Paneer Pasanda definitely comes on top in the list of paneer curry recipes. The star of this dish is Paneer Sandwiches or Paneer Pasanda as we call. A thick slice of paneer is stuffed with cheese, dried fruits and herbs which is then coated with cornstarch battar and shallow fried. They are soft from inside and crunchy from outside. Well, you can serve them as an appetizer with some mint chutney and they will be delectable. In this recipe, Paneer Pasandas are served in aromatic onion-tomato gravy which is creamy and mildly spicy. It can be relished with soft naans, rotis or rice.
This recipe looks little lengthy but it actually is not difficult and time consuming. It has 4 steps : preparing onion paste, preparing tomato paste, making paneer pasanda and bringing together the main gravy. And if they are followed correctly, I can guarantee a delicious restaurant quality dish. You can substitute simple cubes of fried paneer instead of going through and making pasandas. But those pasandas being the main part of the dish, I would suggest you to give that extra effort and time. It will definitely make the dish look more exotic and scrumptious.
Step 1: It is important to brown the onions. You can add salt to it which will help fasten the process of browning. Just use very little water to grind into smooth paste. It should be thick and smooth paste.
Step 2: Boil tomatoes and cashews till they are soft. Blend it to smooth paste. You can also pass it through sieve if you see too many seeds.
Step 3: Even though onions and tomatoes are already cooked before making paste, it is again cooked in with spices, until the water from the paste is evaporated and oil starts separating. It is then thinned with water adjusting the consistency. Keep in mind, the gravy should be on little thinner side as it is served with thick chunks of pasandas.
Step 4: You can make stuffing of processed cheese, green chutney and dried fruits. I have used grated paneer, mint and coriander leaves and dried fruits as that is what I had on hand at that moment. But both works fine. Cut paneer pieces into half and stuff them like sandwich. Do not press the slices too hard, it will bring the stuffing out. Dip them in cornstarch batter and shallow fry them. Make sure the oil is hot as you don’t want to cook paneer too long. That makes paneer chewy and tough. It should just get golden-ish color on top and still soft from inside.
Paneer Pasanda
Ingredients
For Onion Paste
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp oil to fry onions
- 2-3 tbsp water to grind onions
For Tomato Paste
- 3 medium tomatoes chopped
- 10-12 cashews
- 1 green chili whole
- 1/2 cup water to boil tomatoes
For Paneer Sandwiches or Pasandas
- Paneer cut into triangle and 1/2 inch width
- 1/4 cup green chili-mint chutney or 2 tbsp each of coriander and mint leaves
- 1/4 cup grated paneer or processed cheese
- 1 green chili chopped
- 2 tbsp cashews chopped
- 2 tbsp raisins chopped
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- Oil for shallow frying
For Paneer Pasanda Gravy
- 2-3 tbsp oil or ghee
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 1/2 tbsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp green cardamom powder
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp kasoori methi leaves
- 1/4 cup cream or half&half
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- Salt to taste
Instructions
For Onion Paste
- In a skillet over medium heat, add oil and cook sliced onions till they turn golden brown.
- To speed the process, add salt to it and keep stirring occasionally so onions brown evenly.
- Add ginger and garlic paste to it and cook it for 2 minutes. Let the mixture cool.
- In a blender, puree the mixture adding water just enough to get smooth paste.
For Tomato Paste
- In a sauce pan, combine tomatoes, green chili, cashews and water.
- Bring everything to boil and cook until tomatoes are soften. Let it cool.
- In a blender, puree the mixture to smooth paste. Do not add any water.
For Paneer Sandwiches or Pasandas
- In a small bowl, mix together grated paneer or grated processed cheese, green chutney(alternatively can use chopped coriander and mint leaves), cashews, raisins, chopped green chili and salt to taste.
- Cut Paneer into triangles and 1/2 inch width. Horizontally cut each paneer pieces in half and stuff them forming a sandwich.
- Make corn starch slurry or batter by mixing water and corn starch together.
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat for shallow frying paneer sandwiches.
- Dip each paneer piece in corn starch slurry and carefully place it in hot oil. Note: stir the slurry before using as corn starch settles below.
- Fry until they turn light golden in color flipping them in between. This takes less then a minute on each side. Do not over cook as that makes paneer hard.
- Take them out on an absorbent paper.
For Paneer Pasanda Gravy
- Heat oil or ghee in a skillet and add bay leaf, black cardamom and cinnamon stick to it.
- Add onion paste to it and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add tomato-cashew paste to it and let it cook until the mixture is dry. This step takes sometime but it is very important to let the mixture dry out completely.
- Once you see some oil or ghee separating, mix in red chili powder, turmeric powder and garam masala.
- To form gravy, add some water adjusting the consistency and bring it to boil. Add salt to taste.
- Add sugar, cardamom powder and kasoori methi to it. Turn off the flame and put cream or half&half to it. Mix well and turn off the heat.
- You can add the paneer pasandas in the gravy or you can take the gravy out in a platter or bowl and place paneer sandwiches on top.
Notes
- If tomatoes have too many seeds and the puree is not smooth, pass it through a sieve.
