Kadai paneer
Charred peppers, onion and paneer in a thick, bold tomato masala spiked with coriander and chile, a restaurant classic you can make in one skillet, with warm naan.
- 40 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $4.45 a serving
- 730 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 14 oz paneer, 1 block
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow onion, half cut into squares, half finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 4 naan
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup water
Each serving has about 730 calories, 32 g protein, 62 g carbs and 40 g fat, and costs about $4.45 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No green bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Cut the paneer into ¾-inch and the peppers and half the onion into 1-inch squares. the other half of the onion, the garlic, the ginger and chop the tomatoes.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large over medium-high heat.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heat
Stir-fry the pepper and onion squares until at the edges but still , 3 to 4 minutes.
Char. Charring means cooking over very high heat until some spots turn black. Those dark spots add a smoky, slightly bitter flavor that balances sweet or rich food.
How you’ll know: You see black spots and blisters in places, while most of the surface keeps its own color.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Tip them onto a plate.
Add the rest of the oil, turn the heat to medium and cook the onion until , about 5 minutes.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Stir in the garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, garam masala, turmeric and pepper flakes for 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Add the tomatoes, salt and water. Cook, mashing the tomatoes with your spoon, until thick and the oil starts to pool at the edges, 6 to 8 minutes.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: When little beads of oil appear around the edge, the masala is cooked.Stir in the paneer and the peppers and onion and cook 3 minutes, until the paneer is hot. Stir in the cream.
Char. Charring means cooking over very high heat until some spots turn black. Those dark spots add a smoky, slightly bitter flavor that balances sweet or rich food.
How you’ll know: You see black spots and blisters in places, while most of the surface keeps its own color.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Warm the naan one at a time in a dry over medium heat, about 1 minute per side.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heat
Scatter the cilantro over the kadai paneer and serve with the warm naan.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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