Paneer Kali Mirch is a creamy paneer curry that is flavoured with freshly cracked black pepper. The creamy gravy is a rich combination of cream, thick yogurt and cashew.

paneer kali mirch served in a copper serving bowl. - 1
  • Ingredients notes
  • Serving suggestion
  • Storage
  • Other paneer recipes

If you’re looking for a creamy paneer recipe with a unique flavour then this is the dish for you! Paneer kali mirch is made with a white yogurt cashew gravy and lots of black pepper. It is mild but packed with flavour.

Paneer curries are my go-to for special occasions, where it’s Shahi Paneer , Paneer Jalfrezi or Panch Phoran Paneer .

This version is super creamy and has a hint of sweetness. The warmth comes from the freshly cracked black pepper and spice powders.

Ingredients notes

Paneer – cut into cubes or triangles. Homemade or store bought.

For the gravy

Onion , green chilli, ginger and garlic – roughly chopped as they will be blended into a paste once cooked

Cashews raw and unsalted.

Spice powders – coriander powder, garam masala, red chilli powder.

Whole spices – cardamom, clove, cinnamon, cumin seeds and bay leaf.

Fresh cracked black pepper – fresh has better flavours but you can use black pepper powder too Yogurt – full fat works better as low fat is sour. Fresh cream or whole milk

Kasoori methi – dried fenugreek leaves.

Fresh mint and coriander leaves to garnish

Serving suggestion

Serve hot with hot round and soft gujarati rotlis or whole wheat paratha .

It would be delicious as part of your Diwali dinner menu .

Storage

Store in an airtight container and keep in the fridge, it should keep for 3-5 days. Reheat on the stove with a splash of milk if it thickens.

You can freeze this curry for 1 month. Allow to thaw at room temperature before reheating. Note that the flavour and texture is likely to change.

black pepper paneer curry garnished with freshly chopped coriander. - 2

Other paneer recipes

Paneer Tikka Biryani

Amritsari Paneer Bhurji

Niramish Paneer

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

Don’t forget to follow me on social media using the buttons below – I can’t wait to see you all there!

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
paneer kali mirch served in a copper serving bowl. - 3

Paneer Kali Mirch (Black Pepper Paneer)

Equipment

  • 1 pan
  • 1 Grinder

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Paneer approx 250 grams
  • 1 large Onion
  • 2 Green Chillies
  • 1 inch Ginger
  • 2 cloves Garlic
  • ⅛ cup Cashew nuts
  • 2 teaspoon Cumin coriander powder
  • ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala
  • 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon Black pepper powder
  • ¼ cup Yogurt
  • ¼ cup Cream or whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon Whole spices cardamom,cloves, cumin seeds
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 Cinnamon small piece
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • ½ teaspoon Kasoori methi dried fenugreek leaves
  • 3 tablespoon Oil
  • 2 tablespoon coriander leaves to garnish

Instructions

  • Roughly chop the onion.
  • Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onion, garlic, chilli, ginger and cashews until the onion is translucent.
  • Allow to cool then grind to a paste in a food processor.
  • Heat the same pan with a little oil and add cumin, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and cardamom.
  • Once cumin seeds turns slightly brown add ground onion cashew paste, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
  • Fry the paste until it changes it’s colour slightly pink. Keep stirring constatly to prevent burning or sticking.
  • Add freshly ground black pepper, red chilli powder, cumin and coriander powder and garam masala and mix well.
  • Keep heat low, add beaten yogurt and mix well until oil separates from the mixture.
  • Add 1/4 cup water, kasoori methi and paneer and cook for a further 5 minutes.
  • Mix well and add salt.
  • Add milk and cook further 6-8 minutes on a medium heat.
  • Garnish with mint and coriander.

Video

Notes

Nutrition

PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.

Note – This recipe has been updated from our recipe archives with new images and content, but the recipe remains the same. First published in August 2013.

paneer kali mirch served in a copper serving bowl. - 4

Paneer Kali Mirch (Black Pepper Paneer)

Equipment

  • 1 pan
  • 1 Grinder

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Paneer approx 250 grams
  • 1 large Onion
  • 2 Green Chillies
  • 1 inch Ginger
  • 2 cloves Garlic
  • ⅛ cup Cashew nuts
  • 2 teaspoon Cumin coriander powder
  • ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala
  • 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon Black pepper powder
  • ¼ cup Yogurt
  • ¼ cup Cream or whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon Whole spices cardamom,cloves, cumin seeds
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 Cinnamon small piece
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • ½ teaspoon Kasoori methi dried fenugreek leaves
  • 3 tablespoon Oil
  • 2 tablespoon coriander leaves to garnish

Instructions

  • Roughly chop the onion.
  • Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onion, garlic, chilli, ginger and cashews until the onion is translucent.
  • Allow to cool then grind to a paste in a food processor.
  • Heat the same pan with a little oil and add cumin, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and cardamom.
  • Once cumin seeds turns slightly brown add ground onion cashew paste, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
  • Fry the paste until it changes it’s colour slightly pink. Keep stirring constatly to prevent burning or sticking.
  • Add freshly ground black pepper, red chilli powder, cumin and coriander powder and garam masala and mix well.
  • Keep heat low, add beaten yogurt and mix well until oil separates from the mixture.
  • Add 1/4 cup water, kasoori methi and paneer and cook for a further 5 minutes.
  • Mix well and add salt.
  • Add milk and cook further 6-8 minutes on a medium heat.
  • Garnish with mint and coriander.

