If you’re searching for a delicious and easy-to-follow paneer jalfrezi recipe, look no further than this restaurant style dish. Paneer jalfrezi is a popular North Indian curry made with paneer (a type of fresh cheese), bell peppers, and onions. Serve with naan bread or rice for a complete meal.

Balti dishes with stir fry paneer jalfrezi ready to eat

Restaurant style paneer jalfrezi made by you

Just imagine tucking into the most delicious restaurant standard paneer jalfrezi.

It’s perfectly spiced, it’s packed full of flavor and you just can’t get enough of it.

Now imagine that you made it. Seriously, imagine you made it at home.

We’re going to show you exactly how to cook an exceptionally good paneer jalfrezi.

A vegetarian curry that’s so good that your friends will probably think you’ve bought it in from a high-end restaurant.

A pan of freshly cooked paneer jalfrezi with tomatoes, spinach and onion

Why this works so well

Using paneer cheese in this tasty vegetarian curry works exceptionally well because the cheese absorbs the flavor of the curry.

While you can use shop bought spice mixes, curry base sauces and ginger and garlic paste, we make ours fresh.

This means that the jalfrezi that you cook, will have an awesome fresh flavor.

It really is second to none.

How can I make this vegan?

Paneer cheese isn’t vegan, so if you are cooking for a vegan, you’ll need to substitute this ingredient.

Tofu is probably the best vegan alternative and it’ll work well in your jalfrezi.

What does jalfrezi mean?

Jalfrezi actually means hot fry, which is more like stir fry.

‘Jhal’ is a Benghali word that means spicy

A jalfrezi is an Indian dish that is medium to hot.

It’s usually made with chicken or lamb and uses fresh chilli peppers, tomatoes, and onions but in our vegetarian version, we substitute the chicken or lamb for paneer cheese.

Is jalfrezi a hot curry?

It depends on what you would classify as a hot curry.

Everyone’s tolerance of heat is different but generally speaking this paneer jalfrezi is medium hot.

It’s also amazingly delicious!

Can I use cottage cheese instead of paneer cheese?

No, cottage cheese has far more liquid, you won’t be able to make bite seized chunks with cottage cheese.

If you can’t find paneer cheese, then we recommend substituting it with tofu.

Jalfrezi vs bhuna

Not sure if you want to make our paneer jalfrezi recipe or our bhuna?

Paneer Jalfrezi – green chillies are a big part of this dish and depending on how many you put in, it can go from quite hot to grab a glass of water hot.

If you’re a spicy heat fiend then make paneer jalfrezi!

Vegetable Bhuna – A much milder dish with an incredible flavorsome sauce. If spicy heat isn’t your friend, then you’re better off making this recipe.

How do I store it?

The great thing about this recipe is that you can store it very easily.

Once cooked this keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for around 3 days but you can also freeze our restaurant style paneer jalfrezi recipe.

A balti dish with paneer jalfrezi and jasmine with mint raita

Can I batch cook this?

If you’re going to make paneer jalfrezi, then why not make a batch of it for later use?

This paneer jalfrezi recipe is perfect for batch cooking as you can freeze it.

Don’t forget that elements like the curry base sauce and ginger and garlic paste can also be frozen, making this recipe ideal for batch cooking.

What can I serve with it?

Paneer jalfrezi is a really flexible Indian dish and can be served with so many other dishes.

You can serve it with Saag Aloo which is a spinach and potato side dish, tarka dhal, cauliflower dha, Peshwari naan or plain naan.

Rice is a must and chapati or rotis will all go perfectly with paneer jalfrezi.

How do I make it?

There are four stages to this delicious restaurant style paneer jalfrezi recipe but don’t let that put you off, it’s 100% worth the effort and a lot of the cooking can be done ahead of time.

First, you’ll need to make your curry base sauce, take a look at our recipe and remember you can cook this the day before or you could even cook this well in advance and freeze it until you need it.

Indian restaurant curry sauce in a bowl, fresh ginger, garlic and tomatoes

Secondly, you’ll need to make your fresh ginger and garlic paste. It’s definitely worth making your own as the flavor is so much better than store bought, it really is like night and day.

A spoonful of homemade ginger garlic paste with fresh ginger, garlic cloves and onion

Again, this can be made ahead, it’ll keep for up to three weeks in the fridge or you can freeze it.

Thirdly, you need to make your Indian curry spice mix, this takes just 5 minutes but again, you can make this in advance and store it in a jar.

In our spice mix we have turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, paprika, curry powder, red chilli powder and ground black pepper

Finally, it’s time to cook your restaurant style paneer jalfrezi!

