rasse wali paneer bhurji | a curried paneer scramble that can be your dinner soup...

Paneer bhurji is a scramble cooked quickly using paneer and some onion, tomatoes and herbs. I have done Amritsari paneer bhurji from a cookbook and keep scrambling paneer all the time for convenience.

Basically a quick fix meal or a side dish or even a sandwich filling. Every home has it's own recipe of paneer bhurji with additives like bell peppers, spinach, green peas  or sometimes kasoori methi or fresh methi greens thrown in. I myself depend on such combinations many times when I have to stir up a simple and quick lunch box for the husband.

The dry version can be made using regular store bought paneer or homemade fresh paneer that just gets ready while you are chopping and stir frying your onion and tomatoes etc. It is the gravy version of paneer bhurji that requires a little different approach. The paneer in this case, is not sieved like home made paneer, but just collected from the whey and directly put into the cooking bhurji. The result is a perfectly creamy half curdled paneer into a rich and flavorful curry.

Read on, this is a pictorial step by step recipe so you would know how to go about it exactly the way I did...

ingredients...

full cream milk 1 Liter (to make paneer)
yogurt 1 heaped tbsp to curdle the milk

diced red onions 1 cup
sliced ripe tomatoes (preferably desi tomatoes) 2.5 cup
finely chopped garlic 1 tbsp
finely chopped ginger 1 tbsp
finely chopped green chilies to taste
kashmiri red chilly powder 1 tsp or to taste
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
coriander powder 1 tsp
black pepper powder 1/2 tsp
ghee 1.5 tbsp

procedure...

Heat the milk till it reaches just about to the boiling point, add the yogurt and stir. Take the pan off the flame and let it stand. The milk curdles partially and keep curdling till you prep up the other ingredients.

Now heat the ghee in a deep pan (kadhai) and tip in the chopped ginger, garlic, green chilies and red onions ...

Stir fry these till the onions get translucent, add the powder spices and salt to taste and mix well for about a minute. Then add the sliced tomatoes ..

Cook till the mixture looks like this...

Now sieve the curdled paneer and add to the cooking mixture, without waiting for the whey to drip, this way some of the whey is also added to the curry ..

The curry turns a little watery, mix well and simmer till it reaches the consistency you like...

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander greens...

Serve hot with chapati and some salad...We had this mooli ka acchar with this meal...

This rasse wali bhurji makes a truly soulful food, it can be served with plain parathas or like a hearty soup if you wish. I would love some garlic bread with this bhurji as well.

It makes a good curry for a large crowd too, in that case you would like to use freshly made regular paneer, crumbled nicely and added to the curry along with some fresh milk to make it soft while it cooks further.

Add some green peas if you have them fresh and nice. No frozen peas please.
You could add some kasoori methi as well if you love it that way.
It is the melt in the mouth type paneer that makes this recipe special  seasoning and other flavors can be adjusted to suit your taste.

home made paneer, the kind that can be cut into neat cubes...

Freshly made paneer is incomparable. Homemade makes it really the best available option. See how the paneer is porous and so soft that it can bend and take a new shape while it is still hot. I took this picture while the paneer was still hot. Just pick up a cube a eat it to believe how different and how much better it is from the store bought paneer.

You can make paneer within 20 minutes time if you need about 200 gm of paneer. This time is mostly the time required to bring one Liter of 3% milk to boil. After that it takes only about 2 minutes to curdle and then 2 more minutes to strain the whey and get the paneer. That is just about 5 minutes of your time when your hands will be engaged into real work. The time when the milk is brought to boil, can always be used to do other chores in the kitchen.

To make paneer, bring the milk to boil but watch the milk as soon as a thin layer of fat starts accumulating on top and starts making wrinkles and bubbles from the sides.The temperature should be around 90-95 C if you are using a milk thermometer. The curdling of milk at this temperature results in softer and more porous paneer as the milk solids coagulate slowly. The acid (lemon juice or vinegar) is also added slowly so the curdling is slow. Keep stirring the curdling milk so you can see the whey separating and know when it is ready to pass through the colander.

Things required...
1 liter of 3% milk
2 tbsp of white vinegar or Lime juice or 3 tbsp of sour yogurt diluted with a little water
a deep bowl shaped sieve or muslin lined colander

If the temperature is too hot or the acid (vinegar, lime juice or yogurt) is added too quickly, the milk solids coagulate quickly, leaving no pores and the paneer turns hard. So take care to let the paneer curdle slowly, taking about a minute's time and then pour the contents of the pan through a muslin lined colander. I use a steel sieve which can be fitted on another pan to drain the whey.

The contents of the pan are emptied into the sieve, the coagulated milk solids (paneer) is propped up in the middle, if it has spread all across the sieve or colander, and then it is tossed once and turned upside down so you get an almost smooth finish even when you are making a small quantity. For larger quantity you always get smooth finish as the weight of the paneer made, makes sure it gets smooth by the force of gravity.

The paneer can be transferred to a bowl if making a small quantity, to make sure it takes a shape that can be cut into nice cubes. It will keep releasing some whey and does not need to be hung to drip. Just take out form the bowl and cut it into pieces of desired size and shape.

Or mash and knead to make Rasgulle.

How about making some fresh palak paneer?

For that I would steam spinach while the milk boils, puree it nicely, add butter and salt n pepper to the green puree and then mix with paneer when it is ready and simmer for a couple of minutes. Quick and tasty meal is ready.

And do not waste the whey. It is a great source of proteins so use it to knead dough, make pancake batters or use it o make soups or drink it as it is. It is a great mild laxative that nourishes your gut as well. Making paneer at home has double benefits you see.

Have you been scared of making paneer at home? Did this post help you?
Please do write to me if it did.