Cherry & Dennis Helper Habitat
Indian Paneer Bhurji
印度香料炒芝士粒
Recipe overview
Crumble fresh paneer and briefly cook it with tomato, green pepper and spices, keeping the curds soft and loose. This home-style vegetarian dish needs no long simmer.
01
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 400 g Fresh paneer
- 200 g Tomatoes
- 100 g Onion
- 100 g Green bell pepper
- 8 g Garlic
- 8 g Ginger
- 10 g Coriander leaves
Cooking oil
- 15 ml Neutral oil
Curry seasoning
- 2 g Cumin seeds
- 0.5 g Ground turmeric
- 2 g Ground coriander
- 1 g Garam masala
- 2 g Salt
- 30 ml Water
02
Tools
- Non-stick frying pan
- Board and knife
- Bowl and spatula
03
Steps
Step 1
Check paneer
Use refrigerated fresh paneer within its use-by date; drain packing liquid without pre-frying.
Step 2
Crumble cheese
With clean hands, crumble paneer into 5–10 mm pieces, leaving a few larger curds for texture.
Step 3
Dice vegetables
Wash vegetables; dice onion to 3 mm and tomatoes and deseeded pepper to 5 mm.
Step 4
Chop aromatics
Finely mince ginger and garlic, chop coriander leaves and measure powdered spices.
Step 5
Bloom cumin
Heat oil over medium heat for 30 seconds, then stir cumin seeds 30 seconds until fragrant and lightly sizzling.
Step 6
Fry onion
Cook onion 2 minutes until translucent, then ginger and garlic for 30 seconds.
Step 7
Cook pepper
Add pepper and stir for 1 minute over medium heat without scorching the base.
Step 8
Soften tomatoes
Add tomato, salt, turmeric and ground coriander; cook 3 minutes, pressing tomatoes with a spatula.
Step 9
Add paneer
Add 30 ml water to loosen the base, add paneer and fold gently over low heat without mashing.
Step 10
Warm through
Cook gently for about 2 minutes until paneer is hot throughout but still soft and crumbly; do not dry it out.
Step 11
Finish spices
Sprinkle garam masala and coriander leaves, fold gently and turn off heat.
Step 12
Serve promptly
Divide into 4 portions; curds should be moist without a pool of liquid. Serve hot for the softest texture.
Common mistakes
- Long frying toughens paneer; add near the end just to heat.
- Mashing removes the crumbly texture; fold gently.
- Blackened cumin tastes bitter; add onion once fragrant.
- Adding paneer before tomatoes soften gives watery curds; reduce the base first.
Tips
Choose soft fresh paneer rather than dry pre-fried cheese cubes. For children or older diners, cut pepper even finer and soften it well. No extra cream or sugar is necessary. Remove the pepper's white membranes before dicing finely so the small pieces soften easily.
