Paneer Butter Masala: Where Keto Meets The Flavours of India
Paneer Butter Masala is one of the most popular paneer recipes of the Indian kitchen. What Lotte personally loves about Indian food, is that it is always full of different aromatic spices, and flavours. In addition, many of these recipes are partly already keto friendly, almost all curries for example. Unfortunately, these dishes mostly come either with rice or naan bread, and these ingredients are definitely not low-carb neither keto. Therefore, it was time to find a solution for this. Since Saahil is born and raised in India and well-known with traditional Indian recipes, it is always an exciting challenge to experiment with making Indian recipes keto proof!
Well, eat your heart out because this keto paneer curry is spicy, creamy, tangy, herby, and tastes even better served with a homemade keto garlic naan bread.
Are you wondering how to cook this recipe mindfully? Definitely check out the latest blog post of Josie!
The keto Paneer Butter Masala
Ingredients for 2 servings
225 grams paneer cheese, chopped in cubes
40 grams grass fed butter or ghee
200 grams chopped tomatoes in juice
1 red onion
1 garlic clove
200 grams unsweetened cream
1 tablespoon Garam Masala or Shahi Paneer Masala herbs
1 teaspoon of: chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, ginger, and cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh coriander to taste
Optional, but recommended: combine with the keto garlic naan bread (see below)
How to prepare this Indian paneer curry
First, cut the onion, and garlic in small parts.
Melt 20 grams butter in a pan in which you stir-fry the onion and garlic. Then, add the paneer cubes to it and stir-fry until the parts are golden brown at both sides.
Stir in all the spices, and mix everything together.
Pour over this mixture with the chopped tomatoes, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes.
Then, add the cream and bring the mixture back to a simmer, and let it cook on low-temperature for about 10 minutes.
Add the remaining amount of butter and some salt and pepper (and coriander) to taste.
While cooking the paneer, prepare the keto garlic naan bread.
Variations: if you’re not a vegetarian, you can replace the paneer with chicken. Vegan? Use ghee, replace the paneer with vegan cheese and the cream with almond cream. More a fan of rice than naan bread? Serve this paneer butter with cauliflower rice!
Keto naan bread
The following recipe for the keto naan bread with garlic, and coriander is the icing on the cake, when combined with this Indian paneer butter Masala recipe. Just craving naan bread for lunch or as a snack? Then you will love this recipe too!
Ingredients for the keto garlic naan bread (2 servings)
50 grams coconut flour
5 grams psyllium husk
40 millilitres coconut oil or ghee
1 teaspoon baking powder
200 millilitres boiled water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pressed garlic clove
1 teaspoon dried coriander, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Fresh coriander, and butter to serve the bread with
How to make the keto naan bread with garlic and coriander
In a bowl, mix the following dry ingredients together: coconut flour, psyllium husk, baking powder, salt, dried coriander, and garlic powder.
Melt the coconut oil, and add to the mixture, followed by the boiled water. Mix until the coconut flour begins to rise.
Leave the mix for 5 minutes, and check if the dough is firm but flexible. If the dough feels too watery, you can add some almond flour or psyllium husk until firm. On the other hand, if the dough is too dry or firm, then add some more boiled water.
Form balls with your hands, according to the preferred size, and flatten them on a cutting board or on the kitchen counter.
Fry both sides of the naan breads until both golden on low-temperature in a non-sticky (grill)pan. Add some coconut oil if the dough seems to get stuck to the pan.
Top it off with some coriander, and serve to taste with self-made garlic butter.
Variations: are you not planning to serve the naan bread with the paneer butter Masala, but rather to eat it as a lunch dish? In that case, you could add some shredded mozzarella into the dough and serve the keto naan bread with some stir-fried spinach. Also very yummy!