If you love Indian food, chances are you’re already familiar with the cuisine of North Indian Recipes. We love the creamy curries, butter chicken, saag paneer, kofta, and chicken tikka masala that are staples of many Indian restaurants. And in this Indian recipe collection, we feature them all, plus feature a few more North India-inspired recipes that you might not know yet, but which will soon become favorites as well.
Vegetable Biryani
Garlic Naan
Dal Makhani
Indian Chicken Tikka Masala
Palak Paneer Recipe
Vegetable Biryani
Tehri was originally concocted by kings in northern India as a vegetarian equivalent to the Mughals’ mutton or chicken biryani. This modern-day version has deliciously soft sweet vegetables and flavorful long-grain rice. Serve with chilled yogurt and spicy curry on the side.
Ingredients
- 2 cups long-grain white rice
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 bay leaves, broken in half
- 2 potatoes, quartered
- 2 carrots, quartered
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon chile powder, or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 cup shelled peas
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon butter
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
Directions
Place rice in large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let soak for 20 minutes. Drain.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker over medium heat. Add onion, cumin seeds, and bay leaves; cook and stir until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in potatoes and carrots; cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in turmeric, chile powder, and coriander; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Stir rice gently into the pressure cooker until evenly coated with oil. Pour in water and peas. Stir in salt, butter, and garam masala. Seal cooker and bring to high pressure according to manufacturer’s instructions. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Release pressure naturally according to manufacturer’s instructions. Fluff rice with a fork.
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Garlic Naan
This homemade garlic naan recipe is cooked in a hot cast iron skillet rather than a tandoor oven, like restaurant naan. When cooked at the proper temperature, naan develops blistered bubbles with a lovely golden-black char. Reward yourself for a job well done by sopping the bread in copious amounts of curry.
Ingredients
- ½ cup warm water, or more as needed
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups bread flour, or more as needed
- ¼ cup plain yogurt
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro (Optional)
Directions
Combine water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Let stand until yeast softens and forms a creamy foam, about 15 minutes.
Heat butter in a pan over medium heat until melted and sizzling. Quickly mix in garlic and remove from the heat.
Add bread flour, yogurt, salt, and 1 tablespoon garlic butter to yeast mixture; stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Knead by hand until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, adding more water or flour as needed. Turn dough out onto the counter and continue kneading until it forms a smooth ball, 3 to 4 minutes.
Place dough into a large bowl and drizzle a few spoons garlic butter over top. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
Punch dough down and turn out onto the counter. Shape into a rough rectangle and cut into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and lightly dust with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and proof until slightly puffy, 15 to 20 minutes.
Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat until very hot, 5 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, roll each piece proofed dough into a 1/8-inch-thick oval. Sprinkle some cilantro on top and press lightly to adhere.
Working in batches, cook naan in the hot skillet until large bubbles form, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip, press gently, and continue to cook until bubbles on the bottom are charred, 2 to 3 minutes more.
Brush naan with more garlic butter before serving.
Dal Makhani
Ever go to an Indian restaurant and wonder how they make those lentils? I hated lentils before I discovered Indian food. Then I scoured the internet to figure out how they achieved them, and through mixing and matching recipes and methods on videos, I’ve arrived at this recipe, which I think is pretty close. This version is very rich, but you can leave out the cream to make it lighter. Kasuri methi (fenugreek leaves) is almost impossible to find in the U.S., even in NYC, but it gives this dish something very special.
Ingredients
- 1 cup lentils
- ¼ cup dry kidney beans (Optional)
- water to cover
- 5 cups water
- salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 4 cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick, broken
- 4 bay leaves
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 ½ tablespoons ginger paste
- 1 ½ tablespoons garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
- 1 cup canned tomato puree, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves (Optional)
- ½ cup cream (Optional)
Directions
Place lentils and kidney beans in a large bowl; cover with plenty of water. Soak for at least 2 hours or overnight. Drain.
