for Special Family Dinners

Dhaba Style Paneer Recipes for Special Family Dinners

Simple & wholesome meals served at dhabas are enjoyed by people throughout India. Heavy spices and rustic flavours are deeply etched in all the dishes served at these roadside dhabas. Especially the paneer sabzis are no match to any five-star delicacies. Paneer sabzis are round-the-year items, available at every wayside dhaba, served with butter-glazed tandoori naan.

Recreate some of the Dhaba-style recipes in your kitchen to surprise your guests and family at a special dinner. We can assure drool-worthy faces at the dining table when you uncover the lid.

Dhaba Style Paneer Masala

• Cut paneer into big cubes.
• Marinate the cubes with oil, salt, garam masala, turmeric, and red chilli powder.
• Let the marinated cubes sit for at least 30 minutes.
• Shallow fry the marinated paneer cubes on a frying pan for a few minutes.
• Set this aside for the gravy.
• Heat some oil and butter in a deep pan.
• Now add cumin seeds, bay leaf, and dry red chilli in the oil.
• After a few seconds add chopped onions and salt. 
• Saute on a medium flame till the onions turn translucent brown.
• Add ginger garlic paste and cook for a few minutes.
• At this stage, add turmeric, coriander, cumin, black pepper, and kashmiri red chilli powder along with kasuri methi, salt, & gram flour.
• Cook until the mix turns into a dry masala with a thick consistency.
• To this mix, add tomato puree, salt, sugar, and garam masala. 
• Cover and cook for 10 minutes on low flame.
• As the gravy thickens, you can add water to achieve the desired consistency.
• Add the shallow-fried paneer cubes to this gravy.
• Cook for another 5 minutes until the oil starts to separate.
• Add some cream & coriander leaves at the final stage.
• Simmer for a few minutes.
• Serve with raw onion julienne on top.

Dhaba Style Palak Paneer

• First, clean the spinach thoroughly to get rid of dirt.
• Blanch the spinach leaves  in boiling water for 2 minutes
• Strain the blanched spinach with cold water.
• Once cool, grind it into a smooth paste with green chillies and coriander.
• Heat oil in a pan to lightly fry paneer cubes.
• Fry until a light golden colour is achieved.
• Set the paneer cubes aside in a bowl of water to keep them soft.
• Grind some tomatoes into a fine puree for the gravy.
• In a kadhai, saute turmeric, coriander, red chilli powder, and salt on low flame.
• Add the tomato puree to these masalas.
• Now add some butter to this mix.
• Cover the kadhai for 5-6 minutes to cook the mix on a medium flame.
• As the mixture thickens, add the spinach puree with some water.
• Let the gravy cook for 5 minutes with a lid on.
• Add paneer cubes and cream to this mix.
• Let it simmer for a couple of minutes
• Serve it with rice or phulkas or both!

Paneer Butter Masala Dhaba Style

• Heat butter in a fry pan.
• Add roughly sliced onions and salt. Saute for 5 minutes.
• Now add chopped ginger, green chillies, and tomatoes to this mix.
• Cover and cook for another 5-8 minutes.
• Add soaked cashews to this mixture. Cook until they turn soft.
• At this stage, add coriander, red chilli, garam masala, and turmeric powder.
• Cook this mixture for 8 minutes.
• Blend it into a smooth gravy once it cools.
• In a kadhai, add butter along with the gravy paste.
• Add paneer cubes, kasuri methi, and cream.
• Let it cook for 5-10 minutes.
• To relish the dhaba-style taste, serve paneer butter masala with hot rotis.