Paneer Jalfreize

Paneer Jalfreize is a very common restaurant dish. You pick up any menu inn any hotel and 99% chances are that you will find it under the vegetarian fare. Basically it is a very simple dish. The real beauty lies in the interplay of colors of the bell peppers. I, unfortunately, could not lay my hands on red and yellow bell peppers and had to make do with green capsicums. You must try and get as many colors as possible on the palette.


Ingredients

250 gms paneer, cut into long fingers
1 capsicum, cut lengthwise
1 yellow bell pepper, cut lengthwise
1 red bell pepper, cut lengthwise
1” ginger, cut into juliennes
1 large onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, boiled and pureed
3 tbsp ready made tomato puree
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 dry red chillies
1 tbsp coriander powder
½ tbsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp kashmiri mirch powder
Salt to taste


Heat some oil. Add the cumin seeds and dry red chillies. Once the seeds start spluttering add the ginger juliennes. Now add the sliced onion and cook till translucent. Add the pureed tomato and ready made tomato puree and cook till oil starts leaving the sides. Now add all the dry masalas and sprinkle some water. Cook till the masalas are done.
Toss the sliced capsicum and bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes. You don’t want to overcook as you want the veggies to have the crunch. Now add the paneer and half a cup of water. Check the seasoning. Cook on high flame so that the water is quickly absorbed. The aim is not to cook the bell peppers and yet coat the paneer pieces with masala. You can garnish with chopped green coriander.