Easy Paneer Bhurji Gravy Recipe
Paneer bhurji gravy is a spiced and easy to prepare scrambled cottage cheese in a gravy or curry base. This flavorful gravy is made with onions, tomatoes, spices, herbs and curd (yogurt). The recipe comes together in 25 minutes and makes for a quick breakfast, lunch or dinner. Pair with roti, paratha, Naan or bread to mop up this delish savory gravy.
Generally the classic Paneer Bhurji is a dry or semi dry dish. This gravy or curried variation is less popular and made slightly differently. The recipe is fairly simple, easy and you don’t need to grind or puree any veggies.
I share my mom’s recipe of making this bhurji with a gravy or curry (also known as tari or rassa in a few Indian languages).
What sets apart this paneer bhurji gravy recipe is the frying of whole spices first and this is what gives the dish an aromatic flavor. Fresh curd (yogurt) is also included in the curry that adds a touch of creaminess and a slight tang.
I also use butter for sautéing, but you can use oil. We also add green peas to this recipe at times. Wherever possible, I have mentioned substitutes in the notes section of recipe card.
Serve this paneer bhurji gravy with roti or paratha. This spiced curry also goes very well with bread or pav (dinner rolls).
How to make Paneer Bhurji Gravy Recipe
1. Crumble 200 to 250 grams paneer/cottage cheese and set aside. If possible use fresh homemade paneer for best results.
For frozen paneer, follow the instructions of prepping paneer listed on the pack.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons butter or any neutral tasting oil in a pan. You can also use ghee.
3. Add the whole spices – 1 inch cinnamon, 3 cloves, 2 green cardamoms, 5 to 6 black peppercorns and 2 small tej patta or 1 medium to large tej patta.
Fry until the spices become aromatic and splutter.
4. Add ½ cup finely chopped onions.
5. Stir and mix very well.
6. Sauté the onions until light golden on medium-low to medium heat.
7. Add 1 green chili (finely chopped) and 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste.
8. Saute for a few seconds or until the aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
9. Now add ½ cup finely chopped tomatoes.
10. Mix very well.
11. Sauté stirring often till the tomatoes soften, become mushy and you see oil releasing from the sides of the masala.
12. Add the following spices:
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder
This recipe does not make for a very spicy gravy. For a more spicy taste, add more green chillies or red chilli powder.
13. Mix the spice powders very well with the rest of the ingredients and sauté for a minute on a low to medium-low heat.
14. Lower the heat or switch off the heat. Now add 3 tablespoons fresh curd (yogurt). You can choose to skip curd if you don’t have it handy.
Make sure to use fresh curd and not sour tasting curd.
15. As soon as you add curd, stir quickly and briskly till all the curd is incorporated with the rest of the onion-tomato masala.
16. Then add ½ cup water and mix well. For a thicker gravy, add less water.
17. Add 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves. You can add about 1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves at this point.
18. Mix and stir again.
19. Bring the curry or gravy to a simmer on a low to medium heat.
20. When you see the gravy simmering, add the crumbled paneer.
21. Add salt as required.
22. Mix very well and simmer for about 1 minute on low heat until the paneer is cooked. Do not cook for long or else the paneer will become chewy.
23. Switch off the heat and add 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves and 1 teaspoon ginger julienne.
24. Mix again and serve paneer bhurji gravy with chapati, roti, paratha or bread.
Enjoy the dish as soon as it is made and while still hot or warm. Reheating the dish can make the paneer chewy or dense.
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Step by Step Photo Guide Above
Easy Paneer Bhurji Gravy Recipe
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 200 to 250 grams Paneer (cottage cheese) – crumbled
- 2 medium onion or 1 large onion, finely chopped or ½ cup finely chopped onion
- 2 medium tomatoes or 1 large tomato, finely chopped or ½ cup finely chopped tomatoes
- 1 green chili – finely chopped or ½ teaspoon, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder (ground coriander)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder (ground cumin)
- ½ teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala
- 3 tablespoon Curd (yogurt)
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves – optional
- 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves to be added later
- 2 tablespoon butter or oil
- 1 inch ginger – julienne for garnish
- salt as required
Whole Spices
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 3 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- 5 to 6 black peppercorns
- 2 small tej patta or 1 medium tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
Instructions
Preparation
- Crumble 200 to 250 grams paneer and keep aside.
- Chop the onions, tomatoes and green chillies. Keep aside.
- Crush the ginger garlic in a mortar pestle and keep aside.
- Also remove the whole spices and spice powders and keep aside.
Making paneer bhurji gravy
- Heat butter or oil in a pan.
- Add the whole spices – 1 inch cinnamon, 3 cloves, 2 green cardamoms, 5 to 6 black peppercorns and 2 small tej patta or 1 medium to large tej patta. Saute till the spices become aromatic.
- Then add the finely chopped onions. Mix and stir very well.
- Sauté the onions till light golden stirring often on medium-low to medium heat.
- Add the chopped green chilies and ginger-garlic paste.
- Saute for a few seconds or until the aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
- Now add the finely chopped tomatoes. Mix very well.
- Saute till the tomatoes soften and you see oil releasing from the sides of the masala.
- Add coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder.
