15 best rated dishes made with Paneer from across India by top global culinary agency

Paneer, a rich source of protein and calcium is not just celebrated for nutrition, but also for taste and texture. The soft velvety texture of well-made paneer can enhance any culinary experience and that's why every cuisine celebrates it one or the other form as a snack, main dish or as a dessert. From the classic North Indian Paneer Makhani to Sandesh of Bengal, paneer has created its niche in every cuisine. Taste Atlas recently celebrated the versatility of this dairy product through a list of 24 Best Rated Dishes with Paneer. For the unversed, 100 grams of paneer offers around 208-480 mg of calcium and 11-13 grams of protein per 100 grams. So, if you are a vegetarian and looking for must-try paneer dishes, here's a list of top 15 best rated dishes made with paneer, as recommended by Taste Atlas.

It originated from India's Mughal cuisine and consists of paneer cheese, onions, cashews, and a rich, spicy tomato-cream sauce. As per the website, it is often referred to as the Royal paneer, traditionally, it is prepared during special occasions and festivities as a vegetarian main course.

It is a traditional North Indian dish consisting of fried potato and paneer balls in a creamy sauce. A typical dish of Mughal cuisine, developed in Medieval India by the cooks of the Mughal Empire, it is essentially a vegetarian substitute for a meatball curry, malai meaning cream, and kofta meaning dumplings, the website reads. It is best served with naan bread and rice.

It is a famous dish made with paneer, and greens like mustard, fenugreek, spinach, bathua, or collard greens, mashed and incorporated with tomatoes and a rich spice blend. It is best enjoyed with rice or naan.

It is a traditional flatbread and is made with a combination of flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and yogurt. It also uses paneer, coriander, masala spices, and cumin for stuffing in its preparation. although plain naan is baked in a tandoor, this stuffed version is typically baked in a tava pan until the dough puffs up and becomes golden brown. Once done, paneer naan is brushed with melted butter or ghee, and it’s then served while still hot.

It is a curry dish that is popular in England and the Indian regions of Goa and Konkan. It is typically made with marinated pork, but it can also be made with chicken, mutton, or paneer. As per the website, many Indian spices like tamarind, cinnamon, cardamom, and hot chiles were added to the dish, after Portuguese explorers brought the dish to Goa in the 15th century, when it was adjusted to local conditions.

It is a traditional curry of Punjab and is made with paneer cheese and a gravy consisting of ghee, tomatoes, cashews, cream, green chili peppers, garam masala spices, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, garlic, red chili powder, sugar, salt, turmeric, and fenugreek leaves.

This is a semi-dry curry made by frying marinated pieces of meat, paneer, or vegetables in various spices (turmeric, coriander, cumin) and oil in order to produce a thick gravy. Apart from the standard onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers, the dish typically includes green chili peppers.

It is a snack or appetizer dish, where marinated paneer and vegetables are cooked in a tandoor and then served with a topping of lemon juice and chaat masala and onion rings on the side. The marination made for this dish uses curd, turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, and pepper.

It is a traditional dish that's cooked in a unique wok called kadai and uses key ingredients like paneer, onion, bell peppers, red chili peppers, cardamom, cinnamon, fennel, cloves, and coriander seeds. Other ingredients in the dish include onions, ginger, and tomatoes for the thick gravy. It is traditionally served in these miniature kadhai to give it the authentic feel and rustic texture.

This is native to Punjab and is now enjoyed across India. It is made with paneer, dunked in a thick sauce consisting of puréed spinach mixed with tomatoes, garam masala, garlic, and numerous spices. It is best enjoyed with roti, naan, or rice.

This is a vegetarian main course dish, made with peas and paneer cheese in a garam masala-spiced tomato sauce. The rich, thick curry is a specialty of Punjab, but it is widely enjoyed throughout India. Traditionally, the dish is served either for lunch or dinner, accompanied by rice and Indian flatbreads such as naan, kulcha, roti, or paratha, the website content states.

It is an Indo-Chinese dish, best served as an appetizer. The dish consists of paneer cheese that's cut into cubes, fried, and mixed with a sweet, sour, and spicy sauce. There are three versions of the dish – dry, semi-dry, and restaurant-style (in gravy), the website reads. Paneer cubes are battered in a combination of corn flour, ginger paste, garlic paste, red chili powder, salt, and black pepper, then fried. The gravy is usually made with a combination of ginger, garlic, chili peppers, spring onions, soy sauce, red chili powder, and sugar.

It is a traditional leavened flatbread, stuffed paneer cheese. The dough for the kulcha is made with flour, dahi, ghee, sugar, salt, water, baking soda and powder. Paneer kulcha is often prepared during winter, and it's traditionally cooked in a tandoor oven and is served with chole, raita, yogurt, or chutneys on the side.

It is a traditional Bengali sweet and is made with milk, chhena or paneer, sugar, and flavorings such as cardamom and saffron. The small paneer balls are typically garnished with pistachios, almonds, or crushed pineapple.

It is a popular Indian street food consisting of flatbreads filled with meat, vegetables, or both. This version of a kathi roll features paneer or Indian cottage cheese. The cheese is cut into cubes and it's then usually marinated in a combination of garam masala, dahi, ginger-garlic powder, red chili powder, and salt.