Paneer fry is a simple sautéed recipe made with paneer, onion, tomatoes and herbs-spices. The recipe comes together in 25 minutes and makes for a quick weeknight meal.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course, Side Dish
  • Cuisine: North Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1.25 cups thinly sliced onions
  • 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
  • 3 to 4 green chilies (- slit, use green chilies which are not very spicy or hot)
  • ½ cup diced tomatoes
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
  • ½ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
  • ½ teaspoon coriander powder
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • salt (as required)
  • 200 grams paneer (chopped in cubes)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves ((cilantro))

Method

Making masala fry

  1. Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a pan. Keep heat to medium-low and add thinly sliced onions.
  2. Mix the onions with the oil and begin to sauté them.
  3. Onions take a lot of time to sauté. So you can add a pinch of salt while cooking them.
  4. Stirring often sauté onions till they start to become light golden. Do not brown the onions.
  5. Now add 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste.
  6. Sauté till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
  7. Then add 3 to 4 slit green chilies. Tip – use green chilies which are not very spicy or hot.
  8. Mix well and sauté for a minute.
  9. Then add diced tomatoes. Mix again well and begin to sauté tomatoes. When sautéing tomatoes, if masala mixture starts sticking to pan, then sprinkle some water. Mix again and continue to sauté.
  10. Sauté till the tomatoes soften.
  11. Keep flame to its lowest. Now add turmeric powder, black pepper powder, kashmiri red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala powder.
  12. Mix very well. If the mixture starts sticking to pan, sprinkle some water.

Making paneer fry

  1. Season with salt as required. Mix again.
  2. Add 200 grams paneer, chopped in cubes.
  3. Mix the paneer with the masala.
  4. Switch off heat and add 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves. Mix again.
  5. Serve Paneer Fry with chapati, phulka, paratha, naan or bread.

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.