Paneer Bhurji

A simple dry dish made with crumbled paneer

• CuisineIndian
• CategoryVegetarian
• CourseMains

Ingredients

• 500 gmsPaneer
• 1 tspCumin seeds
• 2Onions, coarsely diced
• 1Green capsicum, coarsely diced
• 1Tomato, diced
• 2 tbspGinger, grated
• 2 tbspGarlic, grated
• 2Green chillies, chopped
• ½ tspTurmeric
• 1 tspCoriander powder
• ½ tspChilli powder
• 1 tspKasoori methi
• ½ tspAjwain (carom seeds)
• 4 tbspTomato puree
•  Oil
•  Salt

Preparation

1. Heat oil and add cumin seeds and fry
2. Add onion, capsicum and chillies
3. Once the onions are soft, add ginger and garlic and stir
4. Add diced tomato and fry till soft
5. Add tomato puree and all dry spices
6. Simmer till it is cooked
7. Crumble paneer into it and stir. Add salt to taste.

This dish happened because of one of those things. I had a few litres of milk in the fridge getting close to the expiry date - who am I kidding - past the expiry date. This was a blessing in disguise. I could turn it into homemade paneer. And paneer bhurji is the right dish where you crumble the paneer rather than nice clean cubes. So how do you make paneer at home?

Heat about 3 litres of milk till it starts boiling. Set to simmer and add 2 tbsp of lemon juice. The milk should begin to split. If it doesn't, keep it at boiling point till it does. Use a muslin cloth to filter out the whey. Wrap the cloth tightly around the curds. You can hang it to drain or place a weight on it. Or you can stick in the drying air inside the fridge overnight like I did. This makes around 500 gms of paneer.