Paneer Bhurji

Bhurji (scramble) is one of my favorite things to make. It's quick to put together and it never disappoints. However, this past weekend I had a close call while making egg bhurji (Indianized version of scrambled eggs). One of my friends who is a health freak had only egg whites at his place. I think he was trying to compensate for all the other holiday indulgences by doing so :).

Anyway, we were trying to make egg bhurji with these egg whites and since we were a large group, we used two cartons of egg beaters whites. Normally bhurji is ready in a few minutes after you add the beaten eggs to the onion and tomato mixture, but this one showed no signs of getting there even after 20 mins or so. No matter how long we cooked it, there was still some watery residue left. So we gave up and just covered up the residue with what had actually scrambled which was not that bad.

To get over this unfortunate bhurji experience quickly, I decided to make paneer bhurji. This is A's mom's recipe and is quite fail-proof. The spice which makes a difference in this bhurji from other recipes is the addition of kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves which can be found in any Indian grocery store). If you don't like this flavor or its hard to find, you can skip it.

This bhurji is great accompanied with some hot chappatis/naans. I have also used it as a filling for a vegetarian version of these puffs.

Here is the recipe. Its my fifth entry for the Recipe Marathon on One Hot Stove.

Ingredients:

1 cup paneer crumbles
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1 chopped tomato
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch of kasuri methi (optional)

- Heat oil and saute the onion
- When soft add ginger and garlic and saute for a little bit more.
- Add chopped tomato and all spices and salt.
- Add the paneer and mix well
- Cook for another min or two and then add some crushed kasuri methi.