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A well-known vegetarian dish from the Indian state of Maharashtra is Paneer Kolhapuri. It takes its name from Kolhapur, a city renowned for its flamboyant and fiery food. In this meal, tender cubes of paneer (Indian cottage cheese) are cooked in a flavorful sauce that is thick and aromatic and contains a variety of spices, onions, tomatoes, and grated coconut. The bright flavours of Paneer Kolhapuri and its harmonious combination of spiciness, tanginess, and creaminess are well renowned. The inclusion of Kolhapuri masala, a distinctive spice blend that gives the sauce depth and richness, distinguishes the meal. The dish’s vibrant crimson colour and unique spicy flavour are both a result of the extensive usage of red chilies. This mouthwatering dish, which is a celebration of traditional Indian flavours, is frequently eaten with naan, roti, or steaming rice. Paneer Kolhapuri is sure to delight your taste buds with its powerful and tantalising flavours, whether you enjoy paneer or spicy food.

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Paneer Kolhapuri

What’s up guys you are Welcome to my blog Today, I’m making Restaurant style Paneer Kolhapuri. Now, restaurant style recipes differ slightly from the traditional recipes. Like Veg Kolhapuri is a very famous recipr & a lot of you all have tried that recipe & really liked it too.
So thanks for trying that recipe.

How to make Paneer Kolhapuri

Today, I’m making Restaurant style Paneer Kolhapuri which is another restaurant style, delicious, spicy recipe, Now, this restaurant style recipe, actually is not made in Kolhapur at all. Authentic traditional Kolhapuri recipes that we have made earlier on this blog like, Like Kolhapuri Misal Pav, Kolhapuri Tambda, Pandhara Rassa mutton we’ve made earlier,

so these are authentic traditional recipes, These Veg Kolhapuri, Paneer Kolhapuri are inspired versions for the restaurants. It is made spicy & some coconut is added to it, & that is how a restaurant version is made, & traditionally is not made in Kolhapur at all.

So, all my viewers from Kolhapur, don’t mind it. I know this recipe is not made in your homes, It is a restaurant style recipe. At the end of the day, it is very tasty, a very spicy gravy, Make it with Tandoori roti, it will be a lot of fun. It is very easy to make.

Prep time: 15-20 minutes Cooking time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients for Paneer Kolhapuri

Paste
OIL 2-4 TSP
WHOLE SPICES
CUMIN SEEDS 1.5 TSP
CORIANDER SEEDS 1.5 TBSP
BLACK CARDAMOM 2 NO.
GREEN CARDAMOM 3-4 NOS.
CINNAMON STICK 1 INCH
CLOVES 3-4 NOS.
BLACK PEPPERCORNS 5-6 NOS.
KASHMIRI RED CHILLI 6-7 NOS.
SPICY RED CHILLI 4-5 NOS.
COCONUT 1 CUP (SCRAPED)
POPPY SEEDS 1 TSP
WHITE SESAME SEEDS 1 TSP
WATER AS REQUIRED
Tomato Puree
TOMATOES 4-5 NOS. (ROUGHLY CHOPPED)
CASHEW 25-30 NOS. (BOILED)
KASHMIRI RED CHILLI POWDER 2 TBSP
Base Gravy
OIL 2-5 TBSP
CUMIN SEEDS 1 TSP
RED CHILLI 3 NOS.
BAY LEAF 1 NO.
ONION 3 NOS. (CHOPPED)
GREEN CHILLI 3 NOS. (CHOPPED)
GINGER GARLIC PASTE 1 TBSP
TURMERIC POWDER 1/2 TSP
KASHMIRI RED CHILLI POWDER 1 TSP
SALT TO TASTE
HOT WATERAS REQUIRED
Paneer & veggies tossing
OIL 3 TSP
ONION 1 LARGE (PETALS)
CAPSICUM 2 MEDIUM SIZED (DICED)
PANEER 500 GRAMS (CUBES)
SALT A PINCH
TURMERIC POWDER 1/2 TSP
KASHMIRI RED CHILLI POWDER A PINCH
GARAM MASALA A PINCH
Final Cooking
ROASTED KASURI METHI POWDER A PINCH
GARAM MASALA A PINCH
LEMON JUICE 1 TSP
FRESH CORIANDER A HANDFUL (CHOPPED)
FRESH CREAM 2-3 TBSP (OPTIONAL)

Rasturant Style Paneer Kolhapuri Recipe

Let’s learn how to make rasturant style paneer kolhapuri recipe is made.