You’ll want to prepare your ingredients first because once you start cooking, you’ll want everything to hand.

Take 3 tbsp of tomato puree and mix it with just enough water that it becomes the same smooth consistency of a good passata sauce.

Next, wash and deseed 125g of green bell pepper. You’ll want to roughly chop them, don’t chop them too small, it’s better to have them quite a good size.

Ingredients for paneer jalfrezi recipe with spices

Now prepare 125g of onions and again, you want to roughly chop these, you don’t want them diced.

Prepare your coriander (cilantro), remove the leaves, and chop enough stems to make 3 tbsp of them. Don’t discard the leaves, you can use them to garnish your paneer jalfrezi later.

Now on to the paneer cheese. Take 450g of paneer cheese and cut it into large bitesize chunks, like big paneer cubes.

We’ve used 400g of chickpeas in our paneer jalfrezi and we’ve used canned chickpeas but of course, you could use dried chickpeas but you’d need to soak them overnight and cook them – we think you could use a break, so why not just use canned?

Remove the stems of 6 birds eye green chilli’s and roughly chop them, your jalfrezi will be hot but if you want to manage the heat you can always de-seed them.

Wash 250g of spinach.

Take 8 cherry tomatoes and cut them in half, then take 4 larger vine tomatoes and cut them into quarters.

Now take a large frying pan and heat 12 tbsps of vegetable oil over medium heat, we know that it sounds a lot but trust us, this is right, you need this amount.

Add your green bell pepper and onions to the oil and stir. Make sure you have your green bell peppers facing skin side down, as you’ll want them to blister.

Once the peppers have blistered and your onion edges have turned brown it’s time to put in 3 tbsps. of your homemade ginger garlic paste.

Cook this until the paste has stopped spitting.

Then just lower the heat slightly and add in 6 tbsps.- of pre-mixed Indian curry spice mix along with half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a teaspoon of paprika, 3 tsps of kasoor methi, one and a half teaspoons of tandoori masala and one and a half teaspoons of flaky sea salt, we use Maldon salt, it’s great.

When you’ve added the spice mix it’s crucial to keep consistently stirring for approximately 30 seconds, don’t let it burn and if it looks like it’s going to, then remove it from the heat.

Now you need to make sure that you turn up the heat to medium high and add in the tomato sauce that you made earlier, stir for 30 – 60 seconds until you see bubbles forming in the sauce.

Now for your pre cooked curry base sauce, add in 1275g but do it slowly, stirring as you add it.

A bowl of curry by following homemade paneer jalfrezi recipe with chapatis, mint raita, rice and chilli peppers

Now add in your paneer cheese, your chickpeas and the birds eye green chilli’s.

Give it a good stir so everything is combined, and the paneer cheese is covered with the wonderful jalfrezi curry sauce and let it simmer away for around 5 minutes.

Finally, add in all of your tomatoes and the spinach, stir again and leave to simmer for a further 5 minutes.

If you’re worried about it all becoming too thick then just add more curry base sauce, don’t add water as you’ll dilute the intensity of the flavor.

Serve in bowls and garnish with a sprinkling of coriander.

You’ve just made restaurant style paneer jalfrezi and you’ll never order another takeaway again!

Bowl of homemade paneer jalfrezi ready to eat

Tips for making it perfect

Don’t overcook the vegetables, remember that a jalfrezi is an Indian stir fry, so you definitely don’t want mushy vegetables.
If you are worried that it’s too dry and thick, then simply add more curry base sauce, do not add water as this dilutes the intensity of the paneer jalfrezi.
Make it vegan by replacing the paneer cheese with tofu.

We hope you enjoy our recipe as much as we do, it really is sensational!

If you need the ingredients converting then press the toggle button underneath the list of ingredients and they’ll instantly convert for you – simple!

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5 from 1 vote

Paneer jalfrezi recipe

This mouth-watering dish is a favorite in Indian restaurants worldwide. Paneer jalfrezi is a delicious, hearty dish made with cubes of paneer (Indian cottage cheese) and vegetables in a spicy sauce. The flavors of the sauce are beautifully balanced, and the dish is perfect for sharing.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Servings

Calories652

Course: Main course

Cuisine: Indian

Author: Jane Chapman | Splash of Taste

Utensils

Sharp knife

Chopping board

Frying pan (skillet)

Ingredients

5½ cups Curry base sauce
3 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
6 tbsps Indian curry spice
3 tbsp Tomato puree
Water
125 g Green bell peppers
125 g Red onions
3 tbsp Coriander stems (cilantro)
4½ oz Paneer cheese
6 oz Chickpeas
6 Birds eye green chilli's
8 cups Spinach
8 Cherry tomatoes
4 Vine tomatoes
¾ cup Vegetable oil
½ tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp Paprika
3 tsp Kasoor methi
1½ tsp Tandoori masala
1½ tsp Flaky sea salt

