Paneer Jalfrezi recipe

As seen on Rick Stein’s Food Stories on BBC Two, this is Rick’s Paneer Jalfrezi recipe. From hsi visit to Leeds and saw how much the Middle Eastern cuisine has impacted the city, he’s made one of the nation’s most-loved curries, jalfrezi with paneer, a cheese from India.

Ingredients for Rick’s Paneer Jalfrezi recipe

SERVES 2-4

• 1½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 dried Kashmiri chilli, whole with seeds
• 25g/5cm ginger, finely shredded
• 3 small onions, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 1 fresh green chilli, chopped, with or without seeds
• 1 red or yellow pepper, seeds removed, cut lengthways into 5mm-thick strips
• 1 green pepper, seeds removed, cut lengthways into 5mm-thick strips
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 250g paneer, cut into 3cm x 1.5cm pieces
• 3 tomatoes, cut into strips
• 1 tsp wine vinegar
• ½ tsp toasted ground cumin seeds
• ¾ tsp Garam masala

For the Garam masala

• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tsp cardamom seeds (from 30–40 green pods)
• 4 tsp whole cloves
• 7cm piece of cinnamon stick
• 1 whole nutmeg

How to make Rick’s Paneer Jalfrezi recipe

1. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan or karahi over a medium heat and add the cumin seeds, whole dried red chilli and about two-thirds of the shredded ginger and fry for 30 seconds until aromatic.
2. Add the onions, garlic and green chilli and fry for 5–6 minutes until the onions are just softening but not browned and still have a little crunch. Add the peppers, salt, turmeric and chilli powder, and fry for a further 3–4 minutes.
3. Lower the heat, add the paneer to the pan and gently stir everything together for about 5 minutes, then add the tomato and heat through. Stir in the vinegar, ground cumin and Garam masala, scatter with the remaining shredded ginger, and serve.

1. For the Garam masala – Roast all the spices apart from the nutmeg in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for a couple of minutes until toasted and aromatic then cool. Grate the nutmeg and add to a spice grinder along with whole spices (you might want to break up the cinnamon stick) and grind everything to a fine powder.
2. Store in a sealed container out of the sunlight; it will keep its most aromatic condition for a month.

Happy cooking