Paneer'er Dalna

Chunks of paneer(cottage cheese) in a spicy, comforting sauce

  • Cooking time
    45 minutes
  • Calories
    307
    kcal
Recommended by
97.4
%
of
16384
members who rated this recipe on Youtube

Paneer is a late entrant to the Bengali food scene; Bengal is more fond of chhana (chena). This paneer'er dalna is infused with the flavours of ginger, cumin, garam masala and ghee. Fresh cubes of homemade paneer are shallow-fried and then added to the curry and cooked until they are soft and juicy. This recipe also uses capsicum, which imparts a lovely peppery aroma to the dish. Perfect with rice and dal, or with a light vegetable polao or luchi.

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Ingredients

Serves
6 servings
  • 400 g paneer
  • 150 g potatoes
  • 30 g peas
  • 40 g capsicum
  • 15 g mustard oil
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • 3 pcs cardamom
  • 1 pc cinnamon
  • 3 pcs cloves
  • 2 pcs dried red chillies
  • 3 pcs bay leaves
  • 40 g ginger paste
  • 4 g turmeric powder (plus ¼ tsp for marinating)
  • 2 g kashmiri red chilli powder
  • 4 g cumin powder
  • 100 g water
  • 50 g yoghurt
  • 11 g salt (plus ¼ tsp for marinating)
  • 16 g sugar
  • 4 pcs green chillies (slit)
  • 250 g hot water
  • 6 g ghee
  • ¼ tsp gorom moshla
  • vegetable oil for frying paneer

Method

  1. Cut paneer into 3-cm cubes. Divide potatoes into 3-cm cubes, and capsicum into 2-cm squares. Slit the green chillies. Beat yoghurt until lump-free.
  2. Smear the paneer cubes with a pinch of salt and turmeric powder.
  3. Heat a pan very well and add vegetable oil (enough to fry the paneer). Allow the oil to heat completely before adding the paneer. Fry the cubes in a single layer for about 30 seconds on each side. Set aside when done.
  4. Heat mustard oil in a kadai. Temper with dried red chillies, bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and cumin seeds.
  5. Add potatoes. Cover and fry until they are golden (4 minutes).
  6. In a small bowl, mix ginger paste, turmeric powder, cumin powder, and Kashmiri red chilli powder with water. Add the spice slurry to the pan, and cover and cook it for about 6 minutes.
  7. Add salt. Then add capsicum. Mix, cover and cook for 3 minutes.
  8. Add slit green chillies and beaten yoghurt. Cook uncovered on medium heat for 2 minutes.
  9. Add blanched peas (if you are using raw peas, add them with the potatoes).
  10. Add sugar and hot water for the gravy. Wait for it to come to a boil.
  11. Add the fried paneer cubes. Bubble on medium heat until the curry thickens (around 6 minutes).
  12. Finish with gorom moshla, ghee, and a slit green chilli.

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