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

There are four stages to this delicious restaurant style paneer jalfrezi recipe but don't let that put you off, it's 100% worth the effort and a lot of the cooking can be done ahead of time
First, you'll need to make your curry base sauce, take a look at our recipe and remember you can cook this the day before or you could even cook this well in advance and freeze it until you need it
Secondly, you'll need to make your fresh ginger and garlic paste. It's definitely worth making your own as the flavor is so much better than store bought, it really is like night and day. Again, this can be made ahead, it'll keep for up to three weeks in the fridge or you can freeze it
Thirdly, you need to make your Indian curry spice mix, this takes just 5 minutes but again, you can make this in advance and store it in a jar
In our spice mix we have turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, paprika, curry powder, red chilli powder and ground black pepper
You'll want to prepare your ingredients first because once you start cooking, you'll want everything to hand
Take 3 tbsp of tomato puree and mix it with just enough water that it becomes the same smooth consistency of a good passata sauce
Next, wash and deseed 125g of green bell pepper. You'll want to roughly chop them, don't chop them too small, it's better to have them quite a good size
Now prepare 125g of onions and again, you want to roughly chop these, you don't want them diced
Prepare your coriander (cilantro), remove the leaves and chop enough stems to make 3 tbsp of them. Don't discard the leaves, you can use them to garnish your paneer jalfrezi later
Now on to the paneer cheese. Take 450g of paneer cheese and cut it into large bitesize chunks, like big paneer cubes
We've used 400g of chickpeas in our paneer jalfrezi and we've used canned chickpeas but of course, you could use dried chickpeas but you'd need to soak them overnight and cook them – we think you could use a break, so why not just use canned?
Remove the stems of 6 birds eye green chilli's and roughly chop them, your jalfrezi will be hot but if you want to manage the heat you can always de-seed them
Wash 250g of spinach
Take 8 cherry tomatoes and cut them in half, then take 4 larger vine tomatoes and cut them into quarters
Now take a large frying pan and heat 12 tbsps of vegetable oil over medium heat, we know that it sounds a lot but trust us, this is right, you need this amount
Add your green bell pepper and onions to the oil and stir. Make sure you have your green bell peppers facing skin side down, as you'll want them to blister
Once the peppers have blistered and your onion edges have turned brown it's time to put in 3 tbsps of your homemade ginger garlic paste
Cook this until the paste has stopped spitting
Then just lower the heat slightly and add in 6 tbsps of pre-mixed Indian curry spice mix along with a half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a teaspoon of paprika, 3 tsps of kasoor methi, one and a half teaspoons of tandoori masala and one and a half teaspoons of flaky sea salt, we use Maldon salt, it's great
When you've added the spice mix it's crucial to keep consistently stirring for approximately 30 seconds, don't let it burn and if it looks like it's going to, then remove it from the heat
Now you need to make sure that you turn up the heat to medium high and add in the tomato sauce that you made earlier, stir for 30 – 60 seconds until you see bubbles forming in the sauce
Now for your pre cooked curry base sauce, add in 1275g but do it slowly, stirring as you add it
Now add in your paneer cheese, your chickpeas and the birds eye green chillies
Give it a good stir so everything is combined and the paneer cheese is covered with the wonderful jalfrezi curry sauce and let it simmer away for around 5 minutes
Finally, add in all of your tomatoes and the spinach, stir again and leave to simmer for a further 5 minutes
If you're worried about it all becoming too thick then just add more curry base sauce, don't add water as you'll dilute the intensity of the flavor
Serve in bowls and garnish with a sprinkling of coriander
You've just made restaurant style paneer jalfrezi and you'll never order another takeaway again!

Notes

For the nutritional facts for the curry base sauce, ginger garlic paste and Indian spice mix, please refer to the original recipe. See links below.
Don’t overcook the vegetables, remember that a jalfrezi is an Indian stir fry, so you definitely don’t want mushy vegetables.
If you are worried that it’s too dry and thick, then simply add more curry base sauce, do not add water as this dilutes the intensity of the paneer jalfrezi.
Make it vegan by replacing the paneer cheese with tofu.

Recipe for Curry base sauce

Recipe for Ginger garlic paste

Recipe for Indian spice mix

Nutrition

Disclaimer

Please note that nutrient values are estimates only. Variations can occur due to product availability and manner of food preparation. Nutrition may vary based on methods of origin, preparation, freshness of ingredients, and other factors.

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Paneer Jalfrezi Recipe