Paneer bhurji
I love my MIL for a lot of reasons. One of those teeny tiny reasons is her openness in taking ideas from me for cooking (she is in general open as well to ideas). It might sound like a very silly thing to say but I know there a lot of women who might get offended at any sort of suggestions made to THEIR KITCHEN and THEIR FOOD. Thankfully, MIL isn’t one of those people. Anywho, I had once told her about this paneer bhurji (somehow, the name is stuck as Paneer Bhuj in my MIL’s mind and i’m unable to correct that :D) and made it for us all. She liked it and it became one of those regular side dishes done in our house hold now for rotis. Now comes the moment of self praise and confession – I have no shame to admit/ acknowledge when someone makes my idea/ my way of anything better (Food no exception here). So the confession here that I have to make is that MIL has totally elevated this dish by using much less ingredients than I did. She doesn’t add ginger garlic paste to it (I was & so now, less cleaning work). In case you are wondering if she probably just chops them and uses it – nay, this is a no garlic/ no ginger recipe. She had made paneer bhuj a few weeks back and I absolutely loved it (was wayyyy better than how I make it). Told her I would like to document it the way she had done it and voila, a few weeks later I tried out the way she does these days and it came out really really really well. Simple & absolutely delectable. I might say this for every dish involving paneer :D.
- 350 grams fresh paneer (crumbled)
- 2 nos onion (chopped finely)
- 2 nos tomato (de-seeded & chopped finely)
- 2 nos capsicum (chopped finely)
- 2 tsp cumin seeds/ jeera
- 3 nos green chillies
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 3/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- 2 tbsp refined oil
- 1 tsp kasuri methi/ dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves
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In a kadai/ pan, add some oil & let it get heated.
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Once heated, add the cumin seeds and when they start to splutter, add the chopped green chillies.
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Add the onions at this stage and saute till they start to brown. You can add turmeric at this stage.
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Add the capsicum & saute for a few minutes.
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Throw in the tomato & some salt and saute for a minute.
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Add the coriander powder and garam masala at this stage and saute for a few minutes till the raw smell wears off.
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Add the crumbled paneer and mix well. Check and adjust for salt.
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Before turning off the heat, add finely chopped coriander leaves & crushed dried fenugreek leaves and give it a quick mix.
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Serve the bhurji hot along with some rotis. Absolutely delectable this one!
Stepwise pictures
Heat a pan/ kadai with some oil. Add Jeera and let it splutter.
Throw in the chopped green chillies and saute for a few seconds.
Toss in the chopped onions and saute till it starts to brown.
Add turmeric at this stage else along with the dry masalas later.
Throw in the chopped capsicum and saute till starts to soften.
Throw in the chopped tomatoes (add some salt now) and saute for a minute.
Add the garam masala & coriander powder at this stage.
Saute till the raw smell goes.
Add the crumbled paneer and give it a quick mix.
Check and adjust for salt.
Add the chopped coriander leaves & crushed fenugreek leaves before turning off the heat.
Serve the BHUJ alongside some rotis :). Divine!!
