Paneer Khurchan
Paneer khurchan emerges as a swift, uncomplicated, and delightful North Indian semi-dry dish crafted from paneer within a foundation of onion, tomato, and capsicum.
Ingredients
- 250 grams Paneer (cottage cheese)
- 90 to 100 grams onions or about 2 medium onions or ½ cup heaped sliced onions
- 150 grams tomato or 1 large tomato or 2/3 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1 large green capsicum (bell pepper) or 100 grams capsicum or ½ cup chopped capsicum
- 1 inch ginger – julienne
- 1 or 2 green chilies – slit
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
- ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala or add as required
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper, add as required
- ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder (ground coriander)
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder (ground cumin)
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves) – crushed
- 1 tablespoon low fat cream (optional)
- 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves for garnish
- 1.5 to 2 tablespoon oil
- salt as required
Instructions
Preparation
- Slice 250 grams of paneer into batons or strips about 1.5 to 2 inches.
- Chop all the veggies. Slice the onions thinly. Chop the tomatoes and cut the capsicum in small cubes.
- Slit the green chilies & julienne the 1 inch ginger. Reserve a few ginger julienne for garnish.
Making Paneer Khurchan
- Heat oil in medium to large iron tawa. Don't use non stick pan. You can also use thick bottomed iron or steel kadai.
- Add the sliced onions and saute them till they turn translucent on medium-low heat stirring often.
- Then add the capsicum cubes and chopped tomatoes.
- Keep on sauteing and stirring them for about about 7 to 8 minutes on a low heat.
- The tomatoes need to get softened and the capsicum just about cooked.
- Then add the spice powders – turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, a generous pinch of asafoetida and salt as required.
- Stir the spice powders very well with the sauteed onion tomato capsicum mixture.
- Add the slit green chilies and ginger julienne. Stir and mix.
- Then add the paneer strips.
- Stir and mix very well. Increase the heat to high. Note that the paneer will leave moisture once you mix them with the rest of the masala base.
- With a spatula, align and place each paneer strip touching the tawa, so that they are cooked evenly as well as get bit golden from the base.
- Cook for a minute and then scrape the paneer strips from the base. Reduce the heat if everything starts to get brown quickly
- Turn over and let the other side get browned a bit.
- Again scrape and stir. Keep on scraping if you see the paneer or onion-tomato bits getting stuck on the tawa. A note is not to cook too much as then the paneer would harden and become chewy. The scraping as well as flipping has to be done quickly.
- Switch off the heat. Lastly add 1 tablespoon low fat cream or light cream and crushed kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves). The cream is optional and if you don't have just skip it.
- Stir and mix very well again.
- Add chopped coriander leaves and mix them. You can also garnish with coriander leaves instead of mixing them.
- Serve paneer khurchan hot or warm sprinkled with some lime juice and the reserved ginger julienne, along with some chapatis, tandoori rotis or naan or plain paratha.
Nutrition
Calories: 347kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 12gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 58mgSodium: 855mgPotassium: 220mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gCalcium: 412mgIron: 0.6mg
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