Adraki-Dhaniya Paneer | Ginger-Cilantro Paneer
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When I was in India earlier this year I ate at one of my favourite places, India International Centre (IIC). While I had some favourites including Dal Makhani, Dum Aloo, and Butter Chicken, my family and I were scoping the menu and we wanted to try some new dishes. One of those was Dhaniya Paneer. As you may know, I really love paneer dishes! Paneer is such a wonderful blank canvas and excellent vegetarian protein source. Not only is it great for curries, but I also love it for sandwiches, wraps and pizzas!
If you follow me on Instagram, then perhaps you saw the story of me enjoying the Dhaniya Paneer for the first time at IIC! If you’re not following me already, then I totally recommend that you do not only for recipe sneak peaks and to see my kitchen experiments, but to also see my eating out adventures! I discuss in my Make Cooking Fun!! free guide how going out to eat can inspire you to get creative in the kitchen. In this case, that totally happened! I was really blown away by the Dhaniya Paneer! It was my first time ever tasting it anywhere and I knew right away that I’d have to try it when I got home! This paneer dish features a cilantro-ginger tomato gravy. It’s actually really quick to make and it’s amazing for any occasion!
I’m so happy to be sharing with you my interpretation of the dish! If you want to try a new Indian dish, then I recommend you do as part of your Live to Cook one month challenge! Get your free goodies by signing up to my newsletter!
To follow along as I prepare this fantastic Adraki-Dhaniya Paneer, don’t forget to check out the video at the bottom if this post! I’d appreciate it if you subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already and hit the bell button so you receive all the notifications for when my video recipes go live! I love to share videos to go hand-in-hand with the written recipes so you have all the tools you need to guarantee success! Let’s get cooking!
Ingredients for Adraki-Dhaniya Paneer
Time to review the ingredients needed for our Adraki-Dhaniya Paneer. We won’t need too much for this recipe! Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD with all ingredient measurements and the full instructions to save for later! The recipe card will also allow you to scale the recipe based on how much paneer you want to make! You can make this recipe just for two or for a large family gathering - all ingredient quantities are automatically adjusted so you won’t have to do any ratios!
Paneer (homemade or store-bought)
Butter
Onion
Garlic cloves
Ginger
Cilantro
Tomatoes
How to Make Adraki-Dhaniya Paneer
Heat a wok on medium heat and add 1 Tbsp of olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter. Add the whole spices (cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns). Roast the spices for 1-2 minutes or until aromatic.
Add onions, pinch of salt and sauté until translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
Add garlic and cook for 3-4 more minutes.
Add tomatoes, the juices released will help deglaze the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes and add turmeric and ground coriander. Mix well and cook until tomatoes are on the verge of breaking down.
Add passata and bring to a simmer on medium heat.
Once the tomato masala is well cooked, some oil should have released or the mixture should appear to have dried out and you should be able to slide the masala across the pan. Then, transfer this masala to a food process and puree until completely smooth. Add water as needed.
Return the puréed masala back into the wok and turn the heat to medium-low.
Then, add in a pinch of salt and deggi mirch and cook for 7-8 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced and is released from the pan easily. Stir occasionally to ensure sauce does not burn.
Crush the kasoori methi/dried fenugreek leaves between the palm of your hands and add to the sauce, mix well. Cook for 30 seconds.
In a separate pan, heat 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil.
Add slit green chillies, ginger and cilantro to the oil and saute for 2-3 minutes or until aromatic. Set aside for now.
Add cubes of paneer and mix well. Let the paneer steam in the thick tomatoey masala for 2-3 minutes.
Then add in the garnish (sautéed cilantro, chillies and ginger).
Ad 1 Cup of water to create a gravy and bring up to a simmer. Add more water as needed to adjust to your preferred consistency. Season to taste. Simmer for 1-2 minutes.
Finish with about a teaspoon of garam masala.
Serve hot and enjoy!
Tips for Excellent Adraki-Dhaniya Paneer
The whole spices needs to be roasted well before adding the rest of the ingredients to release their flavours.
Keep stirring the tomatoes so that they don’t get burnt.
The tomato masala should be cooked until the mixture has released some of its oil and appears dry for the most amount of flavour.
For the tempering mixture, saute the chillies and ginger together until the mixture is aromatic before sauteing the cilantro.
Serving Suggestions for Dhaniya Paneer
Dhaniya Adraki Paneer is excellent with rice or bread to create a restaurant experience at home! Here are my bread recommendations:
And here are some great rice dishes:
MORE PANEER RECIPES!
Watch How to Make Adraki-Dhaniya Paneer Here:
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!