Scrambled Indian cottage cheese cooked in spicy onion tomato soup is a big on comfort, timeless, addictive yet relishing another “go-to” dinner (and lunch) recipe that tastes amazing with roti or paratha or with toast. Paneer is a highly versatile choice for proteins, especially in a vegetarian diet. Paneer Bhurji can be eaten as a snack or it can be flavoured to an individual's taste or paired with other types of meals. It is something you can add to the meal plan and everybody in the family will love it.
Basic information
Most Indians vegetarians love to have at least one paneer curry (or fried) recipe in their menu as it suits almost all food groups and is perfect for all occasions.
In India, no party or get together is complete without a paneer dish; it is, in fact, the vegetarian chicken! Indian paneer cheese is made by curdling milk using food-derived acid from lemon, sour curd, vinegar, or citric acid.
The name is derived from Persian 'panir' and its origin has been attributed to Iranian, Afghan, Portuguese invaders and settlers. It is mildly flavoured and can absorb all the flavours that are added to it.
It is non-fermented, non-melting farmers’ cheese and an integral part of Indian cuisine where one can find the names Paneer do pyaza, mattar paneer, paneer makhani and kadhai paneer on most Indo – Pakistani restaurant menus. Most of these dishes are cooked with chopped onion, crushed green chillies, ginger and garlic and stir.
With a biological value of protein being 80-86%, it contains all the nine essential amino acids. It is low in carbs and is a healthy food choice for diabetics that make it perfect for controlling post-meal sugar surges.
Roadside eateries (the restaurants close to highways) are called Dhaba in India and it serves food tossed with a lot of spices, ghee and butter. Such restaurants make use of local ingredients, sometimes, locally grown whole coriander (or powdered), onion, tomatoes, green chillies, coriander, ginger etc., for cooking paneer. They make Paneer Bhurji with scrambled paneer, mixed up with a host of aromatic spices, local veggies, whole red chillies and a lot of butter and the dish is served with hot tandoori chapati (roti) and salad.
At home, paneer bhurji can be made with the right amount of onion, tomatoes and other spices, and it can be paired with slices of bread, or roti or paratha.
You can pair the scrambled paneer cheese dish with steaming hot chapatis. To enjoy a wholesome tiffin (or thali) experience, you can have paneer bhurji with jeera rice (or pilau, or biriyani), dal, curd, papad and pickles.