Chilli Paneer Dry
This chilli paneer dry celebrates some of the finest Indian spices. It takes just 30 minutes to make this simple, flavourful delicacy from scratch!
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 200 grams paneer cut to small pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon ajwain seeds carom seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 3 cloves
- 1 teaspoon kashmiri chili powder
- 2 medium onions finely chopped
- 1 green chilli chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
- oil
- salt
- 1 inch butter
- Cilantro (Coriander leaves) to garnish
Instructions
- Melt some butter in a pan.
- On a medium flame, fry the ajwain, black peppercorns, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and cloves.
- Add some oil, wait for it to be hot and add the finely chopped onions.
- Stir well, and let it cook till the onions turn translucent.
- Add chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt, and green chillies.
- Mix well, and cook till the onions turn almost crispy. Switch off and let it cool.
- Once the fried mixture has cooled down, transfer it to a mixer jar.
- Blitz to a fine paste adding 1/4 cup water.
- Heat some butter in a pan, and fry the paneer pieces on a medium flame.
- Shake the pan to toss the paneer pieces around a get a good coating of butter.
- Fry the paneer pieces for a minute, Empty the contents of the blender to the pan, add 1/2 cup water, and mix well.
- Bring to boil, simmer for a couple of minutes and switch off.
- Garnish with some coriander leaves. Serve hot (that's a must) with some fresh Indian bread (naan, roti, chapati, or paratha).
Notes
I sliced the paneer to small, 1cm cubes. That makes it easier to get a good, uniform coating of the masala If you find butter too rich, replace it with a vegetable oil of your choice. It'll still taste great! Even though we call them ajwain "seeds", technically they are fruits and not seeds. That's for the trivia!