Paneer recipes are the most loved and favourable dishes. They are prepared on occasions of celebration as paneer is considered to be a special ingredient. Though being a versatile ingredient, Paneer is easy and convenient to make.
The recipe shared here is ‘Paneer Do Pyaza’, which has a thick gravy and the paneer is slightly toasted in oil before adding it to the gravy. Since it is a dhaba-style recipe, there are plenty of spices used which enhance the flavours and the amount of garam masala used in the recipe is slightly more in quantity than in any other recipes. The flavour of this dish is a bit sweet and savoury because of the use of sliced onions.
There are a lot of onions used in its preparation, both as a garnish and cooked in the curry. The term comes from the fact that onions are added twice when cooking ("two onions"). The dish is said to have been made when a courtier of Mughal emperor Akbar, Mullah Do Piaza, unintentionally added a lot of onions to the dish. In Hyderabad, India, the dish underwent additional development and became a mainstay of Hyderabadi cooking. Dopiaza, like many other Hyderabadi recipes, benefits greatly from the addition of a sour ingredient. Raw mangoes are used most frequently, although one may also use lemon juice or cranberries.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
For shallow frying the paneer
- Paneer 750 gm
- Oil for shallow frying
- Water
- Salt to taste
For making do pyaza
- 1 tsp Ghee 2 tbsp + oil
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1 inch Cinnamon stick
- 2 Hari elaichi (green cardamom)
- 3-4 Laung (Cloves)
- 3-4 Black Peppercorns
- 1 Badi elaichi
- ½ tsp Hing
- 5-6 medium size Onions (sliced)
- 3 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder
- 4 medium size Tomatoes (chopped)
- Salt to taste
- ½ cup Curd
- 1 tbsp Red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp Coriander powder
- 1 tsp Fennel powder
- 1 tsp Cumin powder
- Hot Water as required
- Fried paneer
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- 1 tsp Kasuri methi
Onion chilli tempering
- 1 tbsp Ghee
- 1 tsp Jeera
- 1 tsp Coriander seed (crushed)
- 2-3 Green chillies (slit)
- 1-2 Dry Kashmiri red chillies
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- ½ cup Onion petals
- 1 tbsp Fresh coriander leaves (chopped)
Method Of Preparation
For shallow frying the paneer
- Cut the paneer in a 4cm × 4 cm slab or you could also choose to cut it into cubes as per your preference
- Shallow fry the paneer until golden brown or crisp layer formed on both the sides
- Transfer it to salted lukewarm water and immerse it for 10 minutes
For the gravy
- Set a wok on medium heat, add ghee and the whole spices and sauté it for a minute, add hing, sliced onions and cook until the onions are almost golden brown
- Next, add ginger garlic paste and sauté until the onions are completely golden brown, further add turmeric and cook for few minutes
- Now add the tomatoes and salt to taste, cook it really well until they are mushy and the ghee separates from the masala
- Take a separate bowl, add curd and powdered spices and mix well, lower the flame and add this to the wok, stir it continuously for 2-3 minutes, cook on medium low heat until the curd is cooked and the ghee separates from masala
- Adjust the consistency of the gravy by adding hot water, stir and cook further for 3-4 minutes and bring to a boil
- Add the paneer in the wok, mix gently and further add, garam masala and kasuri methi, cook for 1-2 minutes
- Set a separate tadka pan on medium high heat, add ghee, jeera crushed coriander, dry Kashmiri chilli, onion petals and slit green chillies, sauté them for a minute and add the tempering immediately over the paneer gravy, stir gently for a minute and further cover and cook on low medium heat for 1-2 minutes
- Finally finish it with some freshly chopped coriander leaves, your paneer do pyaza is ready to be served, serve it hot with laccha paratha, roti or any Indian bread of your choice
Serve it with garlic naan and there you have a perfect meal combo.