Paneer jalfrezi

Jalfrezi is another popular dish, this time from the Bengali cuisine in Eastern India. A main ingredient such as paneer or chicken is stir fried with peppers. Often tomatoes and onions are added as well. Jhal means spicy in Bengali, so don’t skimp on the chilli powder in this dish! You can always make it less spicy if you prefer. This only took 20 minutes to make. 

Ingredients
Serves 2

200g paneer, cut in bite size pieces (I used my homemade paneer)

2 tomatoes, diced 

1 medium onion, thinly sliced 

1 green pepper, thinly sliced 

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Small piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely diced 

Vegetable oil 

Salt to taste 

Chopped coriander leaves to garnish 

You’ll need these spices

1 tsp cumin seeds 

1/2 tsp turmeric 

1/2 tsp coriander powder 

1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder 

Method
Cook time - 20 minutes

• In a large sturdy frying pan on medium heat, add a little vegetable oil. Add the cumin seeds let them sizzle until they become fragrant. 
  
  
• Add the sliced onions, garlic, ginger and green chilli and fry until translucent.
  
  
• Next, add the chopped tomatoes and saute until they become completely soft. 
  
  
• Next, add the the remaining spices (turmeric, coriander powder, kashmiri red chilli powder). Also add salt to taste and mix well. Add a splash water if the spices are catching - you don’t want them to burn. Cook for 1 minute.
  
  
• Add the green pepper. Mix well and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for a five minutes to take raw edge of the peppers - I think a little crunch is still nice! 
  
  
• Turn off the heat and gently mix in the paneer. As paneer cooks very quickly, I find the residual heat in the pan is enough and this ensures you don’t overcook it.
  
  
• Garnish with coriander and serve with rotis or parathas!