Paneer Jalfrezi is a delicious, one-pot Indian stir fry (sabzi) with cottage cheese (paneer) and vegetables. It is a quick, vegetarian dish that takes less than 30 minutes. Be sure to watch the video!
About Jalfrezi
In recent years, vegetable jalfrezi has gained quite a rank in popularity charts of vegetarian Indian dishes.
The word ‘Jalfrezi’ or ‘Jhalfrezi’ or ‘zalfrezi’ is a combination of two words Jhal + Pharezi. Jhal is a Bengali word for spicy, and Pharezi in Urdu means suitable for diet. Hence, a spicy stir fry of vegetables is suitable for eating.
The dish was mainly developed during the colonial era to suit the British palate.
Over the years, the vegetable jalfrezi has become highly popular because it’s easy to adapt and customize. Plus, the taste hints at spices yet not so much chili or heat. Perfect for a novice Indian food lover.
Hence, today vegetable jalfrezi can be spotted on the menu of many Indian restaurants worldwide. It is one of those modern Indian dishes that are loved for their uncomplicated process and BIG flavors.
What is Paneer Jalfrezi?
Paneer Jalfrezi is a version of vegetable jalfrezi with the addition of Indian cottage cheese (paneer) along with the bell peppers. It is a fantastic gluten-free, vegetarian side-dish.
Recipe Variations:
You can skip paneer and make vegetable jalfrezi with vegetables such as cauliflower, potato, bell peppers, onion, and capsicum.
You can make the dish saucier by adding 1 Cup of water or vegetable stock.
Or make vegan jalfrezi by adding tofu chunks along with vegetables of your choice.
My Reasons To LOVE Jalfrezi
I will give you not one but many reasons to love this dish.
naturally gluten-free & vegetarian
one-pot dish
ready in 30 minutes
highly customizable
meal-prep friendly
Step-By-Step Stovetop Method
- Heat oil in a wok or stir fry pan over medium flame.
- Add cumin seeds and nigella seeds. Cook for 10 seconds. Add sliced onion, fry till onion softens. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute.
- Next, add the tomato sauce, salt, and spices. Stir to combine. Add ¼ cup of water, mix, and cook the masala over low heat for 1 – 2 minutes.
- Add the colored bell peppers and capsicum, and fry again on high flame for 2 minutes to cook the vegetables.
- At last, add paneer strips, sliced tomato, and dried fenugreek leaves, and gently mix them until all the masalas coat all the vegetables and paneer. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes but do not stir very frequently otherwise, the paneer will crumble.
- Sprinkle sliced ginger and coriander leaves before serving.
Serving Suggestion
Paneer Jalfrezi is an Indian-style vegetarian stir fry dish. It tastes delicious with chapati, roti, or any other flatbread.
For a restaurant-style meal, serve jalfrezi with naan bread, mint raita, kachumber salad, and dal makhani.
It tastes delicious as a sandwich and tortilla wrap filling as well.
Watch Jalfrezi Video
FAQs Related To Paneer Jalfrezi
Paneer Jalfrezi, when cooked without paneer, is called vegetable jalfrezi. You can add a variety of mixed vegetables to the jalfrezi. Both versions are cooked in tomato-based gravy and sautéed with onions, ginger, and flavourful Indian spices.
To make vegan jalfrezi, skip adding paneer (cottage cheese) or use tofu instead of paneer. Vegetable Jalfrezi without paneer is naturally vegan.
The leftover jalfrezi can be stir-fried with steamed rice to make pulao/fried rice or used as stuffing for wraps and sandwiches.
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Paneer Jalfrezi Recipe
- Heavy Bottom Kadhai
Ingredients
- 250 Gram Paneer (cottage cheese), cut into strips
- 1 Cup sliced onion
- 1 Cup sliced red bell pepper
- 1 Cup sliced green capsicum
- 1 Cup sliced tomato (discard pulp and seeds)
- 1 Teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
- 1 Teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 Tablespoon ginger & garlic paste (see recipe)
- ½ Cup tomato sauce or ketchup
- Salt to taste
- 1 Teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 Teaspoon red chilli powder or to taste
- 2 Teaspoon coriander powder
- 4 Tablespoon mustard oil or cooking oil
- 1 Tablespoon Kasuri Methi or Dried Fenugreek Leaves
Ingredients For Garnish:
- 1 Tablespoon thinly sliced ginger
Instructions
- Heat oil in a wok or stir fry pan over medium flame.
- Add cumin seeds and nigella seeds. Cook for 10 seconds. Add sliced onion, fry till onion softens. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute.
- Next, add the tomato sauce, salt, and spices. Stir to combine. Add ¼ cup of water, mix, and cook the masala over low heat for 1 – 2 minutes.
- Add the colored bell peppers, capsicum, and fry again on high flame for 2 minutes to cook the vegetables.
- At last add paneer strips, sliced tomato, dried fenugreek leaves, and gently mix them until all the masalas coat all the vegetables and paneer. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes but do not stir very frequently otherwise paneer will crumble.
- Sprinkle sliced ginger and coriander leaves before serving.
- Serve Paneer Jalfrezi warm with chapati or naan.
Recipe Notes:
- Jalfrezi is a quick stir-fry and has a crunch to it. Hence, do not cook the vegetables for too long.
- Instead of tomato sauce, you can add tomato pasta sauce or canned tomatoes along with a teaspoon of sugar.
- Adjust the amount of red chili powder as per your taste preference. If you want to make it spicier, add sliced green chili.
- From colorful bell peppers, carrot, cauliflower to potato, you can add any vegetable of choice in jalfrezi.
- For cooking, you can use olive oil, coconut oil, mustard oil, or any other cooking oil available.
Tara nair says
Very tempting. I would be glad if you come up with (publish) a cookbook. I will be the first to have one with me…. bet ya
Shiju Sugunan says
Tried it. It was awesome. Thanks for the recipe. And the pictures are great as usual.
Hema Bhakuni says
I tried it for dinner. Came out nice. Thank you dear.
Hina Gujral says
thank you for your valuable feedback!
Hina Gujral says
Always my pleasure. Glad you liked it!
Nikki says
Wow delight for vegetarians ❤️
Hina Gujral says
I truly, agree with you.
kamal says
Yummy