Paneer Ghotala Recipe, Surati Veg Ghotala
Are you ready for paneer ghotala — your new favourite breakfast dish? Picture creamy and mild crumbled paneer cheese mixed with golden crisp fried cubes, all in a tomatoey, warm and comforting sauce punctured with garlic and fresh coriander. It’s no wonder this Gujarati street food is such a hit!
❓What is Paneer Ghotala?
Paneer ghotala is a famous street food dish from Surat, in Gujarat. It’s made with paneer, a mild and semi-hard Indian cheese that doesn’t melt under heat.
Sometimes paneer ghotala is referred to as veg ghotala. That’s because the other widespread iteration of this dish, anda ghotala or egg ghotala, isn’t considered vegetarian, since most Indian vegetarians avoid eggs.
In Hindi, “ghotala” means “mess,” referencing the dish preparation — everything is mixed together into a big (very delicious) mess!
Paneer Bhurji vs Paneer Ghotala
Paneer bhurji is another beloved street food dish often eaten for breakfast. Similarly, it’s a vegetarian version of the classic Indian scrambled eggs, known as anda bhurji or egg bhurji.
At first glance, the two recipes can seem quite similar. Both contain scrambled paneer, after all!
However, paneer ghotala and paneer bhurji have some distinctive differences. Firstly, in paneer ghotala, I love to use four different textures of paneer: crumbled paneer, grated paneer, small fried cubes of paneer, and larger chunks of paneer. Unique to this recipe, these textures mimic anda ghotala, which often uses scrambled eggs, grated boiled eggs, and a fried egg to garnish.
On the other hand, paneer bhurji only uses one paneer texture: scrambled or grated paneer.
It’s a small change — but it has a massive effect on the eating experience. Plus, I don’t include any cream in my paneer ghotala, whereas it’s vital for paneer bhurji.
🧀 Paneer Ghotala Ingredients
Because paneer ghotala is a street food recipe, its ingredients are relatively straightforward. If you cook my Indian recipes on a regular basis, you’ll already have everything stocked in your cupboards — and if not, nothing will be hard to find in your local grocery store or Asian market.
- Paneer is the primary ingredient. Use homemade paneer or fresh, soft (malai) paneer for the best effect. I’ve used many brands and harder paneer just isn’t as tasty in paneer ghotala. We’re going to crumble, grate, and cube the paneer for this recipe, leaving some raw while we give others a golden-brown crust for some textural variation.
- Oil is a flavour carrier that’s going to bring out the best of our ground spices and other ingredients. Use a neutral oil with a high smoke point.
- Onion adds a subtle sweetness and contributes body to the sauce of this paneer ghotala.
- Ginger garlic paste adds a background butteriness and slightly peppery warmth.
- Fresh coriander (cilantro in the U.S.) is used not only for garnishing, but we also gently saute the stems along with our onions and ginger garlic paste.
- Tomato brings a hint of tanginess to the paneer ghotala that cuts through the natural creaminess of paneer. Use fresh, good-quality tomatoes — no tinned/canned here, please.
- Ground spices such as coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, and cumin powder each build layers of complexity within the curry.
- Water adjusts the consistency of our sauce.
🍞 Optional Extras
If you want to serve the paneer ghotala with pav — which I highly recommend — you’ll need just a few more ingredients:
- Pav are soft Indian bread rolls used in many street food dishes like vada pav and misal pav. If, like me, you can’t find pav locally, you can substitute these for any soft bread rolls.
- Butter gives the pav an unbelievable flavour.
- Red chilli powder sprinkled on the butter while frying the pav gives them just a hint of spicy warmth. It’s optional, but highly authentic to street food vendors!
🔄 Allergies and Substitutions
The recipe for paneer ghotala is 100% gluten-free. However, since the dish is usually served with bread rolls, you’ll have to substitute standard bread rolls with a gluten-free version. Your local grocery store should have a few to choose from, or, alternatively, you can serve paneer ghotala with rice.
Furthermore, paneer ghotala is completely nut free and soy free, which is great news! That means it’s ideal for packed lunches (I’m aware many schools and workplaces don’t allow foods with nuts) and suitable for anyone with nut allergies.
