Name: Tawa Paneer - Cottage Cheese Infused With A Smoky Flavor
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 200 gm Paneer (cut into large cubes); 1 Bell pepper (medium, cubed); 1 Onion (large, diced); 1 Tomato (medium, chopped); 4 tbsp Tomato puree; 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste; 2 Green chilies (finely chopped); 1 tsp Cumin Seeds; 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili powder (you may add this basis the spice levels you desire); 1 tsp Coriander powder; 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder; 1/2 tsp Cumin powder; 1/2 tsp Garam masala; 1 tsp Kasuri Methi leaves; 1/2 tsp Sugar; 4 tbsp Oil (or butter for cooking); One hot piece of charcoal; 1 tbsp Ghee (or Clarified butter for smoking the charcoal); Salt (to taste)

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Recipes

The Cottage cheese is quite popularly referred to as Paneer here in India. Paneer is a much loved ingredient among the Vegetarian food eaters here, since a large number of delectable dishes can be prepared by using this versatile cheese.

Most of them tend to be an adaptation from North Indian cuisine, mildly spiced, deep fried, tandoor or just simply dunked in a gravy or sometimes a Pizza too. This protein packed cheese goes well with breads, rice or can be also presented as an Appetizer/ finger food.

The Tava Paneer is one such famous dish which can be noticed in most restaurants serving North Indian food. And guess what, it is quite easy to dish up at home as well and nope, you don't need a Tandoor oven to get that typical smoky taste that adds in that special zing to this overall dish.

Follow this step by step recipe, well explained through pictures and do let me know how the overall dish turned up for you at home 🙂

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Served AsDinner, Lunch

CuisineAsian, Homestyle Cooking, Indian

Recipe Taste Salty, Spicy, Tangy

Servings

Ingredients

Instructions

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In a deep bowl place the paneer cubes, add kasuri methi, melted butter and a pinch of salt
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Mix all the ingredients to coat the paneer cubes, by using your hand
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Place the hot charcoal in the Paneer bowl and pour over some ghee on top of the coal - this will make the coal to smoke. Immediately cover the bowl with a lid and let the smoke infuse into the paneer cubes.
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Let the lid stay closed on the bowl containing the charcoal for 20-30mins
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In a flat pan, add some butter/ghee and let it melt
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Add the cumin seeds let it splutter and then add the diced onions
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Saute the onions until they are translucent. Then add the green chillies and ginger garlic paste
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Add the chopped tomatoes
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Stir the tomatoes to mix into the onion mixture Cook until the tomatoes turn into a pulpy like texture
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Next add the tomato puree
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Add in all the spice powders except for Garam masala
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Add the bell peppers to the tomato spice mixture .
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Stir to coat the bell peppers
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Finally add the smoked & marinated Paneer cubes, garam masala and salt to taste.
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Cook till the paneer is soft and the capsicum is semi - crunchy. This should take about 5-7 minutes on a medium flame
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Your Tawa paneer infused with smoky charcoal flavor is ready to be served
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You may choose to serve it with Roti/Naan/Phulkas
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It also goes well with Jasmine rice or Ghee rice