Paneer Bhurjee

Paneer is 'Indian Cottage Cheese'. Preparing paneer is quite simple. All you need to do is curdle milk by using lemon or vinegar. Pour the contents on a fine muslin cloth and seperate the curds from the water (whey). Once you have ensured that the excess water has been drained, place a heavy weight over the cloth for around 3 to 4 hours. The paneer will be set (turn firm) and you will be able to cut it into pieces. These pieces can be used for making sabzi's etc.

Some facts about paneer (taken from wikipedia)...

A part of Mughlai cuisine, Paneer is the only type of cheese traditionally used in Indian cuisine. The ruling aristocracy in the second millennium AD was of Turkic, (Central Asian) and Persian origin and it was they who introduced paneer in India. (Seriously guys, I was unaware of this!)

Few days back, we ordered 'Paneer Bhurjee' from a local restaurant. It was awful. Bhurjee is supposed to be a very spicy mixture but this was totally bland, tasteless...

So the other day I set off to search & make the best paneer bhurjee (with an intent to send a sample to the restaurant owner :-) I came across this wonderful recipe at Bawarchi. It contained ingredients like cashews, capsicum etc which I have never tasted in this dish before.

The result was as you can see below...

Here's the recipe (taken from Saroj's cookbook at Bawarchi website)

Paneer - 250 gms (crumbled like bread crumbs)

Onions - 2 (chopped finely)

Garlic - 1/2 tsp (crushed)

Ginger - 1/2 tsp (grated)

Green Chillies - 2 (slit lengthwise)

Tomato - 1 (chopped finely)

Cashews - 5

Capsicum - 1 (slit into long thin strips)

Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Butter - 1/2 tbsp

Milk - 3 tbsp

Heat ghee in a heavy saucepan. Fry the cashews, to a golden brown. Drain, keep aside.Fry green chillies. Drain, keep aside.Fry the capsicum till tender. Drain, keep aside.Now add ginger, garlic to the ghee and fry for 2-3 seconds.Add onions and fry till pink.Add tomatoes and fry further till mushy.Add all the masala and milk and cook for 3-4 minutes.Add butter, lemon juice, sugar and paneer. Mix well. Take in a serving dish.Garnish with fried cashews, chillies and capsicums.Serve hot with naans, parathas, etc.

I did not have capsicums so didnt use it. Nevertheless the dish tasted quite yummy.