No Oil Paneer Bhurji/Crumbled Indian Cottage Cheese (Savoury)

Okay …first things first …I love deep-fried stuff , rich gravies , creamy curries , sweets…who dosent?But only sometimes! Maybe once a week or so. Deep fired stuff is comforting ..its tasty & satisfies you afterall.But gives you bulging equator ..I mean the waistline goes uncontrolled! It happens to me so many times that I control myself all day long and at night after dinner I crave something sweet and eat ice creams and chocolate bars and the hard work of the whole day is tossed in air!..Phew! Actually I sometimes think too much , I think

When I entered the kitchen to make this paneer burji I had no plans of making it without oil.But the husband requested pooris in the dinner and to lessen the guilt I tried it without oil and it came out well…seriously I cudnt believe myself.Its like one of those times when you decide that you ll not have paratha and then you eat roti with ghee spread over it.So I made an oil free sabzi and ate it with poori…but on logical thoughts on the whole I saved atleast 2 tablespoons of oil from entering my body!!! sounds crazy?Well I am like that only Maybe this experiment worked because paneer has a creamy texture and as soon as it hits the heated pan, becomes soft and releases some of its natural oil….okay whatever…just give it a try to see if it works for you! I am gonna make it again for sure!!

What I needed:

1/2 lb paneer , crumbled
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic , crushed
1 medium roma tomato, finely chopped
1 medium potato, boiled and crushed
1 green chilli, finely chopped
2 tsp red chilli powder [or to taste]
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp dry mango powder[amchoor]
2 tbsp plain yogurt
Salt to taste
chopped cilantro for garnish[optional]

How I did it:

Tip in the chopped onions in a pan and put the pan on low heat.
On very low heat let the onions saute till they turn light brown in color and you start smelling them.Around 6-7 minutes
After the onions are done ,add the crushed garlic,chopped chilli & tomato to the pan.Saute on medium heat till the tomatoes start to soften. About 2-3 minutes.
At this point add the chilli powder , garam masala , salt to the point. Cook the mixture till everything becomes sloppy[paste like] About 5 minutes.

Add the crushed boiled potatoes and mix well.Lower the heat and add the yogurt and saute till you see few oil drops on the side of pan released from yogurt.You can add more yogurt if you want.
Add the crumbled paneer & amchoor , softly saute for about 2 minutes and switch off the heat.
Allow yourself some guilt and serve with parathas or pooris [Flatbreads]

Enjoy.

Sending this to Jay’s “Lets relish -Paneer event”