Preparing Kolhapuri masala

Take a Fry pan on high flame & heat it up, Once the pan is hot, then we will add 2 tsp oil to it. After adding the oil, we have to add some whole spices. lke1 tsp cumin seeds,1 tbsp whole coriander seeds,1 black cardamom,2-3 green cardamom,1 inch cinnamon stick,4-5 cloves,4-5 whole black peppercorns,7-8 dried Kashmiri red chillies for colour, 3-4 spicy red chillies for heat, & add 1/2 cup grated coconut to this.

Stir everything very well & toast on medium flame until the spices & coconut are nicely toasted. So I’ve nicely toasted the spices. Remember This process can take 3-4 minutes. At this stage, you have to add 1 tsp poppy seeds, & add 1 tsp white sesame seeds. After adding these 2 ingredients, roast them a little more for 30 seconds to toast the poppy seeds & sesame seeds.

Once you have toasted all your spices nicely then transfer them to a bowl, Now, you have to cool these spices down before grinding them. Now The spices have cooled down, And transfer them to a mixer grinding jar. Along with it add some water to grind easily.

You have to grind it into a fine paste, so grind it into a fine paste. So I’ve prepared a fine paste.
You have to keep it aside.

Making Paneer Kolhapuri

Now, in another mixer-grinding jar, take 5-6 tomatoes, 20-25 boiled cashews, & add 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder to form a puree. So blend tomatoes, cashews & Kashmiri red chilli powder into a fine puree. Kashmiri red chilli powder will give a nice colour to the gravy, we have added some in the other paste too. & cashews will give nice richness to this gravy.

So I’ve ground the tomatoes & cashews together nicely & our tomato-cashew puree is ready. We’ve prepared our 2 pastes. This is the basic prep for Paneer Kolhapuri.

One is the spices ground with coconut & the second is tomatoes with cashews. The ground spices will give it that Kolhapuri coconutty flavour, & the tomatoes & cashews will provide the tanginess & richness. I had soaked the cashews in hot water for 15-20 minutes, you can boil them too. You can boil them for 10 minutes. Don’t add raw cashews.

Keep in mind not to make that mistake. Once you have made these 2 pastes, we have to
give a tempering of onions, garlic & ginger. & we have to cook the gravy for 15-20 minutes
& Paneer Kolhapuri gravy will be ready. While the gravy will be cooking on a side, we will cook the Paneer & the onion & capsicum petals,

We will toss them a little & then add in the paneer gravy, & then our Restaurant style Paneer Kolhapuri will be ready. All these steps are easy. Let’s learn how to do them.

Coock Gravy

To cook the gravy, add 2 tbsp oil to a fry pan, Once the oil is hot, then add 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 2 dried red chillies, 1 bay leaf, 2 chopped onions, & add 2 chopped green chillies. Stir everything nicely & sauté the onions until they are light golden brown in colour. We have used green chillies here & have added chillies 1-2 times earlier too. So this gravy turns out to be really spicy.

If you want less spice for your preference, then you can reduce the green chillies & the chilli powder. The Kashmiri red chilli powder gives colour & hardly any heat, so you can use that liberally for a vibrant colour.

So I’ve nicely sautéed the onions & they are light golden brown in colour. Now, to this add 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste, 1/4th tsp turmeric powder, & add 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder & stir very well. Now add the vatan or the spice paste that we prepared first, to this. & also add the tomato puree that we had prepared earlier. Now add salt to taste,

Stir everything well & cook it on medium flame until the oil starts separating from it. So cover it & cook this gravy on medium flame for 15 minutes, until this gravy becomes thick & the oil starts separating from it. It’s been 10-12 minutes, so let’s check the gravy.

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You will see that it’s colour has deepened & the gravy has become slightly thick as well. So, here, I’m adding some hot water to it to adjust it’s consistency. Once the consistency is adjusted, stir it & cover it with lid, & continue to cook it further.

