Here is an easy to make and tasty recipe of paneer that you can make for dinner when you are in a mood to have something special but don't want to put in a lot of effort. This lip-smacking curry dish made from paneer and capsicum makes great combination with steamed rice and hot phulkas( or tandoori rotis). Learn how to make this dish with the help of step by step photos and detailed recipe given below:
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Recipe Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- Paneer - 200 gms (fresh paneer)
- Red, Green and Yellow Capsicum (lal, hari aur peela shimla mirch) -
- Onion (pyaz) - 2 medium size; finely chopped
- Tomato (tamatar) - 1 finely chopped
- Ginger (adrak) - 1 inch piece finely chopped
- Garlic Petals (lehsun ki kali) - 4 finely chopped
- Green Chilli (hari mirch) - 4 finely chopped
- Turmeric Powder (haldi powder) - 1 tea spoon
- Coriander Powder (dhaniya powder) - 1 tea spoon
- Red Chilli Powder (lal mirch powder) - 1/2 tea spoon
- Cumin Seeds Powder (jeera powder) - 1/2 tea spoon
- Black Pepper Powder (kali mirch powder) - 1/2 tea spoon
- Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tea spoon
- Salt as per taste (namak swaad anusar)
- Mustard Oil (sarson ka tel) - as per requirement
Procedure:
- Cut the paneer into big cubes of equal sizes and keep them in a plate.
- Now cut the capsicum (lal, peeli aur hari shimla mirch) into square pieces (the size of the capsicum should be same as the size of the paneer cubes).
- Now heat some mustard oil (sarson ka tel) in kadhai and then add the paneer cubes to it. Fry the paneer cubes till they turn light red in color. Keep the fried paneer cubes in a plate to be used later.
- Now add the chopped green chilli (hari mirch), garlis petals (lehsun ki kali) and ginger (adrak) to the same kadhai and saute the ingrdients till they turn light red in color.
- Then add the finely chopped onions to the kadhai and saute them too till the onion turns red. (do not over saute the onion, otherwise they may turn black in color and will not taste good)
- Now take all the powdered spices (haldi powder, lal mirch powder, dhaniya powder, kali mirch powder, jeera powder) and salt as per taste (namak swaad anusar) in a small bowl. Add a little water to it to make solution of the spices. Then add this solution to the kadhai. Stir to mix with the sauteed onions and cook all the ingredients together.
- After 1-2 minutes add the chopped tomato to it. Stir to mix and cook them over high flame with the spices. The salt and spices will help to cook the tomato easily. Then mash the tenderly cooked tomato pieces with the back side of the ladle to form a paste like texture.
- Then add 1/2 tea spoon garam masala powder. Mix it well with the gravy masala.
- Now add the capsicum pieces (lal, hari, peeli shimla mirch) and lower the flame. Mix and cook for 2 minutes.
- Then add the paneer cubes and stir and cook.
- Lastly add 1 cup water to the kadhai and allow the ingredients to cook for 2-3 minutes over low flame. (do not cover the kadhai with a lid while cooking)
- After 2-3 minutes when the gravy will become thick in consistency, then turn off the flame. (Since the capsicum gets cooked quickly and you do not need to over cook the fried paneer cubes, this paneer capsicum dish can be prepared in very less time) The Paneer Capsicum is now ready to be served.
(Tips: 1. Since the capsicum gets cooked quickly, you should not over cook the capsicum.; 2. The gravy of this curry should be of medium thick consistency)