Tawa Paneer is a traditional Indian recipe for a restaurant-style vegetarian curry of paneer cheese in a spiced tomato base with green bell peppers that's traditionally cooked in a tawa. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Indian version of: Tawa Paneer.
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This is a semi-dry paneer dish made with paneer cheese, onions, bell peppers and tomatoes. This is restaurant style paneer tawa masala. The dish is traditionally made in a tawa, a large, flat or concave or convex disc-shaped frying pan that is usually used for making Indian flat breads like paratha or roti. This is the restaurant version of the recipe.
Ingredients:
For Marinating Paneer:
200g Paneer, cubed
1 ½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
¼ tsp Turmeric powder
Salt, to taste
2 tsp Lemon juice
Remaining Ingredients:
1 tbsp Oil
75g Red onion, sliced
1 tbsp Butter
½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
2 medium Tomatoes, finely chopped
60 Green bell pepper, cubed
1 tsp Ginger paste
1 Green chilli, finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1 tsp ground Cumin
½ teaspoon Garam masala
a few coriander leaves, finely chopped
Method:
Combine the chilli powder, turmeric and salt in a bowl Add the lemon juice and blend to form a paste. Add the cubed paneer, tossing to evenly coat the cheese pieces in the spice paste. Set aside and allow to marinate for 20-30 minutes.
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a tawa. Once the oil is hot add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally so onions do not burn. Continue cooking until the onions are dark brown in colour. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the tawa and once hot add in the paneer pieces. Fry until nicely coloured then flip over and fry until lightly coloured on the other side. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate.
Wipe the tawa clean with a paper towel. Then put the tawa back over the heat and add the butter. As soon as the butter has melted, add the cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle for a short while.
Add chopped tomatoes. Mix well to combine then sprinkle over the salt. Continue cooking until the tomatoes are soft.
At this point mash the softened tomatoes using potato masher. This will be a little pulpy, but continue to cook until the oil starts to ooze out from the sides.
Add the bell pepper, mixing well to combine. At this point add ginger paste and green chilies. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes before stirring in the .red chilli powder, cumin powder and garam masala.
Stir well, to combine and the gravy looks too dry add splash of water. Cook for a minute so the spices are no longer raw.
Mix in the caramelized onions and fried paneer. Stir everything together very gently, so the paneer is well coated with the curry gravy.
Finally, stir in the chopped coriander. Take off the heat, turn into a warmed bowl and serve,
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