Paneer Bhurji Recipe | Simple and Quick Paneer Recipes

Learn how to make Paneer Bhurji ~ Indian style scrambled Indian cottage cheese flavoured with spices

I should be finishing last minute packing, cleaning and cooking like right now, but here I am sitting and typing this post! I am not really sure why I am doing this amidst all that last minute packing and all that madness that comes with a day before flying! Well, that’s me I guess, wrapping myself in a comfort of words and memories when life gets little crazy and I want to drift back to cozy cocoon to calm my nerves or too much of excitement.

The summer holidays have begun for LD and it feels anything but summery in our neck of woods with pretty bad weather with cloudy skies, non-stop drizzles and even flash floods ruining the holiday mood. It’s no fun if one must spend indoors during summer, so we booked our tickets and travelling thousands of miles to be in a country which is bathed in heavy Monsoon rains! Halleluiah… Two sets of grandparents, half a dozen cousins, aunts and uncles should keep us busy and the fact that we are going to over indulge in Monsoon food specialities are making me too excited! This is going to be a mother and son holiday, at least for first 2 and half weeks until LD’s dad joins us and travelling with over excited, chatty, can’t-sit-still-for-more-than-five-minutes kid for most part of the day is going to be a piece of cake (not)!

So again, I am wondering what am I doing in middle of running around the house like headless chicken, cooking boxes after boxes of food to feed hubby while I am away, ironing small mountain load of cloths, cleaning the house, feeding the houseplants and anything and everything that goes on the day before travelling, and I still can’t get my head around the need to sit and type this recipe! So, let me just stop talking, and share this Paneer Bhurji recipe that is super simple and super easy to put together.

Paneer Bhurji is a very simple and easy to make spiced Indian cottage cheese scramble. Bhurji, literally translates to scramble and Paneer Bhurji is a vegetarian take on very popular Anda Bhurji or Indian scrambled eggs. As with anything Indian, the Indian styled Bhurji is anything but plain, yellow, mild, homogenised scrambled eggs you find on breakfast tables around the world, but is riotous mix of colours, spice and flavours that's laden with butter and character. While the vegetables like onions, tomatoes, green chilli and fresh coriander leaves add colours, an array of spices add character to the otherwise plain paneer. The vegetarian Bhurji made with Paneer is one of those dishes that is loved by people in every age group and has found its way to not only to breakfast with a piece of nicely toasted slices local bread smeared with butter, but also as a side dish for lunch and dinner with some fresh roti or chapatti and sometimes as an in-between snack.

I had a large container of full fat organic milk that was about to expire and decided to quickly make a fresh paneer with it. It tastes best when made using fresh homemade paneer as it tends to me soft and almost melt in mouth. The recipe uses just a handful of ingredients in cooking and the spice combinations used can vary from region to region and home to home. It takes very little time to cook and the end result is subtly spiced, sublime, soft, melt in mouth paneer dish that goes so well with a piece of toast or with roti/chapatti. The leftover Paneer Bhurji will be used as a flavoursome filling for veggie rolls or wraps for the 6+ hours journey tomorrow to London with some thinly sliced onions, tomatoes and avocado and drizzled with some spicy mint-coriander chutney. It is way better than the cold sandwiches or any other takeaway food we get on a service stations and also quite filling and much better tasting than the sorry looking and tasting food one gets under vegetarian choices!

I will be taking a month-long summer break with loved ones and will be back with more delicious recipes and stories in September. I will be active on my Facebook page @Monsoon Spice and Instagram account @SiaKrishna and will be sharing the photos (mostly food) and little stories there. So, if you want to know what I am up to, then that’s the best place to find me. Until then, wishing you all a wonderful summer filled with sunshine, love, joy and delicious food! Take care, my friends…

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Paneer Bhurji (Indian style spicy scrambled cottage cheese)
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 10-12 mins
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner
Spice Level: Low to Medium
Serves: 4-5 people
Shelf Life: Best served fresh but can be refrigerated for 2-3 days
Serving Suggestion: With roti, chapatti or naan or with toast or filling for wraps or sandwich (read notes)

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Ingredients:
About 250 gms or 2½-3 cups Paneer, crumbled
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
2 medium Tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1-2 Green Chillies, finely chopped (Optional, adjust as per taste)
1 tbsp Butter or Oil
1 tbsp Fresh Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Spices Used:
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Haldi/Turmeric Powder
½-1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Powder
1 heaped tsp Dhania/Coriander Powder
¼ tsp Garam Masala (Optional)

Method:
Preparation:

1. Crumble the paneer with fingers and keep it aside until needed.
2. Peel and finely chop the onions. Wash and finely chop tomatoes, green chilli and coriander leaves and keep them aside.

Proceed to cook:

1. Heat oil or butter in a pan. When butter is melted or oil is heated, add cumin seeds.
2. When cumin seeds sizzles and changes colour, add finely chopped onion and green chilli. Fry the onions until it turns translucent, about 1 minutes, on medium flame.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw smell disappears, about 1-2 minutes.
4. Mix in turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin powder, and coriander powder and give it a quick stir.
5. Add finely chopped tomatoes and salt to taste. Sauté for a minute until the tomatoes soften.
6. Finally, add the crumbled paneer and garam masala, if using, and mix them well. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low. Let it cook covered for 3-4 minutes. The steam created in the pan will moisten the paneer and absorb all the flavours of the spices. 
7. If you find the paneer too dry, add 2-4 tbsp of milk towards the end of cooking. The milk will soften the paneer by adding moisture. 
8. Turn off the flame and mix in finely chopped coriander leaves. Cover and let it rest for 4-5 minutes.
9. Serve this simple and delicious Paneer Bhurji with some lime/lemon wedge as a side dish for roti or with toast. It makes an absolutely delicious filling for sandwiches and warps with some thinly sliced onions and tomatoes. Enjoy!

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Sia’s Notes:

• It’s best to use homemade fresh paneer for this dish. The store bought one may not give the same result as the homemade ones. 
• If you find the paneer too dry, add about 2-4 tbsp of milk towards the end of cooking. The milk will soften the paneer by adding moisture. 
• Serve Paneer Bhurji with roti or chapatti as a side dish or with some toasts. It also makes a wonderful filling for sandwich or wraps.