While the gravy is cooking, on another side heat up a pan or a wok, And Add 1 tsp of oil to it. Once the oil is hot, then add petals of 1 large onion cut like this, & dice 2 medium sized capsicum & add to it. & toss it on high flame for just 30 seconds. After tossing the onions & capsicum, I’m adding 1/2 kg paneer. You can see paneer is cut in cubes. a pinch of salt, 1/4th tsp turmeric powder, 1 pinch Kashmiri red chilli powder, & add a pinch of garam masala powder to this, & gently stir it or toss it.

Don’t cook it for too long. Cook the paneer for just a minute so that it holds structure & is coated with spices.

So we have tossed the paneer nicely, now we have to add it to the gravy. So remove the lid of the gravy & add the paneer. Gently mix or stir the paneer in the gravy. Be very gentle otherwise the paneer can break or crumble. Once you have nicely mixed the paneer with the gravy then add a pinch of dried fenugreek leaves powder, one pinch of home made garam masala, 1 tsp lemon juice, lots of freshly chopped coriander leaves, & add 2-3 tbsp of fresh cream. This is completely optional but the cream balances the tanginess of the tomatoes.

Now gently stir everything well. Once everything is stirred, Now our Restaurant style Kolhapuri Paneer is ready. Let’s plate it and serve this wonderful Kolhapuri Paneer recipe.

This Restaurant style Kolhapuri Paneer has turned out so delicious. It turns out to be quite spicy. You may have noted that Kashmiri red chilli has gone in it 4-5 times. But don’t worry at all, the Kashmiri red chilli does not add any heat, it just adds colour. The spicy red chilli that we added in the paste & the green chillies give the heat. So don’t worry that we’ve used so much Kashmiri red chilli that it will become over spicy. It won’t become too spicy. It’s a manageable level of spiciness. The colour it gives is vibrant red. So keep this in mind.

Like I told you before, you can reduce the green chillies & spicy red chilli. Keep Kashmiri red chilli in same amount. You will get a perfect Restaurant style Kolhapuri Paneer.

So definitely try this recipe at your home & tell me in the comments how did you like it. And share this recipe with your friends & family. Hit the Like subscribe button if you’ve liked this recipe. if you haven’t yet.

Have an amazing time with this beautiful Restaurant style Kolhapuri Paneer at your home. Cheers!

FAQs

Q: What is Kolhapuri masala, and can I make it at home?

Paneer Kolhapuri gains its characteristic flavour from the hot Maharashtrian spice mixture known as kolhapuri masala. A mixture of dried red chilies, coriander, cumin, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and other spices are frequently used in it. Even though it’s widely accessible in stores, you may make it at home by roasting and combining these spices.

Q: Can I substitute paneer with any other ingredient?

Although paneer is the main component of paneer kolhapuri, you can instead use tofu or other vegetables, such as potatoes, cauliflower, or mushrooms, in its place.

Q: How spicy is Paneer Kolhapuri?

The spicy nature of paneer kolhapuri is well known. However, you can change the amount of spice to suit your tastes. Reduce the number of red chilies or substitute mild chilies for a milder version if you want.

Q: Can I make Paneer Kolhapuri in advance?

Yes, you can make the gravy ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for two to three days. Reheat the gravy and include the paneer cubes just before serving. To ensure that the paneer keeps its suppleness, it is ideal to prepare it right before serving.

Q: What can I serve with Paneer Kolhapuri?

With Indian breads like naan, roti, or paratha, paneer kolhapuri goes well. Steamed rice or cumin-flavored rice or jeera go nicely with it as well. For a full dinner, you can also serve it with a side of raita (yoghurt dip) or a salad.

Q: Can I adjust the consistency of the gravy?

Yes, you can change the gravy’s consistency to suit your tastes by adding more water or further decreasing it. While slightly thinner gravy works best with rice, a thicker gravy pairs well with bread.

Q: Are there any variations to Paneer Kolhapuri?

Although the classic Paneer Kolhapuri recipe calls for a particular combination of ingredients, you can always alter it to your preferences. Adding veggies to the recipe, such as bell peppers, peas, or carrots, or adding a dash of cream for a thicker texture, are a few alternatives.