Paneer or Indian cottage cheese is one of the most popular cooking ingredients in northern part of India. It is made by curdling fresh milk. Taste of any good paneer recipe is directly proportional to the freshness of paneer. There are a variety of frozen paneer cubes/slabs available at the super markets. To make paneer at home, please refer to my post on homemade paneer.

As kids, eating paneer was a luxury. We used to get to eat paneer sabji whenever milk curdled at home or if it was a festival or celebration. When I moved to Bangalore, I was pleasantly surprised to see fresh paneer being sold at the supermarket nearby. Namdharis and Karthik’s sweet shop are probably the best places in Indiranagar to buy fresh paneer.

Now in Singapore, I was even more surprised to find variety of frozen paneer from its homeland Punjab. Mustafa centre stocks a variety of paneer (slab, pieces, & fried). I just lapped up some frozen paneer from Mustafa and tried this quick recipe and it did taste just like it used to taste with fresh paneer in Bangalore.

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh paneer crumbled
• 2 tbsp oil (you can use butter if you like a calorie rich version)
• ½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• 2 inch piece of ginger grated
• 2 green chillies finely chopped
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1/2 capsicum finely chopped
• 1/2 tomato finely chopped
• 1 ½ tsp red chilli powder
• ¼ cup milk
• ½ tsp of garam masala
• 1 tbsp of fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
• Salt to taste

Recipe

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan.

Add jeera and let it crackle. Add ginger and green chillies. Once the chillies are slightly browned, add onions and let them brown a little.

Add capsicum and sauté for about 1 minute; add tomatoes and let them cook till oil separates and tomatoes are mashed when you mix them. Add salt and red chilli powder and cook for a minute.

Now add the crumbled paneer and milk. Milk helps the paneer absorb the spices and makes the bhurji soft. If you find the bhurji dry, you can add couple of more tablespoons of milk. Mix everything and cook for 3-4 minutes. Finally add the garam masala and finely chopped coriander just before switching off the gas.

You can serve paneer bhurji with hot naan, rotis, parathas, or add it as a filling to sandwiches, wraps, or dosa.