Keto Paneer Makhani is a healthy, low carb twist to the traditional Indian vegetarian recipe! Made with grilled cottage cheese pieces in buttery gravy this restaurant style Paneer Makhani will take care of all your cravings and is super easy to make.
So how many Paneer Makhani fans in the house? I know you are raising both your hands right there! That’s exactly why I thought why not bring to you the Low Carb Paneer Makhani version of it, so that you can enjoy it even when you are on a Ketogenic diet. If you have loved my other Keto recipes (Keto cheddar crisps 2-ways , Keto Low Carb cheese spinach stuffed chicken breast and creamy garlic chicken with broccoli), I am so sure that you will absolutely love this Keto Paneer Makhani recipe too! This recipe calls for half grilled Paneer (cottage cheese) pieces dunked in silky, buttery, creamy gravy simmered well to perfection. If you are on a Ketogenic or LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) diet you are going to love it, if you are not you are still going to love it!
While I have been having a blast on my Keto journey experimenting with new low carb recipes everyday, let me admit I do have those days when I crave for a good old restaurant style Paneer Makhani and hot piping butter naan! And this recipe was exactly made for those days to curb the craving by stuffing my face with this Low Carb Paneer Makhani along with some Cumin flavoured Cauli rice as side or occasionally may be a Flax roti.
This restaurant style Paneer Makhani is one of my favourite Keto Paneer recipes and it keeps featuring in our weekly menus now and then. In fact you can use the same gravy and simply swap the Paneer for vegetables or chicken and believe me it tastes lip-smacking good!
How to get red colour in Indian gravies?
Now have you wondered that how do the restaurant style Paneer butter masala or Paneer Makhani have that beautiful orange-ish red colour to it? Yeah yeah I know you are going to say – added artificial colour! Sad isn’t? I never ever add any artificial colour to food and that’s why I got this little trick up my sleeve to get the perfect red-orange-ish colour to your curries and gravies. And ladies and gentleman the trick is nothing but some good old – ‘Kashmiri Lal mirch’ or ‘Kashmiri Red chilli powder’. Unlike the normal red chilli powder available in local markets which increase the hot quotient of a dish instantly,’Kashmiri Lal mirch’ or ‘Kashmiri Red chilli powder’ are made with mild red wrinkled Kashmiri chillies which are mild in the heat quotient department but the best part is that it instantly adds a vibrant red colour to the dish.
How to make Paneer (cottage cheese) soft?
The biggest concern when making cottage cheese curries is how to make them soft especially when you are using Paneer/ cottage cheese stored in the refrigerator. There’s a simple trick to that :
a) Cut Paneer (cottage cheese) in small pieces.
b) Heat water in a saucepan for 2-3 minutes and turn off the heat.
c) Dunk the Paneer (cottage cheese) pieces into hot water and keep them soaked for 7-10 minutes.
d) Drain the water and use the Paneer pieces in any form in the curries.
It is not only a healthier alternative to frying the Paneer pieces but also makes the Paneer /cottage cheese pieces really soft.
Step by step pictorial recipe to make Keto Paneer Makhani (Low carb) :
Smear Paneer (cottage cheese) pieces with turmeric, salt and kashmiri red chilli powder.
In a skillet, grill the Paneer pieces in butter.
Grill the Paneer only for 2-3 minutes on both sides, making sure that they don’t turn hard.
In a pan, heat butter let cumin seeds splutter. Add garlic, ginger paste, green chillies,onions, tomatoes and saute well till the mixture is well done and soft. Let the mixture cool and then finally grind it into a fine paste.
Add this finely ground paste back to the pan and saute it well.
Add the spices and saute well.
On low heat, carefully add the heavy whipping cream.
Then add the grilled Paneer cottage cheese pieces, dried fengureek leaves and let the gravy simmer for couple of more minutes and the oil finally starts to separate.
Finally sprinkle freshly chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves from top and serve it hot with Cauli rice or Flax roti.
You can also find this Keto Paneer Makhani recipe on myfitnesspal.
Here’s hoping that you give this restaurant style Keto Paneer Makhani recipe a try and if you do let me know in comments how you liked it! Oh yeah and are you following Delish Studio on Facebook or Instagram? I share daily updates on my Keto journey and many more easy to make, healthy, quick recipes regularly. So hit the follow button!
Keto Paneer Makhani is a healthy, low carb twist to the traditional Indian vegetarian recipe! Made with grilled cottage cheese pieces in buttery gravy this restaurant style Paneer Makhani will take care of all your cravings and is super easy to make.
- 200 gm paneer / cottage cheese (cubes)
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1/2 green chilli
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 tsp ginger paste
- 3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1.5 tsp kashmiri lal mirch (red chilli powder)
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves / kasuri methi leaves) (optional)
- fresh coriander leaves / cilantro leaves (for garnish)
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Cut paneer/ cottage cheese into cubes or rectangles and smear 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, salt and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (kashmiri laal mirch powder) all over the paneer pieces.
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In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp butter and grill the paneer (cottage cheese) pieces for 2-3 minutes on both side, till both the sides are slightly done (have sear marks). Don't grill for long it will make the paneer (cottage cheese) pieces hard.
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In a pan heat butter, add cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add ginger paste, chopped green chilli, onions, garlic, tomato and saute it well for 2-3 minutes till the onions and tomatoes are mushy and oil starts to separate.
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Let this mixture cool and then using a grinder, grind this into a fine paste. Don't add any water.
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In the same pan, add this fine paste and saute well. To this mixture add turmeric powder, red chilli powder (kashmiri lal mirch powder), coriander powder, garam masala and saute the mixture for 3-4 minutes.
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On low heat, add the heavy whipping cream into gravy and mix it well. Add the grilled paneer (cottage cheese) pieces, dried fenugreek leaves ( dried Kasuri methi leaves) and simmer the gravy for 4-5 more minutes till oil starts to seperate.
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Take off heat and finally sprinkle freshly chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves on top. Serve with cauli rice.
1. I have used a particular type of red chilli powder i.e Kashmiri Lal Mirch which is known to add a nice vibrant redish-orange tinge to the gravy and is mild in heat quotient. You can use normal red chilli powder but in that case make sure that you adjust the quantity as per how hot the red chilli powder is.
2. Always add cream at low temperature to the gravy.
3. I have slightly grilled the Paneer first in butter, you can skip this step and also add raw Paneer (cottage cheese) pieces directly into the gravy.
4. If you are using Paneer (cottage cheese) which is a little hard, make sure you dip the Paneer (cottage cheese pieces) in lukewarm water for 5-10 minutes, so that they become soft.
5. Fenugreek leaves adds a subtle aroma and flavour to the dish which is very quintessential to Paneer Makhani, if you don't have it in your kitchen you can skip it.
[…] the otherwise boring Keto/ Low carb menu interesting and yummy (Don’t forget to checkout my keto paneer makhani and keto cheddar crisps 2 ways recipe !!!) I generally love to alternate between vegetarian and […]