- Stir the ground spices well and sauté for a minute on low to medium-low heat.
- Keep the flame to its lowest, and now add the fresh curd (yogurt). Ensure that the curd is not very sour. It should be fresh curd.
- As soon as you add curd, stir quickly and briskly.
- Then add water and mix well.
- Add 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves and mix again.
- Bring the curry or gravy to a simmer on low to medium-low heat.
- Then add the crumbled paneer. Also add salt according to taste.
- Stir very well and simmer for about 1 minute till the paneer is cooked. Do not cook for long as then the paneer becomes chewy.
- Switch off and add 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves.
- Mix and serve paneer bhurji gravy with roti, paratha, naan or bread.
Nutrition
This paneer bhurji gravy recipe post from the archives (June 2015) has been republished and updated on 8 July 2021.
Dear dassana,
An update is available for your app.Is there any major change in the app if I update it to latest version.
yashwiin, if the app on your phone is working fine, then no need to update.
Fantastic recipe Dassana. I added some boiled peas too.. husband loved it a lot 🙂 Thanks !
thank you nehal. green peas can be added.
how to add to favorite its not being added…
jyoti, are you using the latest version of app. in the latest version favorites can be added. if not then update to the latest version.
Hey. I tried this last week and it turned out to be so yummy. ?My hubby loved it too. Your blog is my go-to place to find all our favourite recipes. ❤️
very glad to know this nazish 🙂 thank you for your positive feebdack.
Very nice receipe… Very simple and easy one with difference…
thank you vikas 🙂
Yummm after reading this i felt my mouth watering. .. seems so delicious. .. I’m gonna try dis noww …
surely try saumya and let us know how it was? and thankyou
Hi
Ur recipes r jus awesome I tried malai kofta nd it came out really well…tdy I’m gonna try this thank you for your recipes
thanks for the feedback on malai kofta recipe jeyakarthik. this is also a good recipe and i hope you will like it.
The recipes are just amazing! I am a 16 year old and just love your cooking.! Want to become a chef one day.! Love you receipes. You make the world a better place creating this love called food. ?
thankyou so much tanish all the best and god bless you 🙂
Thanks a lot for the step by step photos n description. Do u have a separate site for low fat recipes?
welcome priya. i do not have any other website for low fat recipes.
I m gonna try this.. as its easy to cook nd takes less time for students who are away from home. thankx 🙂
surely try and let us know how it was?
I’ve only recently become interested in Indian cuisine and want to try all of your recipes! I love that so many of them are chock full of vegetables, as well as spices. I also really appreciate the step-by-step photos you provide for each recipe; it’s so helpful! I do have a question, though, after scrolling through many of these recipes… You often begin by sauteing whole spices in butter, but I wonder…do you take them out at some point? Or are all of the seeds and leaves left in the dish? (Perhaps only the bay leaf is removed?) Thank you very much for your helpfulness!
thanks a lot angie. i don’t remove the spices. in fact in indian cuisine we do not remove the spices after sauteing them. not even the bay leaf. everything is kept in the gravy/curry while sauteing the masala or simmering.
As usual, like your other recipes, this turned out perfect. But I used tofu instead of the usual paneer n still the taste was great. Since I had mistakenly frozen the tofu n it was impossible to cut it into pieces this recipe came as a great rescuer: ) thanks a lot
thankyou shruti 🙂 and you are welcome.
Wow looks yummy gotta try this recipe soon 🙂
surely try and let us know how it turned out?
Wow! Made this tonight and we loved it! Just that, instead of 3 tbsp of yogurt, I added about 6 :-). So was a bit more yogurt”y” than my expectation. But loved the flavors of the spices and that the burji was not dry! As usual, one more jewel from your collection!
thanks priya. 3 tbsp works perfect. but no issues. 6 tbsp would be more ‘yogurty’ as you have mentioned. next time you can try with 3 tbsp yogurt 🙂
I realy love all your recipes..the complete description, beautiful presentation, vivid explanation of the recipes with pictures is something which makes such simple recipes unique..keep up the good work..
thanks hetal for sharing your positive review on recipes presentation.
Dear Dasanna, this recipe looks yummy. I shall be trying it soon. I made paneer at home following your instructions and it was perfect. Made paneer tawa masala with it and it was delicious. Thank you and keep up the good work. You are doing lots of good karma:)
welcome dhanya. thanks for your positive feedback and kind words.
What if you do not have “Green Cardamom”? Can you use Black Cardamom?
no. don’t add black cardamom. just skip the green ones.
Mam I use packet ginger garlic past is that okay or not
personally i feel making ginger garlic paste at home is better as it does not contain preservatives or additives. its also better to crush the required amount of ginger-garlic in a mortar-pestle for making any dish.
I love your recipes mam .You are such a inspiration for me as a mentor
thanks ekta for your kind words
wow looks so good.paneer bhurji in gravy.fantabulous
Yummy recipe, dassana. Do you make ginger-garlic paste fresh for every recipe or do you make in bulk & store? If you make in bulk, what is the method? Thanks.
thanks priya. i make ginger-garlic paste fresh. for some reason i do not like stored ginger-garlic paste. i just crush both the ginger-garlic in a mortar-pestle.
hi i love your recepies so much.
thanks brijal