Pan Roasted Paneer

Schools have reopened for the third term and we’re back to the usual grind all the while looking forward to the Pongal holidays coming up next week. Here’s a quick and tasty dish that you can easily rustle up on weekday mornings for your kids’ lunch boxes.

An extremely quick roasted paneer dish that is sure to please kids and adults alike, this pan roasted paneer can be varied innumerable ways. You can serve this roasted paneer as a side with rice or rotis or simply as a snack. Stick in tooth-picks even and serve as party appetizers. Hasini loves paneer, she fishes them out of gravies and chomps on them. I make it easier for her by making these easy to eat roasted paneer.

This is a perfect dish for weekday mornings. Just remember to toss the paneer in the marinade the night before and refrigerate. The next morning, just heat up a pan and shallow fry these paneer pieces till nice and roasted. Don’t worry about over-cooking the paneer. Generally over-cooked paneer turns rubbery, but I was pleasantly surprised that this paneer didn’t turn rubbery. I am guessing the marinating did the trick. This goes into my Somberi series of recipes – a special compilation of easy, no work recipes for lazy people like me. Are you lazy enough? Check out my Somberi series of recipes and see if you’re up to it.

Prep time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 5 mins

Marinating time: 2 hours or overnight

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Paneer/Cottage cheese – 200 gm cubed

Ginger-Garlic paste – 2 tsp

Red chilli powder – ¾ tsp

Lemon Juice – 1 tsp

Water – 2-3 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil – 2 tbsp

Method

1.      In a bowl, mix together ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder, salt and lemon juice. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time to make a marinade of medium consistency neither too thick nor too runny. Drop in the paneer cubes and use your hands to coat the paneer pieces well. Refrigerate overnight or for a minimum of 2 hours.

2.      Heat a tawa and add the oil. When medium hot, arrange the marinated paneer cubes on the tawa/pan and cook on medium low till the paneer pieces turn golden. Gently flip over and cook so that the paneer pieces are roasted on all sides. Remove from tawa and serve hot with steamed rice and dal.