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paneer butter masala served in a white bowl with naan and rice
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5 from 9 votes

Instant Pot Paneer Butter Masala

Paneer Butter Masala - one of the most popular curries found in Indian restaurants across the globe. Sharing the instant pot method which is super easy to make and full of flavors.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time23 minutes
Total Time33 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 6
Author: Madhavi

Ingredients

  • About 1 lb or 400 gms Paneer
  • 2 medium onion diced
  • 4 large ripe tomatoes chopped
  • 1 tbsps ginger
  • 1.5 tbsps garlic
  • About 14 whole cashews
  • ¼ cup cream use coconut milk to make it vegan
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • Lemon juice optional
  • 1 tbsp butter (to make it vegan, skip butter and add oil)
  • 1 tbsp oil

Whole Spices to wrap in cheese cloth-

  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 cardamoms
  • 5 cloves

Powdered spices -

  • ½ tsp red chili powder or to taste ( i used kashmiri chili powder)
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • ¾ tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • ¾ tsp fenugreek podwer kasoori methi

Instructions

Prepping the ingredients-

  • Since instant pot method is a dump and cook method, it is important to keep all the ingredients ready.
  • Chop the onion and tomato. Size doesn't matter, because we are going to puree it later.
  • Peel the ginger and garlic. Roughly chop them.
  • Keep all the powdered spices handy. You can also add all the spices in a bowl.
  • Tie the whole spices in a cheese cloth.

Sautéing and cooking -

  • Turn on the instant pot and press sauté mode. Add the butter and let it melt.
  • Add the bay leaves and cumin. Sauté for 10to 15  seconds.
  • Now add onion, ginger and garlic. Sauté for three minutes.
  • Add the tomato, all the powdered spices, cashew,salt and half cup of water.
  • Give it a mix and place the cheese cloth with spices right in the middle. Make sure the cheese cloth is touching the other ingredient and the water. We want all the flavors of the whole spices to strep through. 
  • Close the lid and adjust the vent to the sealing position.
  • Cancel the sauté mode. Press the manual or pressure cooker mode and adjust the time to 8 minutes.
  • Once the time is up, let the pressure release naturally.
  • Open the lid, carefully discard the whole spices and bay leaves.
  • Puree the mixture using a immersion blender.
  • If using a regular mixer jar, let the mixture cool before grinding. 
  • After you puree the mixture, Taste the gravy and adjust the seasoning.
  • Add the cubed paneer pieces, sugar and cream.
  • Press the sauté mode and cook the curry for five minutes.
  • Turn off the instant pot. You can add some lemon juice ( optional) and garnish with cilantro.
  • Serve the paneer butter masala with warm nan, jeer rice, chapathi or pulav. 

Notes

If you dont have a cheese cloth, you can skip the whole spices. Just add little more garam masala.