This nutritious, low in fat, easy vegetarian curry with paneer is a delicious, simple to make dish that comes together in under 30 minutes.
This quick and easy vegetable curry with paneer has a tomato based sauce, contains few spices and no coconut milk.
I absolutely love curry style recipes - they make incredible comfort dishes without necessarily being high in calories. In addition, they are endlessly versatile as well as ideal in vegetarian cooking - you can make a curry with virtually any vegetable.
This quick vegetable curry with paneer has the added advantage of being very uncomplicated and easy to make. Yes, I've taken a few shortcuts but I used good quality fresh ingredients and the result is a healthy delicious, dish that cooks in under 30 minutes and can feed a family! All it needs is a bit of nice basmati rice to go with it (you'll save time if you cook the rice while the curry is quietly simmering away).
Easy vegetable curry with paneer cheese
I love paneer cheese for its wonderful mildly sweetish flavour as well as the fact that it keeps its shape during cooking. This is why it's ideal to add to stews, salads or curries. I can't think of any other cheese with similar characteristics (halloumi is also a great cooking cheese although its high salt content makes it less versatile than paneer, in my opinion), which is what makes paneer so special.
Paneer's texture when cooked reminds me a bit of tofu. In fact, there are more similarities, as both are also good sources of protein. While tofu is a soya product, however, paneer is a cheese, so can't be used in vegan cooking.
How to make easy vegetable curry with paneer: step-by-step
This vegetarian curry recipe takes very little time to prepare. You will only have to chop the fresh ingredients roughly as they get pureed before cooking.
1. Place the garlic, ginger, shallots, tomatoes, chili and red peppers in a blender and puree.
2. Heat up the oil and add the spices.
3. Then simply pour in the pureed mixture, add the salt, stir, cover and bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add the chickpeas and continue cooking for another 15 minutes. In the meantime fry the paneer until lightly browned.
5. Once the sauce is ready simply add the paneer, freshly chopped cilantro, stir and enjoy!
Top tips
- If you are using a small blender puree the sauce ingredients in batches.
- You may not need to use the chili pepper if your curry powder is quite spicy.
- To save time fry the paneer cheese while the curry is bubbling away.
- Herbs: I used cilantro for garnish but other alternatives include thai basil or tarragon (about 2 tablespoons of fresh herbs added into the sauce as it's cooking).
- Freeze individual portions without the paneer (best to add it into the curry straight from the pan) for up to 3 months.
You may have noticed that the list of ingredients is not very long, as far as curries go, especially when it comes to spices. As this is meant to be a quick mid-week dish I opted for a combination of curry powder plus only 3 more spices, which I particularly enjoy in curry dishes: cumin, coriander and turmeric. There are various types of curry powders in the shops so just use your favourite.
What I also love about this easy veggie curry recipe is that it can be enjoyed the next day too. That's if there are any leftovers...
More easy vegetarian curry style recipes
- Vegan Tofu Curry with Peas
- Curried Lentils with Coconut Milk & Vegetables
- Easy Curried Quinoa with Peas (Vegan)
- Sweet Potato Dhal with Halloumi
Check out also this collection of over 12 healthy vegetarian pasta meals.
Keep in touch!
Have you made this quick vegetarian curry? I'd love to know how it turned out for you. Let me know in the comments below, thanks!
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Quick Vegetable Curry with Paneer
Ingredients
- 4 medium shallots peeled
- 4 garlic cloves peeled
- 1.5 tbsp fresh ginger peeled, chopped
- 3 small/medium ripe tomatoes
- ½ red bell pepper
- 4 tbsp tomato puree
- ½ red chilli use more if you want to add more heat
- 400 g (14.11 oz) 1 can chickpeas drained
- 250 g paneer cheese cubed
- 4-5 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1.5 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp each: turmeric and coriander powder
- 1 tsp curry powder any
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Small bunch fresh cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- Roughly chop the shallots, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, bell pepper and chilli, place in a blender and puree until the mixture is relatively smooth.
- In a large saucepan heat up 3 tablespoons of oil, add the bay leaf, curry powder, cumin, coriander powder and turmeric, stir, then add the tomato mixture, tomato puree, salt and stir. Cover and bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the chickpeas and continue simmering for 15 more minutes.
- In a large frying pan heat up the remaining oil, add the paneer and fry over a medium heat for a few minutes stirring often, until the pieces are lightly browned. Add to the curry along with the cilantro. Stir through and serve.