Cook lentils, kidney beans, 5 cups water, and salt in a pot over medium heat until tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Remove from heat and set aside. Keep the lentils, kidney beans, and any excess cooking water in the pot.
Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook cumin seeds in the hot oil until they begin to pop, 1 to 2 minutes. Add cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and cloves; cook until bay leaves turn brown, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low; add ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Stir to coat.
Stir tomato puree into spice mixture; cook over medium heat until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add chili powder, coriander, and butter; cook and stir until butter is melted.
Stir lentils, kidney beans and any leftover cooking water into tomato mixture; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low. Stir fenugreek into lentil mixture. Cover saucepan and simmer until heated through, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Add cream and cook until heated through, 2 to 4 minutes.
Indian Chicken Tikka Masala
This Indian chicken tikka masala is an easy but flavorful version of everyone’s favorite mild-medium curry! Serve with naan bread and mango chutney. Garnish with additional cilantro leaves.
Ingredients
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 (1 inch) piece ginger, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons masala curry paste
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Combine tomatoes, yogurt, garlic, and ginger in a blender and process until smooth.
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and fry until soft, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in curry paste and fry until fragrant, 1 minute more, stirring once or twice. Add the tomato mixture and chicken to the pan and mix together. Season with salt and pepper. Remove pan from heat.
Mix water and flour together in a bowl. Stir into the chicken mixture in the frying pan. Return pan to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until thickened, about 15 minutes more. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve immediately.
Palak Paneer Recipe
Palak Paneer Recipe | Spinach Paneer Curry Restaurant Style with detailed photo and video recipe. A healthy green-colored paneer recipe prepared mainly from the thick paste of spinach puree. Basically, the easy palak paneer recipe hails from the popular north Indian cuisine or Punjabi cuisine and is typically served with tandoor roti & naan. There are many ways to prepare it, but this is a restaurant-style spinach cottage cheese curry.
Palak Paneer Recipe | Spinach Paneer Curry Restaurant Style with step-by-step photo and video recipe. There are myriad paneer curries or paneer recipes originating from the famous Punjabi cuisine or North Indian Cuisine. Each of them maintains a subtle difference and variation in its taste, texture, and consistency, yet carries the same color and texture. However, there are other types of curry with dark color and creamy texture, with Palak Paneer being one such recipe.
I have always been a huge fan of paneer recipes especially the North Indian paneer curries for roti or chapati. But I have a special attachment to the palak paneer recipe and hence it is the most frequently prepared paneer recipe in my house. Perhaps it could be the colour and texture compared to the other curries which are either red or orange in colour. The creamy dark green color with soft and tender fried paneer cubes makes this dish lip-smacking gravy-based curry. Generally, this curry is mainly served with roti or naan, but I even enjoy it with rice and poori‘s too. Particularly, jeera rice and palak gravy are my personal favorites. I ensure to make this combo each time I end up preparing this palak curry. I would heavily endorse trying this combination and share your feedback in the comment section.
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Paneer Recipe
Furthermore, I would like to mention a few tips, suggestions, and variations for the palak paneer recipe restaurant style. Firstly, I have used homemade paneer in this recipe, which I have fried before adding it to the curry. Also, if you prefer soft and moist paneer, ensure to soak the paneer in hot water before frying it. Secondly, I have prepared the gravy sauce with tomatoes and onions & other dry spices. As a matter of fact, I got this tip from a chef to add tomatoes for sourness, but if you do not prefer you can skip it. Lastly, for the vegan version of palak paneer, use soya-based tofu cubes as an alternative to paneer cubes. Also, for vegan you may have to skip the cream as well. Alternatively, you can make cashew cream or almond cream and add it to the final gravy.
Finally, I request you to check my other Top Paneer Curries Recipes Collection with this post of Palak Paneer Recipe. It includes recipes like kadai paneer, matar paneer, chilli paneer, paneer butter masala, khoya paneer, paneer jalfrezi, paneer kolhapuri and paneer kofta curry.
