Amritsari Paneer Bhurji is a delicious North Indian dish made with crumbled paneer (Indian cottage cheese) cooked with spices and herbs. It's an absolutely melting in the mouth paneer dish that you can make even on a busy day.
Amritsari cuisine is renowned for its robust flavors and hearty ingredients. The term "bhurji" refers to the process of scrambling, which is central to this dish. The dish cooks very fast with very minimal prep work or cooking time. And it pairs amazing with Naan
Ingredients for Amritsari Paneer Bhurji
Good quality paneer - You want the texture of the Amritsari paneer to be creamy and smooth, so either make fresh paneer at home or use a good quality store bought paneer.
Butter and oil - A lot of Indian food calls for ghee, but this dish calls for butter and a little amount of oil. If you don't want to use butter, you can use ghee too.
Gram Flour (Besan) - Besan is one of the ingredient that make this Amritsari paneer bhurji recipe different from the other paneer bhurji I had shared earlier.
Onion - Preferably red onion, but you can use white or yellow too. Don't blend the onion, just finely chop so it cooks evenly and looks uniform with the crumbled paneer.
Tomato - I use just one tomato and I don't like to make it heavy on the tomato. It adds a mild sweetness to the dish.
Garlic and Ginger - You need some finely chopped ginger and garlic. Also, a little amount of thinly sliced fresh ginger.
Spices and herbs - Apart from the regular, cumin and coriander powder, chili powder and turmeric powder, you need dried fenugreek leaves. I like to add dried fenugreek leaves in the beginning of the cooking and also at the end for its robust flavor.
Heavy cream - You need a small amount of heavy cream to add at the end for the creamy, rich taste of the paneer bhurji.
Steps to prepare Amritsari Paneer Bhurji
1- Start by prepping all the ingredients. Chop the onion and tomato. Finely chop garlic, ginger and green chili. And thinly slice ginger.
2- In a heavy bottom pan, melt butter with little oil in medium heat.
3- Add chickpea flour and stir it around to cook the flour for a while.
4- Scatter the chopped onion and cook until it softens.
5- Add the chopped tomato along with all the ground spices and cook the spices for 2 minutes.
6- Crush the dry fenugreek leaves and add it to the pan. Then pour little water and let all the spices cook for few minutes.
7- Crumble paneer and add to the pan.
8- Stir it around to mix every thing.
9- Pour hot water to let it simmer for few minutes. Taste for salt and add more if needed. At this stage, if you feel it's not spicy enough, add some chopped green chili too.
10- Add chopped cilantro leaves, sliced ginger and a little bit of heavy cream. Serve Amritsari Paneer Bhurji warm with your choice of bread.
FAQs
Yes, you can use store-bought paneer for making Amritsari Paneer. However, homemade paneer tends to be softer and fresher, so if possible, you may prefer to make it at home for the best results.
Amritsari Paneer is typically served hot with roti, naan, or paratha. It can also be enjoyed as a filling for sandwiches or wraps.
Yes, Amritsari Paneer is gluten-free, as it does not contain any wheat or gluten-containing ingredients. However, always double-check the ingredients of any pre-packaged spices or condiments you use to ensure they are gluten-free.
Few other Paneer Dishes you can try
Cookware used:
Amritsari Paneer Bhurji
Ingredients
- 1 Medium red onion
- 4 Garlic cloves
- 1 Inch Fresh ginger
- 2 Green Chili
- 1 Tomato
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 1 Tbsp Oil
- 1 Tbsp Chickpea flour
- 1 tablespoon Dried Fenugreek leaves
- 14 Oz Fresh paneer (You can use store bought too, just make sure the paneer is soft and of the best quality. )
- 3 tablespoon Heavy cream
- ¼ cup Finely chopped cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion and tomato. Grate or finely chop the garlic, green chili and ¼th of the ginger. Thinly slice the rest of the ginger.
- In a heavy bottom pan, add butter and oil. Let it melt and then add the chickpea flour. Cook the chickpea flour for a couple of minutes.
- Next, scatter the chopped onion, season with salt and cook the onion until it's softened.
- Add the chopped tomato along with all the spices and cook for 1 minute. Then pour a little water and cook everything until the raw spice flavor is gone, and it looks jammy.
- Crumble the paneer with hand or grate it and add to the pan. Stir it around to mix everything. Then pour ½ cup hot water and let it simmer for 5 minutes in medium low heat.
- Add the chopped cilantro leaves, sliced ginger and heavy cream. Stir it around and taste for salt. Add more if needed.
- This step is optional, but I like to finish it with a little more crushed dried fenugreek leaves and 1 tablespoon butter.
- Serve Amritsari paneer bhurji warm.
