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Paneer Lababdar
Paneer Lababdar is a traditional Indian recipe for a classic restaurant-style vegetarian curry of paneer cheese in an aromatic tomato-cashew base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Indian version of: Paneer Lababdar.
prep time
15 minutes
cook time
25 minutes
Total Time:
40 minutes
Serves:
4
Rating: 
Tags : CurryVegetarian RecipesSpice RecipesCheese RecipesIndian Recipes
This is an Indian restaurant-style dish of paneer cheese in a creamy, mildly tangy and faintly sweet gravy. The term ‘lababdar’ can be translated as ‘a strong desire for something and complete surrender to it’. So this dish is one that you will completely surrender your taste-buds to. This vegetarian recipe originates in the Punjab.
Ingredients:
For tomato-cashew paste
250g ripe, red, tomatoes, chopped
10 to 12 cashew nuts
3cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
120ml (1/2 cup) water
1 green cardamom pod
2 cloves
Additional Ingredients:
2tbsp Butter
1tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
100g onions, finely chopped
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander seeds
½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
550ml water (or add as needed)
2 green finger chilies, slit lengthways
Salt, to taste
¼ to ½ tsp sugar (or to taste)
200g Paneer cheese, cubed
2tbsp grated paneer cheese
½ tsp Garam Masala
1tsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves), crumbled
2 tbsps double cream
1 tbsp additional Butter
To garnish:
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves (cilantro leaves)
3cm piece of ginger, julienned
Method:
Preparing the tomato-cashew paste: Combine the chopped tomatoes, cashews, chopped ginger and garlic, green cardamom, cloves and water in a small pan. Use ripe tomatoes that are not too tangy or sour. Place over low heat, bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes have softened (add more water as needed to ensure the mixture does not dry out).
Take off the heat and set aside to cool completely before turning into a food processor and rendering to a smooth puree. Set aside until needed.
When ready to cook, Place a wok, kadai or large pan over medium heat. Once hot add the butter and fry the bay leaf. Fry for a few seconds then add the onions. Stir well and continue to stir-fry for about 8 minutes, until the onion is golden brown.
Now stir in the tomato-cashew spice paste. Be careful when adding this as it may splutter. Scatter over the ground cumin, coriander seeds and chilli powder then stir to combine. Continue frying for about 4 minutes until the oil begins to separate.
To finish the paneer lababdar add the water, stirring to mix thoroughly. Add the green chillies, stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and sugar then add the cubed paneer and grated paneer. Gently mix to coat in the gravy.
Mix together the kasuri methi and garam masala powder then scatter over the curry. Stir well to combine. Finally, add the double cream. Take the pan off the heat and stir well to combine.
Turn into a serving bowl and garnish with chopped coriander leaves and julienne strips of ginger. Serve with chapati, tandoori roti or naan. It also goes well with cumin rice or veg pulao.
