Chanar Dalna is a delicious complex flavored curry made with fresh paneer (Indian cottage cheese) and potatoes. This is also a no onion no garlic recipe and also called Niramish Chanar Dalna, and is quite a delicacy.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Bengali

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons mustard oil
  • 1 potato (- large, peeled & chopped in small cubes or 175 grams)
  • 200 grams paneer (- chopped in cubes)
  • 2 inch cinnamon
  • 4 cloves
  • 2 green cardamoms
  • 2 teaspoons ginger (- roughly chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon green chili (- chopped)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ½ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1 tablespoon coriander powder
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons water (- for grinding)
  • 1 tej patta ((Indian bay leaf))
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 160 grams tomatoes (or ¾ cup finely chopped tomatoes)
  • salt (as required)
  • ⅓ cup green peas (- optional)
  • ¾ to 1 cup water (or add as required)
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar (or add as per taste)
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons ghee ((clarified butter))

Method

Preparation

  1. In a dry grinder or coffee grinder take the green cardamoms, cinnamon and cloves.
  2. Grind to a fine powder. You can also crush these spices in a mortar-pestle. Remove the masala and keep aside.
  3. In the same grinder add 2 teaspoons roughly chopped ginger and 1 teaspoon chopped green chilies.
  4. Also add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder, 1 teaspoon cumin powder and 1 tablespoon coriander powder.
  5. Add 3 to 4 teaspoons water and grind to a smooth, fine paste. Do not add too much water as then the paste will splutter, while sautéing it.

Frying paneer and potatoes

  1. On a low to medium flame, heat 3 tablespoons mustard oil in a kadai or pan and let it get hot.
  2. Reduce the heat and then add the chopped potato cubes.
  3. Stir and begin to pan fry the potatoes till you see golden spots on the edges and the potatoes are almost cooked.
  4. In the same pan add paneer cubes and pan fry them on medium heat.
  5. When one side is light golden, turn over each paneer and fry the second side. Fry till the paneer pieces are light golden. Do not fry paneer for too long as then they become hard.
  6. Remove the fried paneer and keep in lukewarm water. This helps the paneer to remain soft.

Making chanar dalna

  1. Now in the same pan, some oil will be left. Add tej patta and cumin seeds. Sauté until the cumin seeds crackle. If you want you can add 1 tablespoon more mustard oil to the pan.
  2. Now add the ground ginger+green chili+spice powders paste. Be careful as the paste can splutter.
  3. Mix very well and sauté this mixture on a low to medium heat. Sauté till you see oil releasing from the sides and the color of the masala has changed.
  4. Next add ¾ cup finely chopped tomatoes and mix well.
  5. Begin to sauté tomatoes on a medium-low to medium heat.
  6. In case the tomatoes mixture looks dry, then sprinkle some water and continue to sauté.
  7. Sauté till the tomatoes soften, become pulpy and you see a bit of oil releasing from the sides.
  8. Add the green peas. Also add salt as per taste. Mix and sauté for a minute.
  9. Next add ¾ to 1 cup water or add as required. The gravy is thick, so for more gravy you can add more water. Mix very well.
  10. Cover pan with lid and simmer on medium-low heat for 15 to 16 minutes or till the peas are cooked and tender.Note that frozen peas will take less time to cook as compared with fresh peas.
  11. Do check in between and if the curry looks dry then you can add some water.
  12. Simmer until the peas are softened.
  13. Next add the fried potatoes and mix very well.
  14. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon sugar or add as per taste.
  15. Cover pan and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. The potatoes will be cooked by now.
  16. Add the ground bengali garam masala. Mix well and turn off the heat.
  17. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons ghee and mix again.
  18. Now add the paneer cubes and mix again.
  19. Serve Chanar Dalna hot or warm with poori, luchi or roti.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.