Healthy paneer jalfrezi is my take on the classic Indian jalfrezi dish Not only have I made it healthier, but I’ve used paneer cheese too making it also suitable for vegetarians.
I suppose I could be (and probably will be 🙄 ) criticised in that a classic jalfrezi should have some kind of marinated meat, then usually the meat is stir fried, with onions, peppers and green chillies.
But as I said, this is my take, I wanted to make it a vegetarian curry, and in my defence it does have the onions, peppers and green chillies! Plus it’s still absolutely delicious!!
In no way am I against meat, but as part of our 80/20 rule, Lynne and I try to only have red meat as a minimum once a week, sometimes less, favouring instead a diet rich in vegetables and lean meats. In essence quite close to the Mediterranean diet, just lacking as much sun, 🙁 here in Scotland!
You could use marinated meat in this recipe, absolutely, yes, but for now, this healthy paneer jalfrezi is vegetarian. 😉
I recommend serving this healthy paneer jalfrezi with my naan breads, but this dish is delicious with rice too. 🙂
- Low calorie oil spray
- 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 3 fresh chopped green chillies with their seeds removed
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 ripe medium sized tomatoes chopped
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- ¼ tsp flaked sea salt
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 medium onion cut into wedges
- ½ red pepper deseeded and cut into chunks
- ½ green pepper deseeded and cut into chunks
- 130 ml cold water
- 2 tbsp 0% fat yogurt
- 250 g paneer cheese cut into 3cm x 1.5cm pieces
- 1 chopped tomato cut into 8 wedges
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp . freshly chopped coriander for garnishing
- Spray the bottom of a large wok / frying pan with the oil spray, about 5 times.
- Add the ginger and garlic paste, chopped green chillies and the cumin seeds and stir fry for 1 – 2 minutes. Add splashes of hot water if the mixture begins to stick.
- Add the 2 chopped tomatoes and stir fry everything together until the tomatoes are soft.
- Add the garam masala, ground turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder, sea salt and sugar and stir fry for a further 1 – 2 minutes.
- Add the onions and peppers, stir fry for a further 3 – 4 minutes.
- Add the water and yogurt, then turn down the heat under the wok allowing the vegetables to simmer together for about 5 minutes.
- Add the paneer to the vegetables and gently, so as not to break up the cheese, stir everything together for about 5 minutes.
- Finally add the 8 pieces of tomato and white wine vinegar, heat through thoroughly.
- Remove to serving dishes and garnish with the freshly chopped coriander.
Halloumi cheese can be substituted for the paneer cheese, if not available.
I mentioned in my previous post that we have friends coming down from Dundee this Saturday for a “curry fest”. But, this healthy paneer jalfrezi isn’t one of the curries I’m making. Nope, I’m already planning this one for next time 😆 .The ones we are having, are from the curry section of my recipes. Seriously looking forward to all that deliciousness!
Just can’t decide on what to do for pudding though…..
Hope you have a great weekend (I know we will). Catch up with you next week! 😀
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I really like curries, but it can be hard for me to find one that my stomach can handle.That is one of the reason that I haven’t done paneer dishes that much–the cheese. But I feel like this could be a great entry level option for me!
Hey Susie, thanks for dropping into my site. 🙂
This dish is medium spicy, so if I were you and making it, I might cut down or omit some of the spices, or at least the chopped green chillies? For Crohn’s Disease (and I am certainly no expert here) but, I guess if you are avoiding dairy, you could substitute the paneer with some lean beef? I’ve made it with that before and it was good too?
Thanks for following me too, love your site! 😀
Sounds delicious! I love paneer and really need to try making it myself one day. I have kosher salt, that will work for flaked sea salt… as for Kashmiri chilli powder, do you know of a close substitute? Ah Googled it – looks like I could use Hungarian Paprika in place of it. Thanks for the healthy recipe!
Hi Christine, I used to use just a small amount of ordinary red mild chilli powder before I got the Kashmiri chilli powder from an Indian store. It was fine. But yeah, I guess the Hungarian Paprika would be good too.
Love to hear any feedback from you if you get a chance to make this. 🙂
Neil, your Paneer Jalfrezi sounds delicious! Love all the spices you used in here – makes for a comforting and oh so flavorful dish!
I’d never tried Paneer until I started dong a lot more Indian cooking a few years ago Shashi and it’s something that is on our menu quite a lot now as a substitute for meat!