Instant Pot Paneer Lababdar – Easy Paneer Lababdar is a perfect dish to make when you have people over for dinner. You can pair it with roti, naan, or steamed rice. You can make this restaurant style paneer in the comforts of your home. It is very easy to make in an instant pot and a favorite among most people.
How do we make Instant Pot Paneer Lababdar – Easy Paneer Lababdar?
It is very easy to make and takes under 35 minutes. Firstly, we need to make a paste/puree with tomatoes, water, raw cashews (without skin), cinnamon stick, cloves, green cardamom, and whole dried chili peppers.
To make the paste:
Select sauté on the instant pot. Then throw all these listed ingredients in the pot and sauté them for about 3 to 4 minutes. Let the mixture cool. Once cool, transfer the mixture in a blender and puree it.
For the gravy:
Firstly, select sauté on the instant pot, and add 3 tablespoons of oil of choice or ghee. Further, add dried bay leaf (tej patta), red onion finely chopped, ginger garlic paste, serrano pepper (green chili), ground coriander, ground cumin, garam masala, cayenne pepper, water, salt, and sugar. Let it sauté. Furthermore, add the chopped paneer and mix gently. Then select manual for 2 minutes in order to pressure cook the gravy. Once done, quick release the pressure. Finally, add the grated paneer, garnish with dried fenugreek leaves, the freshly chopped cilantro, and the heavy whipping cream. That’s all. It is that simple!
Paneer: I use store bought paneer. I try to save time in my cooking. I make homemade paneer sometimes but I don’t mind store bought as well. For this recipe I have use store bought paneer. I used Haldiram brand of paneer. After, trying a variety of paneer types I have zeroed in on this one. It is super soft, moist and without preservatives. It is tender like the paneer you find in India. It can be found in the frozen section, in the deep freezer in Indian grocery stores. I typically thaw it by keeping it in the refrigerator overnight. You can also microwave it on high for 5 minutes if in a time bind.
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Instant Pot Paneer Lababdar – Easy Paneer Lababdar
Ingredients
For the Paste
- 2 medium tomatoes diced (1.5 cups diced)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup skinless raw cashews
- 1 cinnamon stick about 2 inches (dalchini)
- 4 whole cloves (laung)
- 1 whole green cardamom pods (elaichi)
- 3 whole dried red chili peppers
For the Gravy
- 3 tbsp oil of choice or ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 dried bay leaf (tej patta)
- 1/2 onion finely chopped (red) (roughly ¾ cup chopped)
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste (fresh or packaged)
- 1 serrano pepper green chili pepper slit lengthwise into 2 halves (green chili pepper)
- 1 tsp ground coriander (dhaniya powder)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin (jeera powder)
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder (ground cayenne pepper)
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 and 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 12 oz pack of paneer cubed into 1.5 inch pieces (2 cups chopped)
- 2 tbsp grated paneer (1 piece)
- 2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
- 3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp fresh cilantro finely chopped (for garnish) (dhainya ke patte)
Instructions
Prep
- Wash and finely chop the onions, and cilantro.
- Slice a one inch piece of the paneer and grate it.
- Dice all the remaining paneer into 1 inch cubes.
- Wash and slit the serrano pepper into two halves lengthwise.
- Wash and dice the tomatoes into small pieces.
Paste
- Select sauté on the instant pot and adjust to normal.
- Add the tomatoes, water, cashews, cinnamon stick, cloves, green cardamom, and whole dried chili peppers to the pot.
- Let the ingredients sauté until the mix get mushy for about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir.
- Press cancel.
- Let it cool for a few minutes. Transfer the paste in a blender and grind it to a fine paste.
Gravy
- Rinse the inner pot with water and dry it with a napkin.
- Select sauté on the instant pot and adjust to normal.
- Add ghee or oil to the pot.
- Add the dried bay leaf to the pot.
- When the ghee or oil is hot add the onions.
- When the onions turn golden in roughly 2 to 4 minutes add the ginger garlic paste and serrano pepper (green chili pepper). Stir and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Then add the blended paste to the pot. Stir
- Add ground coriander, cumin, garam masala, and cayenne pepper (red chili powder). Let the mixture sauté for one minute. Keep stirring occasionally.
- Then add water, salt, and sugar. Sauté for another minute. Keep stirring. Add the chopped paneer and stir gently.
- Make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot and scrape the bottom of the pot well.
- Press cancel.
- Secure the lid on the pot and close the pressure-release valve.
- Select manual and cook at high pressure for 2 minutes.
- When cooking is complete, use quick pressure release to depressurize.
- Open the lid.
- Add the dried fenugreek leaves, heavy whipping cream and the grated paneer. Stir and mix well.
- Cover with a lid and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Transfer in a serving bowl.
Serve
- Discard the bay leaf and garnish with cilantro.
- Serve with naan (Indian flat-bread), steamed rice, or roti.
Notes
- This recipe has been tried on a 6-quart instant pot. The proportions may vary depending on the size of the instant pot you choose to use.
- Most ingredients can be found in an Indian grocery store or on Amazon.
- Ground cayenne pepper and red chili powder can be used interchangeably as both of them make the dish spicy. So if you don’t have red chili powder you can use ground cayenne pepper instead.
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