Paneer bhurji (spiced scrambled paneer)
Crumbled paneer tossed with onion, peppers, tomato and warm spices until soft and fluffy, scooped up with warm tortillas for a 25-minute vegetarian dinner.
- 25 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $3.53 a serving
- 770 calories
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- ½ green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 serrano pepper, finely chopped
- 2 Roma tomatoes, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 8 oz paneer
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp milk
- 4 whole wheat tortillas
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
Each serving has about 770 calories, 35 g protein, 61 g carbs and 43 g fat, and costs about $3.53 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, bell pepper, serrano and tomatoes, the garlic and the ginger.
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.
the paneer with your fingers into small pieces, like scrambled eggs.
Crumble. Crumbling means breaking food into small, rough bits with your fingers or a spoon, like feta or ground meat in the pan. Small bits spread through the dish, so there’s some in every bite.
How you’ll know: The pieces are small and uneven, about pea-size, with no big clumps left.
Heat the oil in a large over medium heat. Add the cumin for 20 seconds, then the onion and bell pepper, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
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 heatTimer: 5 min
Add the garlic, ginger, serrano, turmeric, paprika and garam masala and stir for 30 seconds, .
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 heat
Add the tomatoes and salt and cook until soft and jammy, 3 to 4 minutes.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Stir in the paneer and milk and cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes, until hot and soft.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Paneer toughens if it cooks too long. It only needs to heat through.Warm the tortillas one at a time in a dry over medium heat, about 30 seconds a 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
Dolly’s tip: Warm tortillas stand in for roti here. Stack them in a clean towel to keep them soft.Stir the cilantro into the bhurji and serve with the warm tortillas for scooping.
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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