Paneer stuffed jalapeno Curry. The mild mellow, slightly sweetish tomato and cashew curry offsets the heat from the stuffed peppers. It’s dish to entertain with, a great vegetarian entree for those fancy days with a bodacious personality.
I run down the stairs to the door bell. The grocery guy has just pulled over the driveway. I wait till he leaves the produce and take all precautions to bring it in. A quick scan: milk, butter, 7 cucumbers(hmm I didn’t order that much, but I was ok), greek yogurt- check, a huge relief! I go to the next bag with my clear gloves on and stand confused. Four tomatoes and 3 pounds of jalapenos?!! What!!
After a few moments of annoyance and a close call for a massive tantrum, then the realization for the many possible things to come up with the three pound jalapeno bag were emotions all in a minute as I stared at the bag staring back at me.
So Lunch. Paneer and jalapenos. Dinner: Stuffed Jalapeno in this curry. Next day, was stuffed jalapenos bajjis. And I was still left with at least a pound. Thankful that the boys loved the stuffed jalapenos and asked for a repeat. To think that this is a recipe I’ve been making for my vegetarian guests for parties, for years and don’t have it on my blog….It’s a sign. The right time has to come or the three pounds of jalapenos needed to be in my life to get this post up. That pleasure was geniune. I could post my favorite vegetarian party recipe, Jalapeno stuffed Paneer Curry.
There’s a visual appeal to peppers. Sexy in a way. So, this dish I’d say is a sexy curry! A dish which is an amalgamation of few dishes: stuffed okra, mirch ka salan and stuffed peppers.
The best part, make one stuffing and you have three dishes. Pakoras, dry stuffed jalapeno and this amazingly smooth curry.
Paneer Stuffed Jalapeno Curry
As know you, jalapeños can be unpredictable. It’s possible to end up with a batch of mild peppers with almost no heat… Or to happen upon fire-hot peppers that are hard to enjoy.
I suggest making this stuffed jalapeños recipe with a combination of fresh jalapeños and sweet mini bell peppers so that everyone at your party can enjoy them, including the kids and weaklings.
Make sure to remove the veins and seeds if you want to make it mild. Make a slit, stuff it liberally. At this point, bake, air fry or pan fry to cook it.
- 12-14 jalapenos
- Paneer - 1 cup grated
- Small Potatoes - 3 boiled and mashed
- 2 tbsp crushed roasted peanuts
- Ginger - 1 tsp grated
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 tsp toasted cumin powder
- ⅓ tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ lemon juice
- 1 small onion, quartered
- 2 medium sized tomatoes, quartered
- ⅓ cup cashews
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 green chillies
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger garlic paste
- ⅓ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp dried crushed kasoori meethi
- cilantro to garnish
- In a mixing bowl, add the paneer, boiled and mashed potatoes, peanuts, ginger, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, salt and lemon juice. Mix it well so there's no concentrated pockets of spices.
- Make a vertical slit on the jalapenos. At this point using a small spoon take out the seeds and the white membrane if you want mild jalapenos. I like it hot, so I don't remove it.
- Stuff the jalapenos with the paneer mixture quite liberally.
- At this point you can pan fry the jalapenos on medium heat with some oil, cover and cook it or bake it at 400 degrees for 15 minutes in the oven brushed with oil to cook it. I air fryed it at 360 for 15 minutes spraying it with oil.
- Set aside.
- In a sauce pan, add the onion, tomatoes, cashews, cumin seeds, green chillies, salt and 2 cups of water. Let it come to a boil, simmer and let it cook for 15 minutes or until the water is reduced to a cup. Switch off the heat.
- Once it cools down, grind it to a smooth puree.
- In a pan, add 2 tbsp of oil, add the ginger garlic paste. Be cautious, it spits a lot. Keep stirring and cooking the paste for the raw flavors to go away. Add the ground paste, turmeric, chili powder, garam masala, 1 cup of water and check for salt. Bring this to a boil and cook it down to a thick curry consistency. Finish it off by crushing some dried meethi leaves.
- Pour it in a baking dish, arrange the jalapenos and you can bake it for 5 minutes just before serving or just drop the jalapenos in the curry, let it soak for an hour.
- Serve with naan, paratha or roti.
If you make this Paneer Mirchi Curry/Paneer stuffed Jalapeno Curry *Please do tag me on Instagram @foodfashionparty if you make this, using the hashtag #foodfashionparty. Check out my book MASALA AND MEATBALLS.
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