Indian recipe

Paneer Butter Masala & Chapati with Swiss Supermarket Ingredients

Also known as paneer makhani

Can you cook an authentic Indian meal with only Coop ingredients? Yes: creamy paneer butter masala and chapatis, with no blender.

Did you know? Paneer doesn’t melt. It’s made by curdling milk with acid instead of rennet, so it keeps its shape even in a bubbling curry. Read my story →
VegetarianVegCurrySwiss supermarketNo blender⏱ ~50 min▶ Subscribe on YouTube
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Tick items off as you go

Paneer butter masala

  • 1 packpaneer nature (plain), in the tofu aisle at Coop
  • a fewshallots (échalotes), diced as small as you can
  • a piece eachginger and garlic, crushed
  • 2tomatoes
  • 10 gbutter (plus about 10 g more if the shallots stick)
  • a sprinklecumin seeds
  • 1 tbspcashew purée (purée de noix de cajou)
  • to tasteturmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt
  • ½ cupwater
  • a sprinklegaram masala
  • 1 small packfull-fat cream
  • somecoriander leaves

Chapati (9–10)

  • 2 cupsflour (I used farine bise / Ruchmehl)
  • 1 cupwater (half the flour measure)
  • a pinchsalt
  • ½ tspolive oil
  • to spreadbutter
  1. 1
    Shop. Paneer hides in the tofu aisle; cashew purée replaces the blender; the spice shelf has turmeric (curcuma), chilli, coriander and even garam masala.
  2. 2
    Blanch the tomatoes. Cut a cross on top and boil briefly. Then dip in cold water and peel. Without a blender, the skins would curl up in the curry.
  3. 3
    Prep. Dice the shallots very small, crush ginger and garlic in a mortar, and cube the paneer (take it out of the fridge early so it's soft).
  4. 4
    Start the base. Medium heat, about 10 g butter. Let it melt slowly so it doesn't burn.
  5. 5
    Cumin, then ginger-garlic. Sizzle the cumin seeds until fragrant, then sauté the ginger-garlic briefly.
  6. 6
    Shallots. Take your time: soft and slightly golden. Add another 10 g of butter if they stick.
  7. 7
    Add 1 tbsp of cashew purée, the magic ingredient.
  8. 8
    Add the peeled tomatoes and crush them with a potato masher. Cook a few minutes.
  9. 9
    Spices. Sprinkle turmeric, chilli and coriander powder, then salt. Start small with chilli and adjust later.
  10. 10
    Add ½ cup of water, mix and cook a few minutes.
  11. 11
    Add the paneer and stir gently so the soft cubes don't break.
  12. 12
    Garam masala, then cream. Sprinkle garam masala, pour in the cream and stir gently. Taste and add more chilli if needed.
  13. 13
    Cover and simmer on low for a few minutes so the paneer soaks up the flavours.
  14. 14
    Chapati dough. 2 cups flour, 1 cup water, salt. Knead, add ½ tsp olive oil, and rest 10 minutes.
  15. 15
    Roll small balls into thin circles, dusting with flour.
  16. 16
    Cook on a medium-high pan until bubbles form, flip, press gently to help it puff, and spread butter on top.

Tips from the video

No blender needed. Cashew purée, peeled tomatoes and a potato masher do the job.
Use full-fat cream. This curry needs the richness.
Start low with chilli. Add more after tasting. Taking spice away is much harder.
Swiss chilli powder is mild. Even the 'most piquant' one barely registered. Adjust to taste.
Soft paneer cuts better. Take it out of the fridge in advance.
2 cups of flour = 9–10 chapatis. Flour to water is 2:1.

💡 Extra tips, not in the video Bonus tips

Paneer stays softer if you soak the cubes in warm salted water for 10 minutes before adding.
A pinch of sugar balances the tomatoes if they're very tart.
The story behind the dish

One Swiss supermarket, one Indian curry

Living in Switzerland, I hear this question all the time: "Ah, so you go to the Asian shop for your ingredients?" Not everyone has an Asian shop nearby, or is used to going to one for specialised ingredients. So why can't we make curries with what's in our local supermarket?

That's when I decided, for the first time actually, to shop for an Indian curry at my local supermarket. Switzerland has two main supermarkets, Coop and Migros, and you can only be loyal to one of them :) (There are Aldi and Lidl too, but they're less common.)

I'm loyal to Coop, even if it's a tad more expensive than Migros, because I think it has more organic ingredients. So I made the trip to find everything for paneer butter masala, and the result is what you see in the video. Check it out :)

Curry++ · 7 November 2026

💡
From the hacks library · added 6 Nov

Make your own chai masala

Toast whole spices for 5 minutes, blend to a powder, and add a pinch whenever you make tea. It's homemade masala chai in seconds. From Masala Chai →

Browse all hacks →

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