Video

Notes

Nutrition

PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.

This Black Chickpea Curry or Kala Chana nu Shaak is a Gujarati style curry. Black chickpeas are simmered in a sweet and tangy tomato tamarind gravy. Naturally vegan and gluten-free.

A bowl of kala chana nu shaak placed in a plate. - 5
  • Ingredients notes
  • Serving Suggestion
  • Storage
  • Other Gujarati shaak/kathol recipes

Kala chana curry can be prepared dry or with a gravy. This particular recipe is also known as Rasadar or Rasawala Kala Chana nu Shaak because of the gravy. The gravy is tomato-based and it’s a curry without onion and garlic .

Kala chana are often made on Fridays in Gujarati households and served with kadhi, rice and rotli.

To make the curry, you first need to soak then cook the dried chickpeas until they are tender. The next step is to prepare the tomato gravy, then add the cooked chickpeas and simmer until the gravy is thick.

Ingredients notes

Kala chana

Kala Chana (kala-black, chana- chickpea) are also known as Desi Chana in India. These Black chickpeas are smaller in size, have a rough outer layer and are regular in most Gujarati kitchens. I even use it to make black chickpea hummus .

You can either soak and cook dried black chickpeas or use tinned chickpeas. I personally prefer to cook my chickpeas from scratch as tinned chickpeas tend to be too hard for a curry.

You can crush a few spoons of chickpeas until they resemble a paste then add to the curry to thicken it.

Tomatoes – I use passata, you can use fresh crushed tomatoes or tomatoes from a tin that have been pureed.

Ginger and green chillies – fresh crushed ginger and green chillies

Curry leaves

Cumin seeds, cloves and cinnamon – whole spices are added to the tempering

Spice powders – red chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin coriander powder and garam masala

Tamarind – soak a small piece of tamarind in water, then use the tamarind water in this recipe. Alternatively, use a small amount of tamarind paste.

Jaggery – adds sweetness to the gravy to give that classic gujarati taste. You can alternatively use sugar.

kala chana served in a metal bowl. - 6

Serving Suggestion

Kala Chana nu Shaak is best served in a Gujarati thali alongside Gujarati kadhi , boiled basmati rice and Gujarati rotli .

I have also seen kala chana paired with sooji no siro and perfectly puffed up poori for Navratri Ashtami and Kanjak Puja.

Storage

Store leftover shaak in an airtight container and place in the fridge as soon as it reaches room temperature. It will keep in the fridge up to 5 days. Reheat on the stove or microwave.

Kala chana freezes well. Place in a freezer safe container and store for up to 3 months. Defrost in the microwave or allow to thaw at room temperature.

black chickpea curry served with chapatis on the side in a plate. - 7

Other Gujarati shaak/kathol recipes

Tuvar nu Shaak

Mag nu Shaak

Khatta Mag

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

Don’t forget to follow me on social media using the buttons below – I can’t wait to see you all there!

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
A bowl of kala chana nu shaak placed in a plate. - 8

Kala Chana nu Shaak (Black Chickpea Curry)

Equipment

  • 1 Pressure cooker Instant Pot

Ingredients

  • 250 gram black chickpea dried, unsoaked
  • 3 tablespoon oil
  • 100 gram tomato puree or passata
  • 1 tablespoon green chilli and ginger paste
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • pinch hing asafoetida
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 piece cinnamon
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • 2 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 3 teaspoon cumin coriander powder
  • 0.5 teaspoon garam masala
  • 2 tablespoon tamarind water or pulp
  • 2 tablespoon jaggery
  • coriander for garnishing
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  • Clean and thoroughly wash kala chana and soak at least 10-12 hours or overnight.
  • Discard the water, rinse once more and pressure cook chana until tender.
  • Take a few spoons of cooked chana and crush with little water in a blender. Set aside for later.
  • In a kadai, heat oil and add cumin seeds, cloves and cinnamon bark.
  • Once they sizzle, add hing curry leaves, chilli ginger paste and tomato puree.
  • Allow the tomato puree to cook until oil releases.
  • Add all the spice powders and mix well.
  • Now add the cooked kala chana with water and salt.
  • Add crushed chana paste, mix well.
  • Let the curry cook for 10-12 minutes or until the gravy thickens.
  • Add jaggery and tamarind water and cook for a few more minutes.
  • Garnish with fresh chopped coriander and serve hot.

Video

Notes

Nutrition

PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.

Note – This recipe has been updated from our recipe archives with new images and content, but the recipe remains the same. First published in April 2017.