DRY PANEER BHURJI / PANEER BHUJIA

Paneer is an integral part of Indian Vegetarian cuisines and PANEER BHURJI is the easiest way to cook it & great way to add protein to your diet especially if you are a vegetarian.

It is a popular and delicious North Indian breakfast recipe made from crumbled paneer. Bhurji means scrambled. So in this dish, the paneer or cottage cheese is scrambled and then sauteed along with onions-tomatoes and spices. It is a quick recipe and tastes great with rotis, phulkas, paratha, toast or as a side dish in a meal. It can be used as a stuffing to make dosa, sandwiches and wraps. Paneer bhurji is quite popular and served in most North Indian dhabas (road side eateries).

INGREDIENTS:

• 200 grams paneer (cottage cheese), crumbled
• 1 medium sized onion - finely chopped
• 2 medium sized tomatoes - finely chopped
• 1 or 2 green chillies - finely chopped
• 3 to 4 small garlic cloves + 1 inch ginger made to a paste in mortar-pestle or 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
• ¼ teaspoon hing (asafoetida)
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ¾ teaspoon pav bhaji masala (adjust as needed)
• ½ teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• salt as required
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped

PREPARATION:

1. Crumble the paneer (cottage cheese) and keep aside. Chop the onions, tomatoes and green chillies & crush the ginger garlic in a mortar pestle and keep aside.
2. Heat oil and ghee in a pan on a medium heat. Add the cumin and fennel seeds & saute for few seconds till they turn aromatic. Then add the hing and stir.
3. Add the chopped onions. When the onions become translucent, add ginger-garlic paste and chopped green chilies. Saute till the raw aroma of the ginger-garlic goes away. You can add a pinch of salt here so that onions cook faster.
4. Then add chopped tomatoes and cook till they become soft (not mushy).
5. Now add all the dry spice powders - turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder, pav bhaji masala powder and kasuri methi.
6. Add salt and mix and cook the spices for 1 minute or the raw smell of the masala goes away.
7. Then, add the crumbled paneer, mix everything together and cook for 1 to 2 minutes till the raw smell from paneer goes off.
8. Lastly add chopped coriander leaves, squeeze in some fresh lemon juice and mix.
9. Paneer bhurji is ready to be served hot with bread toast. You can also serve it with rotis, plain parathas or as a side dish.

NOTE:

• Use fresh homemade paneer for best results. If using store bought paneer, then soak the paneer in some hot water or hot milk for about 20 minutes and then crumble it for soft mouth melting bhurji.
• Don't cook the paneer for a long time else they will become rubbery and chewy.
• You can use garam masala in place of pav bhaji masala powder.
• You can add some veggies like carrots, peas, capsicum or greens like spinach (palak) or fresh fenugreek (methi) to make different versions of paneer bhurji.
• Tofu can be used as a substitute of paneer in this easy recipe.
• You can add scrambled eggs to make the paneer egg bhurji.

Have you tried this “Paneer Bhurji Recipe”? Please feed us with your comments below.