Paneer Jalfrezi

Paneer Jalfrezi- Paneer Jalfrezi is a simple Indian vegetarian side dish cooked with paneer, vegetables and some exotic Indian spices.

As the large number of population is pure vegetarian in India, the consumption of milk and dairy products are given more importance in daily meals. For vegetarians, paneer is a very good source of protein and calcium. It is the most common type of cheese that is used in traditional Indian cuisines. You can find paneer in main dishes, side dishes as well as desserts and snacks. It’s a versatile vegetarian option that cooks very quickly and absorbs the flavours really well. Moreover paneer in any form is loved by almost everyone.

Paneer Jalfrezi is very popular dish in UK. It’s a tangy, mildly spicy and a semi dry side dish which is cooked with paneer and vegetables. It is full of fantastic flavours of exotic Indian spices. Paneer Jalfrezi is one of the recipes which are perfect for a mid-week exotic meal craving. It doesn’t need any fancy ingredient or long standing hours in the kitchen. For the preparation you just have to slice the veggies, make quick fresh ginger garlic chilli paste and some fresh tomato puree.

Since I am not a fan of mild or blend curry so I do a little spicy trick with my paneer jalfrezi recipe. I add a very little amount of kadhai paneer masala and green chillies into it. This trick takes this dish to another level. But if you want the original mild version of the dish then you can skip the addition of kadhai paneer masala.

This semi dry side-dish has little bit of sauce just to coat the paneer and vegetable pieces. It goes very well with poori, paratha or roti. Accompany with any type of raita by the side and enjoy! For my taste buds, Paneer Jalfrezi is the best side dish to serve with dal makhani or chhole paired with the Indian breads (poori, lachchha paratha, tawa roti) and raita by the side which completes the whole menu.

This quick paneer dish comes really handy when you need to serve a restaurant style dish to those last minute guests. You can just whip up everything in less than 30 minutes. If you are a vegan, then you can just replace the paneer pieces with firm tofu and follow the rest of the steps as it is.

This paneer recipe is one of my favourite paneer recipes! Let’s talk about how we make this really simple and really delicious paneer side dish which is soon-to-be your favorite also… trust me!

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Happy Cooking!

Course: Side dish

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

250gm. paneer, cut lengthways into long pieces

1 large onion, thinly sliced lengthways

2 big cloves of garlic, 1inch ginger piece, 1 green chilli (for fresh ginger garlic & chilli paste)

1 green capsicum deseeded and sliced

1 red bell pepper, deseeded and sliced

1 large solid tomato, deseeded and gently cut into stripes

½ cup fresh tomato puree

2-3 slit green chillies

1 tablespoon ghee or oil

1 tablespoon tomato ketchup (Optional, but recommended)

¼ teaspoon sugar (Optional, but recommended)

1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander leaves

½ tablespoon lemon, juice extracted

Salt as per taste

Ginger juliennes for garnishing (dipped into lemon juice) - Optional

Spices:

1 teaspoon jeera/cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon haldi/turmeric powder

1½ heaped teaspoon coriander Powder

½ teaspoon cumin/jeera powder

½ or 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder (Adjust as per taste)

½ teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon kasoori methi/dried fenugreek leaves, lightly crushed between palm

½ tablespoon any Kadhai paneer masala (totally optional if you like mild curry)

Preparation:

Step 1- Wash all the vegetables and slice them lengthwise.

Step 2- Cut the tomato in half, remove all the seeds and pulp with a spoon (don’t discard the pulp, will use it in making tomato puree). Now slice the tomato lengthwise.

Step 3- Roughly chop two medium sized tomatoes, put them in the blender and add the removed pulp from step 2 and make puree of it.

Step 4- Peel and cut garlic cloves, one green chilli and ginger into small pieces and put into mortar & pastel with 2 pinch salt and make a fine paste of it.

Step 5- Cut some ginger juliennes, put them in a small bowl and pour over some lemon juice, mix and keep aside. (This step is optional if you don't want to garnish with ginger juliennes then skip this step).

Method of Making Paneer Jalfrezi-

Step 1- Heat ghee or oil in a kadhai or pan and add cumin seeds. When cumin starts to crackle and turn deep brown, add sliced onions and sauté till when the onions are just starting to softened but not browned, they should still have a little crunch.

Step 2- Next, add ginger-garlic paste and sliced green chillies and sauté for 2 minutes on medium flame until the raw smell of garlic disappears.

Step 3- Now add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, jeera powder and crushed kasoori methi, Kadhai paneer masala and give it a good mix.

Step 4- Add tomato puree, tomato ketchup, sugar and salt to taste and cook it for 4-5 minutes on medium-high flame, stirring in between. (Sugar balances the sharp taste of tomato.)

Step 5- Toss in the bell peppers and cook for a minute or two. Don’t cover the kadhai to cook them otherwise they will lose their crunch.

Step 6- Now add paneer pieces and tomato slices and gently stir them so that every piece of the paneer is nicely coated with the masala paste. Cover with a lid and cook them for last two more minutes. (Be gentle while mixing everything otherwise you will end up breaking paneer pieces.)

Step 7- Turn off the gas and add garam masala, finely chopped coriander leaves, lime juice and mix everything very well.

Step 8- Cover it and let it rest for 5 minutes for the flavours to blend in well.

Step 9- Serve it with 3-4 lemony ginger juliennes per person.

Serve this delicious Paneer Jalfrezi as a side dish or main dish with any Indian flat bread-roti, paratha, poori or naan and enjoy!

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