Paneer Bhurji Recipe (Punjabi Style)
In the realm of Hindi cuisine, the term 'Bhurji' signifies the delightful art of scrambling, giving rise to a dish that showcases the essence of scrambled paneer, also known as cottage cheese. The culmination of flavors entails a harmonious medley of savory notes, tanginess, and spices, where a fusion of onions, tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste, fiery green chillies, and an array of aromatic spices converge to complement the scrambled paneer. This rendition of Paneer Bhurji embodies the authentic Punjabi style, reminiscent of the preparation method cherished in my own household.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons oil or ghee, butter or white butter
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ cup onions – (finely chopped) or 1 medium sized
- 3 to 4 small garlic cloves + 1 inch ginger – peeled, made to a paste in mortar-pestle or 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1 or 2 green chillies – finely chopped or slit, or about ½ to 1 teaspoon, chopped
- 1 cup tomatoes (tightly packed, finely chopped) or 2 medium sized to large tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or ¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder (ground coriander)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
- 200 to 250 grams Paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
- salt as required
- 3 tablespoons coriander leaves – chopped, (cilantro)
Instructions
Preparation
- Crumble the paneer and set aside. You do not need to make a fine crumble. A coarse crumble with some chunks of paneer is fine.
- Finely chop the onions, tomatoes and green chillies. Keep aside.
- Crush the ginger and garlic to a paste in a mortar pestle and keep aside.
- Also remove the spice powders and keep aside.
Making Paneer Bhurji
- Heat oil or ghee or butter in a pan. Let the oil become hot on a medium-low or medium flame.
- Add cumin seeds. Let them crackle and change color. Once they get browned, add onions.
- Mix well and sauté the onions. When the onions become translucent, add ginger-garlic paste and chopped green chilies.
- Sauté for some seconds till the raw aroma of the ginger-garlic goes away.
- Then add tomatoes and sauté on medium-low heat till they become soft. You can add a pinch of salt so that the tomatoes get cooked faster.
- Now add all the dry spice powders – turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder.
- Mix the spice powders very well and sauté for 5 to 6 seconds on low to medium-low heat.
- Then, add the crumbled paneer. Mix throughly and cook for 1 minute on low heat.
- Don’t cook the paneer for a long time as they harden and loose their softness.
- Lastly add the chopped coriander leaves and mix.
- Serve Paneer Bhurji hot with bread toast. You can also serve it with roti, plain paratha or as a stuffing in burrito or wraps.
Nutrition
Calories: 353kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 10gFat: 31gSaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 44mgSodium: 564mgPotassium: 157mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 540IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 331mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!