Paneer Kurma Recipe (White Paneer Korma)

5 from 17 votes

Paneer Kurma Recipe (White Paneer Korma)

Creamy, rich, delicately flavored and delicious Paneer Kurma recipe is made in a white gravy base of blanched almonds, onions, yogurt and spices. The exotic flavors of this White Paneer Korma is best savored with naan or tandoori roti or paratha.

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Soaking Time For Almonds30

Total Time1 20

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: North Indian

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings:

Calories: 422kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

For almond paste

20 to 22 almonds
¼ cup water - hot, for soaking almonds
4 tablespoons water or the almond soaked water for grinding or blending almonds

For onion paste

¾ cup (150 grams) onions - roughly chopped
¼ cup water - for cooking onions

Other ingredients

2 tablespoon Ghee (clarified butter)
½ teaspoon shahi jeera (caraway seeds)
1 inch cinnamon
2 to 3 green cardamoms
4 cloves
2 to 3 single strands of mace
2 teaspoons Ginger Garlic Paste or 5 to 6 small to medium garlic cloves + 1 inch ginger, crushed to a paste in a mortar
1 green chili - slit (optional)
¼ teaspoon black pepper powder or white pepper powder
½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
6 tablespoons (100 grams) Curd (yogurt) - full fat or made with whole milk
¾ to 1 cup water or add as required
salt as required
200 grams Paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
3 tablespoons light cream (low fat or cooking cream) or 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy or whipping cream
1 teaspoon rose water or 1 teaspoon kewra water (pandanus water) or ½ teaspoon of each
2 to 3 pinches crushed saffron or ground saffron powder - for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preparation

First blanch the almonds in hot water. Rinse almonds and soak them in hot water for 30 to 40 minutes. Cover with a lid and set aside.
In a small saucepan, take the roughly chopped onions and add water.
On a medium-low to medium heat simmer the chopped onion and water together stirring at intervals. If in case the water dries up while cooking onions, then add some more water.
Simmer till the onions soften.
After 30 minutes, peel the almonds.
Add the blanched, peeled almonds and ¼ cup of the soaking water or fresh water to a grinder or small blender.
Make a fine and smooth paste from the almonds without any tiny bits or chunks. Remove almond paste in a small bowl and set it aside.
To the same blender, add the cooked onions together with the remaining stock. Grind to a smooth and fine paste.
Take the full fat fresh curd (yogurt) in a bowl or measuring cup and whisk well till smooth.

Making White Gravy

Heat ghee in a pan. Keep the heat to low.
Add the whole spices - shahi jeera, cinnamon, green cardamoms, cloves, strands of mace and tej patta. Fry the spices for some seconds till they splutter and become fragrant.
Now add the ground onion paste and stir very well with the spices and ghee. Take care as the onion paste will splutter when you add it to the pan.
Add the ginger garlic paste. Mix and stir again.
Sauté the onion paste stirring often on a low to medium-low heat till you see some fat releasing from the sides and the paste thickens.
We don't need to brown this paste as we are preparing a white curry. But ensure that the onion paste is cooked.
Now add the ground almond paste.
Stir continuously and saute for two minutes on a low heat.
Then add 1 or 2 slit green chilies, black pepper powder and coriander powder. Stir and mix again.
Saute for a minute on a low heat.
Now first add 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of the beaten curd (yogurt or dahi) on a low heat.
Briskly stir and incorporate the curd with the rest of the mixture.
Then add again 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of the curd.
Stir quickly again. Adding yogurt in small amounts like this does not allow it to split or curdle in the gravy.
Finish off all the curd (yogurt) this way and keep on stirring.
Add water.
Mix thoroughly so that the whole gravy has a uniform and even consistency. Add salt as required.
Bring the gravy to a gentle simmer on a low heat - about 4 to 5 minutes.

Making Paneer Kurma

Then add the paneer cubes and stir gently to mix the paneer cubes with the gravy. Switch off the heat
Add light cream. Mix well and switch off the heat.
Lastly, add rosewater or kewra water (pandanus) water. Again mix gently.
Serve paneer korma hot or warm garnished with crushed saffron or saffron powder.
This paneer kurma pairs very well with naan, tandoori roti, chapati or paratha. It also goes well with cumin rice or veg pulao or veg biryani.

Notes

Make this dish with fresh homemade curd (yogurt). Do not use curd which has become sour.
Do not add tomatoes in this recipe as it can make the dish taste sour and acidic.
Instead of caraway seeds (shahi jeera), you can use cumin seeds. You can skip adding the whole spices and instead add ¼ teaspoon of garam masala powder when the dish is finished cooking.
In place of almonds, feel free to use cashews. With cashews, the flavor will be different but the dish will still taste good.
In place of light, low-fat or cooking cream, you can also add 1 to 2 tablespoons of whipping or heavy cream.
For extra flavoring, you can add 1 teaspoon of kewra water (pandanus water) or rose water, or ½ teaspoon of each.
This recipe cannot be scaled as the ingredients on scaling can make the flavors go out of balance.

Nutrition