Paneer khurchan is an easy, quick and delicious North Indian semi dry curry made with paneer in a onion-tomato-capsicum base.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

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

Method

preparation

  1. Slice 250 grams of paneer into batons or strips about 1.5 to 2 inches.
  2. Chop all the veggies. Slice the onions thinly. Chop the tomatoes and cut the capsicum in small cubes.
  3. Slit the green chilies & julienne the 1 inch ginger. Reserve a few ginger julienne for garnish.

making paneer khurchan

  1. Heat oil in medium to large iron tawa. Don't use non stick pan. You can also use thick bottomed iron or steel kadai.
  2. Add the sliced onions and saute them till they turn translucent on medium-low heat stirring often.
  3. Then add the capsicum cubes and chopped tomatoes.
  4. Keep on sauteing and stirring them for about about 7 to 8 minutes on a low heat.
  5. The tomatoes need to get softened and the capsicum just about cooked.
  6. 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.
  7. Stir the spice powders very well with the sauteed onion tomato capsicum mixture.
  8. Add the slit green chilies and ginger julienne. Stir and mix.
  9. Then add the paneer strips.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Cook for a minute and then scrape the paneer strips from the base. Reduce the heat if everything starts to get brown quickly
  13. Turn over and let the other side get browned a bit.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. Stir and mix very well again.
  17. Add chopped coriander leaves and mix them. You can also garnish with coriander leaves instead of mixing them.
  18. 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.

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.