Unfortunately, paneer ghotala isn’t vegan, since paneer is a dairy-based cheese. You can switch paneer with homemade extra-firm tofu to make a plant-based version of this dish with minimal effort.
🧑🍳 How to Make Paneer Ghotala
If you want to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible and still serve mouth-watering dishes, this paneer ghotala recipe is for you. While crumbling and grating the paneer takes a few minutes, the whole dish comes together in less than 30 minutes. And that’s an incredibly short time for such a beautiful-tasting dish!
Besides, the method is straightforward, even for beginner cooks. There’s nothing to be nervous about here. We even add the spices after the tomatoes to reduce the risk of burnt, bitter spices — one of the major hurdles when cooking any curry recipe.
- Prep the paneer by crumbling and grating 200g, and cutting the remaining 200g into both small and large cubes. Fry both sizes of cubes until golden brown and set aside.
- Make the paneer ghotala base by heating oil in a large kadai or non-stick pan over medium heat until hot. Gently sauté the onions and chopped coriander. Next, add the ginger garlic paste, mixing until the raw smell fades. Add the tomatoes and salt, cooking until the tomatoes become soft and mushy. Add the dried spices and fry for a few seconds, then adjust the consistency with water.
- Add the grated, crumbled, and cubed paneer to the curry and simmer until it reaches your desired consistency.
- If serving with pav, melt butter on a tawa with a pinch of chilli powder, and fry the pav until lightly crisp.
You can find more detailed steps in the recipe card below.
Cookware You Need
🫓 How to Serve Paneer Ghotala
My absolute favourite way to serve paneer ghotala is illustrated in my photos. Just imagine paneer ghotala paired with soft, buttery pav and crisp onions to nibble. The warm, comforting, earthy, and spicy curry sauce tastes unbelievably good soaked into the fluffy bread rolls. Spoon those chunks of paneer on top and you have a mouthful worth drooling over.
However, paneer ghotala also tastes fantastic mixed with plain steamed rice, jeera fried rice, or takeaway-style pilau (pulao) rice. Not to mention chapati, coriander naan (my personal runner-up choice), or even stuffed-in pita sandwiches — I’ve done this many times for picnics.
A key element that stands out so much is this paneer ghotala is incredibly versatile.
😍 This Recipe Is:
Paneer Ghotala Recipe, Surati Veg Ghotala
Ingredients
For Frying the Paneer
- ½ tablespoon oil
- 200 g paneer cubed; half smaller, half large
For the Paneer Ghotala Gravy
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 80 g onion finely diced
- Handful coriander cilantro in the U.S., finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 large tomato finely diced
- Sea salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 300 ml water
- 200 g paneer half grated and half crumbled
For the Pav
- 6 pav or soft bread rolls
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 pinch red chilli powder
Instructions
- Cut half of the 200 g paneer into tiny cubes, then take the remaining half and cut into larger cubes.
- Heat ½ tablespoon oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium flame. Once hot, fry the small and large cubes of paneer until golden brown. Set the paneer aside. No need to cook the crumbled or grated paneer.
- Over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon oil to a large kadai or deep-sided non-stick frying pan. Once the oil is hot, gently sauté 80 g onion (chopped) until soft. Add a Handful coriander (chopped) and 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste, mixing until the raw smell of the paste fades. Next, add 1 large tomato (chopped) along with Sea salt (to taste), and cook, stirring constantly, until the tomatoes become soft and "jammy."
- Add ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, and ½ teaspoon cumin powder. Stir well and cook until the raw smell fades, but be careful not to burn.
- Firstly, add 300 ml water. Then, add 200 g paneerhalf grated, half crumbled) to the pan. Simmer on low-medium heat, until you reach the desired consistency.
- Garnish with more chopped coriander if you like.
- Take 6 pav. Cut each pav through the middle and heat 1 tablespoon butter on a tawa or frying pan over medium heat. Once it melts, add 1 pinch red chilli powder. Place the pav on the frying pan, facing downwards, and cook until lightly crisp and buttery.
- Serve hot with extra chopped onions and lemon segments.