Notes
- If you are using a small blender puree the sauce ingredients in batches.
- You may not need to use the chili pepper if your curry powder is quite spicy.
- To save time fry the paneer cheese while the curry is bubbling away.
- Herbs: I used cilantro for garnish but other alternatives include thai basil or tarragon (about 2 tablespoons of fresh herbs added into the sauce as it's cooking).
- Freeze individual portions without the paneer (best to add it into the curry straight from the pan) for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is automatically generated and should be considered as an estimate.
**A note about baking: If using a fan-assisted oven refer to your appliance's instructions and adjust the temperature accordingly.
Nico @ yumsome
What a beautifully simple and hearty curry, Monika. It looks so delicious! xx
Monika
Thank you, Nico:)
petra08
This is my kind of food! It sounds brilliant, and the spice combination sounds delicious 🙂
Monika
Thank you Petra:)
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie
A super easy, fuss free curry in under 30 minutes? Definitely sounds like my kind of recipe!! Was lovely to see you last week 🙂 albeit briefly. We'll have to catch up for longer next time. Also congratulations on your latest Foodies100 score - that's a massive jump!! (What's your secret???) Seriously, you must be super happy. You seem to be having a rather fab autumn...what with poultry award win too! Eb x
Monika
Thanks Eb! Yes, I would have liked to chat a little more last week, too, I'm sure there'll be other opportunities to meet in the future. As for the massive jump, I am shocked, I wish I had a secret strategy but I really don't, part of me is thinking this is a mistake, but for the moment I am happy:)
Zeba@Food For The Soul
This is a lovely recipe Monika...although I have made paneer curry with green peas but never with chickpeas. Sound very delicious and healthy. Will try it out.
Monika
Thank you Zeba, I think paneer is so versatile it can be paired with a huge range of ingredients:)
NoPlateLikeHome.com
This looks and sounds delicious. I'm not a chick pea lover (although I love hummus) but, I'd definitely eat this.
Monika
Thank you!
Jhuls
I don’t think I have tried anything with paneer. I love that this recipe doesn’t need much amount of time to prepare and cook! What a lovely recipe to bring at this week’s Fiesta Friday party! Thanks for sharing, Monika!
Monika
Thank you Jhuls, paneer is SO good, and it's just perfect for cooking and adding to dishes.
hijackedbytwins
Oooh paneer, delicious! This looks so good Monika! Thank you for sharing with #cookblogshare x
Monika
Thanks Kirsty:)
jennypaulin
I have never eaten paneer before but I imagine how well it takes on the curry flavours in this dish. The curry looks so delicious and hearty Monika, and I love how simple it is to make x
Monika
Thank you Jenny! Paneer is amazing, ideal for cooking with, if you like cheese I am sure you'd love it.
Corina
It looks and sounds delicious! THis is exactly the type of easy midweek meal that I love to make and so much the better that it makes such great leftovers too - I do think curry is one of the best things to heat up the next day as the flavours are often even better. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
Monika
Thank you and you are welcome! I totally agree about curries being the ideal cook once eat twice dishes.
CakePants
This looks so fragrant and filling! I don't have many quick curries like this in my current repertoire, but I do love eating them. I'll have to give this a try once the weather gets a bit cooler!
Monika
Thank you! It's definitely gotten cooler here so I've been making lots of warming dishes such as this one lately.
Alison's Allspice
Your curry looks delicious! I love that you used both chickpeas and paneer, my favorites!
Monika
Thank you Alison!
Millicent Aboagye
I just finished cooking this flexitarian stew. It's more than delicious and simple to make. I do love the taste.. I wanted to share the photos in the comments on your Facebook page, but unfortunately it wasn't possible.
Monika
Thank you! I'd love to see the photos, have you tried sharing them on Twitter?
mrs_peejay
LOVE paneer! It's one of my favourite ingredients!
Monika
So do I!
Donna (@bobsysmum)
I'm a huge meat lover, but when it comes to curry, sometimes I find the flavours are better with a veggie option. This looks lovely, I'm going to pin it for next time I fancy trying a curry! #cookblogshare
Monika
Thank you! And thanks for stopping by:)
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food
I am also a big fan of paneer—for exactly the same reasons! I love the simplicity of this dish. I'll be making it on a weeknight in the very near future! I might have to hide some of this from the fam so I can #CookOnceEatTwice. The leftovers are sure to be even yummier!
Monika
Thank you Michelle! Hope you like it if you do get to make it:)