Paneer balti is one of my favourite vegetarian baltis.
This paneer balti is very easy to make.
I like to cook balti curries on the barbecue but you could of course cook this paneer balti indoors.
What’s important is to get the balti pan really hot. That’s one of the things that will make this paneer balti a success for you.
Then you serve it in the same sizzling hot pan that it was cooked in.
Creamy and mildly spiced. The paneer is soft and cooked to perfection. Try this!
Paneer Balti is a great balti curry for beginners.
Cooking a good balti curry is easy but perhaps a bit daunting when you first give it a go.
Balti curries are made in stainless steel balti pans. You could use another pan such as a metal frying pan but it just won’t be the same.
The good thing about this paneer balti is that it is simple to put together.
The paneer is added raw and then simmered in the sauce until soft and delicious. It’s so good scooped up with a hot naan, like my karahi naans, a chapati or paratha.
No cutlery required! Just pick the delicious paneer and sauce up with the bread of your choice.
The essential base curry sauce…
As with all British curries, a base sauce is required to make them what they are.
The sauce is easy to make and is added to everything from the paneer balti right up to the spiciest balti phall.
I have a few recipes for this sauce on my blog. You might like to This small version or The larger version that I usually make. If you have the freezer space, I recommend making the larger batch as it does freeze well.
Make this paneer balti your own…
I have given a common recipe for paneer balti below.
You can make it exactly as it is or adjust to your own taste.
Add more chillies, for example or throw in some chickpeas.
The possibilities are a big as your imagination.
Step by step cooking photos…
Heat the oil in the pan and add the cumin seeds to infuse for 30 seconds. Then stir in the blended onion. Fry for a few minutes and then stir in the garlic and ginger paste.
The add about half of the heated base sauce and bring to a simmer.
Stir in the cherry tomatoes and top up with a little more base sauce to keep it bubbling.
Now add the paneer and push it right down into the sauce to cook. Add any remaining base sauce.
Stir in the cream. You can add more to taste.
Add the kasoori methi and salt to taste. Done!
If you like this paneer balti recipe, you might like to try some of these too…
Hot as Hell Chicken Phall Balti Chicken and chickpea balti Chicken Saag Balti Chicken balti Duck balti jalfrezi Duck and mushroom balti Keema balti Rogan josh balti Prawn balti
Get yourself a naan, chapati or paratha and dig in!
Yield: 1
Paneer Balti
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Ingredients
1 medium onion, blended until smooth in a little water
2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
2 tsp basar curry powder OR
2 tsp mixed powder
2 green bird's eye chillies, finely chopped
70ml (1/4 cup) tomato puree
250ml (1 cup) base curry sauce
4 cherry tomatoes, quartered (optional)
250g (9 oz) paneer, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 tbsp single cream, plus more to taste
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
Juice of one lemon
Salt to taste
Instructions
Heat the oil over medium high to high heat in a balti bowl. When hot, stir in the cumin seeds to infuse for about 30 seconds. Be careful not to burn the cumin! Then add the blended onion.
Fry the onion for about 3 minutes and then stir in the garlic and ginger paste to fry for another 30 seconds or so.
Stir in the ground spices and then add the green chillies, followed by the tomato puree. Bring to a simmer.
Add about half of the base sauce and bring to a simmer.
Stir in the tomatoes and push them down into the sauce. Add more base sauce as needed to keep it all bubbly and only stir if the sauce is sticking to the side of the pan.
Add the paneer and stir well so that it cooks in the sauce. Paneer can fall apart if cooked too long so you're about finished with your paneer balti now.
Stir in the cream and bring again to a simmer. Add the kasoori methi, the butter and lemon juice. Season with salt to taste to serve.
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The Birmingham Balti Bowl Company manufactures authentic balti bowls here in the UK. That’s what I use. Perfect!
Do you have to fry the paneer? Absolutely not! The thing is, raw paneer has a tendency to fall apart when added to a sauce. By frying the cubed paneer, you create a crispy crust to the cheese which helps it retain its shape when cooked into a hot curry sauce.
It is a mild, tomato based curry made with a fresh blend of many aromatic spices, and it is a very 'wet' curry, with lots of tasty gravy. It is usually cooked with chicken or lamb, with the addition of fresh garlic, ginger, onion, chopped tomatoes, coriander leaves and 2-3 tsp of the Balti spice mixture.
Paneer Butter Masala, also known as butter paneer is a rich & creamy curry made with paneer, spices, onions, tomatoes, cashews and butter. As the name denotes, the curry is cooked in butter which imparts it's characteristic buttery flavor to the dish.
Whether or not you need to fry paneer before cooking depends on the specific recipe you are following. Frying paneer can enhance its texture, add a crispy outer layer, and help it hold its shape during cooking. However, it is not always necessary, and some recipes may call for using paneer as is, without frying.
Curry powders were introduced to the UK as a way of quickly and easily making curries at home. They are still used a lot in Indian restaurants and the best are homemade. This balti masala is really just a curry powder and it is so versatile.
Balti curries are cooked quickly using vegetable oil rather than ghee, over high heat in the manner of a stir-fry, and any meat is used off the bone. This combination differs sharply from a traditional one-pot Indian curry which is simmered slowly all day.
First things first, a Balti is a type of lamb or goat curry, although you may find variants using chicken and many other meats. If done correctly, you should always have it served to you in a sizzling, thin, pressed-steel wok that's called a 'Balti bowl' and it's this metal dish that gives the curry its name.
The Karahi curry is a spicy dish and is a particular favourite in Northern India and Pakistan. It is related to the Balti and Jalfrezi as all of them are stir fried dishes. A Karahi is actually the name for a type of Indian iron round bottomed wok in the same way that a Balti is a flat bottomed metal dish too.
The combination of both spices, allium vegetables and tomatoes used in a typical Balti, gives the dish some fantastic health giving properties! Balti's are particularly good for boosting your body's natural immunity and fighting off colds, thanks to the beneficial ingredients onions, turmeric, paprika and garlic.
As the balti is named for the utensil used to cook it, there are no definitive ingredients list associated with it. Traditional curry flavours like tikka masala, tandoori, rogan josh and korma can all be cooked in a balti style. Nevertheless, there are some features which are common to all baltis.
Although many Indians translate "paneer" into "cottage cheese", cottage cheese is made using rennet extracted from the stomach of ruminants, and cow's skim milk. Queso blanco or queso fresco are often recommended as substitutes in the Americas and Spain as they are more commercially available in many American markets.
According to this theory, paneer comes from Persia and significantly, the term “paneer” is derived from the word “peynir” or “cheese in Turkish and Persian languages. Still, another theory argues that paneer was introduced in India by Iranian and Afghan travellers.
Paneer has a mild, milky flavour and a dense crumbly texture that goes beautifully well with strong spicy flavours used in many classic Indian dishes. Because it won't melt like other cheeses, chunks of it can be stirred into soups or curries and remain intact.
If using store-bought paneer, soak it in hot water for 10 minutes and drain. ...
In a large bowl, mix the rest of the oil with yogurt, ginger paste, garlic paste, coriander powder, garam masala, red chile powder, turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon salt to make the marinade.
Introduction: My name is Jonah Leffler, I am a determined, faithful, outstanding, inexpensive, cheerful, determined, smiling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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