Paneer Jalfrezi
Paneer Jalfrezi is an easy and quick spicy stir fry dish made with lots of vegetables and Paneer with a thick yummy sauce to coat the vegetables and paneer. A delicious way to eat lots of vegetables !!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2- inch ginger piece cut into very thin juliennes
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 red chillies broken into 1-inch pieces
- 1 green chilli slit
- 1 heaped cup of small diced onion pieces 1 medium-size onion
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup diced tomato pieces ripe
- 1 heaped tablespoon tomato ketchup
- Half medium-size green bell pepper cut into thin long strips
- Half medium-size red bell pepper cut into thin long strips
- Half medium-size orange bell pepper cut into thin long strips
- 1 firm tomato deseeded and cut into thin long strips
- Half small onion cut into cubes as shown in the pictures
- 1 lb Paneer block
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro for garnish
Ground Spices
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
Instructions
Preparation for Jalfrezi Paneer
- If you are using store-bought paneer, as a first step, slice the paneer into thin long strips and soak them in hot water for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can also add a little salt to this water if you want paneer to soak up more flavor. Paneer will be soft and ready to use by the time you finish other preparations and cooking.
- Peel a 2-inch ginger piece with a spoon and cut it into very thin juliennes.
- Chop up half to ¾th of a very big onion into really small pieces. and the rest of the onion into cubes.
- Chop up 1 big ripe or one and a half medium-size ripe tomatoes into small pieces.
- Slit the green chili and break the red chillies into pieces.
- Now cut the bell peppers into thin long strips and another tomato into thin long strips after deseeding.
How to Make Paneer Jalfrezi recipe
- Heat oil in a stir fry pan and add the ginger juliennes. Fry them until they start turning to a golden brown color and then remove them onto a plate and set them aside for garnish at the end.
- Now to the same oil, add cumin seeds, red chillies, and turmeric powder. cook them until cumin seeds sizzle.
- Then add small diced onions, slit green chili, and a little salt with them to help onions cook faster. Saute them until onions start turning to golden brown color.
- Next add ginger garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, and black pepper powder. Mix well and cook for a minute making sure spices do not burn.
- Now add chopped-up small tomato pieces and a little salt with them. Mix well and cook until the tomatoes are completely soft and oil is separating from the onion and tomato mixture.
- Add tomato ketchup and mix well.
- Now add the long strips of bell peppers, long strips of tomatoes, and cubed onion pieces and mix well. Add enough salt to the vegetables. Cook covered while stirring in between until the vegetables are cooked well but still have a crunch to them. Do not overcook them. Check the seasonings and add any required seasonings.
- Now add the strips of paneer and mix gently making sure you don't break the paneer or vegetable pieces. Cook covered for 2 or 3 minutes until the paneer absorbs all the flavors and is properly heated through.
- Now garnish with the fried ginger juliennes and cilantro and serve with any flatbread like roti, chapati, paratha, or naan.
Notes
- Do not overcook the vegetables. We are looking for well cooked but still slightly crunchy vegetables.
- Do not cook for a long time after adding paneer. Just until Paneer is well stirred in and heated enough to absorb all the flavours.
- This recipe of paneer jalfrezi has a medium-high spice level. So adjust the spice levels as per your taste.
- To reduce, reduce the amount of Kashmiri chilli powder, skip green chilli, and black pepper. Also, reduce red chillies if you want.
- To increase the spice level, increase the number of green chillies, Coriander powder and Kashmiri chilli powder.