I
am now on a paneer or cottage cheese trip. My last post was Paneer Bengali Style and this time it is Paneer Bhurji. It is something which I
just rustled up one day, it tasted good and now I make it quite often.
Actually
paneer bhurji entered my life quite accidentally. I had often seen this
dish in the menus of restaurants but had never eaten it. I am a little
vary of eating Indian food in restaurants mainly because I cannot digest
spicy food, besides that, off late I have noticed there is an
increasing tendency to use khoya (thickened milk) and cream in most
Indian dishes and khoya when used in food invariably plays
havoc with my digestion. Thankfully it does not affect me when used in
sweets. It so happened that one day I was ordering some food at a food
court of a mall in Bombay. This particular outlet - Bombay Blue - has a
chain of restaurants all over Bombay as well as outlets in all the major
malls in the city. While ordering the food I noticed paneer bhurji at
their counter. It did not look spicy and I was a little tempted to order
it. I gave in to my temptation and I was not disappointed. I
am not too sure how they make it, but after tasting it this is how I make it.
am not too sure how they make it, but after tasting it this is how I make it.
Since
I never buy paneer and always make it at home, I use the whey instead
of water. However, those of you who buy ready-made paneer may use water.
Although I have given the measurements I would suggest that you use your
judgement, for this is one dish where your taste should determine the
quantity of the ingredients.
I
used two types of paneer that is paneer made from low fat milk and
paneer made from full cream milk. I had a reason for doing this; the low
fat paneer easily crumbles when you mash it, it forms a
sort of paste as you cook, while it is easy to get tiny pieces when you
mash the full cream paneer. I did not use a knife to make the pieces as
in the case of my previous recipe. What I did was I used a sort of
spatula to mash the paneer while cooking and it automatically broke into
small pieces. I therefore had this lovely mixture of tiny pieces of
paneer as well as paneer paste.
This
is one dish where I feel you can freely use your judgement when it
comes to the spices. I have, however not made it too spicy.
Ingredients:
- Approximately 300grams Paneer (cottage cheese)
- One medium size onion
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seed
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- Kashmiri red chilli powder or any other red chilli powder to taste
- 2 ½ to 3 level teaspoons of coriander and cumin mix powder
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon ginger paste.
- One or two small cloves of garlic ground to a paste.( If the clove of garlic is a thick or large one then just use one clove, it is better to use little garlic or else the flavour of garlic will overpower the dish. However if you do not mind that flavour you can just go ahead and add more garlic.)
- Salt and sugar to taste
- Whey or water.
Method:
- Chop the onion lengthwise into slivers. I used just one onion for I did not want too much of the onion flavour.
- Heat some oil in a vessel of your choice. I used little oil but again this is a matter of personal taste.
- Add the cumin seeds. Once the seeds begin to splutter add the chopped onion.
- Fry the onion till they are slightly brown.
- Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander and cumin mix powder, ginger paste and garlic paste. You may add the salt at this stage or you can add it later. I prefer to add it at this stage.
- Fry well. When you find the oil separating from the spices add the cottage cheese( paneer)
- You can mash the paneer with your hand before adding it to the fried masala (spices) or you can mash it with a spoon after adding it to the masala.
- Stir well for a while and then add a little whey or water. If you make the paneer at home you can use the whey or else water will do as well. Do not add too much of whey or water just enough to help blend all the ingredients.
- Cover and cook for a while. Now add a bit of sugar to balance the flavours.
Serve hot ; it goes very well with phulka rotis, puris, parathas and for that matter even bread.
Click here to see how to make paneer at home.
Click here to see how to make paneer at home.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmyum yum lip smacking recipe.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it.
DeleteMmm, your recipe sounds very similar to the way I make it, though I don't add ginger paste or dhania-zeera powder: I just use zeera seeds, chopped onion, tomato, a little haldi and red chilli powder, and (just before serving) chopped green dhania.
ReplyDeleteWell that should taste good too, okay I think next time I will try it your way.It's easier too.
DeleteYes, it's very easy. I'm a real lazy bum, so I'm always on the lookout for simple recipes that don't involve much grinding, and which are quickly made.
ReplyDeleteThat make's two of us.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletevery yummy and perfect ... looking awesome looks so inviting n tempting too..
resturent menu order
Thank you very much.
Delete