Paneer pasanda recipe. Paneer pasanda recipe is a rich and tasty shallow fried stuffed paneer sandwiches in a creamy, smooth onion and tomato sauce. This is a restaurant style recipe of paneer pasanda.
For past many years, making paneer pasanda was on my list. I just didn’t because the recipe takes a long time to prepare. But I finally did.
Paneer pasanda is therefore not for your daily kitchen. Yes, it takes a long time, if you prepare this dish on your own. If you have help at home, the time is very much reduced. So I suggest making this for special occasions or when you have guests at your house or for festive occasions.
Ingredients
For the Paneer sandwiches
▢ 250 grams of Paneer (cottage cheese)
▢ 2-2.5 tablespoons crumbled or grated paneer, can replace grated cheese instead of paneer
▢ 1 tablespoon raisins – chopped
▢ 6 to 8 cashews – finely chopped or 2 tablespoons finely chopped cashews
▢ 1 or 2 chopped green peppers, or about 1 teaspoon chopped green peppers
▢ 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
▢ ½ tablespoon chopped mint leaves
▢ ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
▢ ½ teaspoon ground cumin
▢ ¼ teaspoon of salt or add as needed
▢ 4 tablespoons of oil for frying
For the cornstarch paste
▢ ½ cup of cornstarch
▢ 4 tablespoons of water
Onion paste
▢ 2 medium to large onions or 150 grams of onions or 1 cup of domed chopped onions
▢ 2 tablespoons of oil
▢ 4 to 5 tablespoons of water to grind the fried onions. add more if necessary
Tomato Paste For Paneer Pasanda
▢ 3 medium to large tomatoes or 250 grams of tomatoes or 1.75 cups of coarsely chopped tomatoes
▢ 10 to 12 cashews – halved or coarsely chopped
▢ ½ inch cinnamon (dalchini)
▢ 2 green cardamoms
▢ 2 single thin strands of mace
▢ 2 cloves
▢ 1 cup of water for cooking the tomatoes
To make Paneer Pasanda gravy
▢ 1 to 1.5 tablespoon fried oil or fresh oil
▢ ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahjeera) – replace the cumin (jeera) if the shahjeera is not there
▢ 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
▢ ½ inch ginger + 3-4 garlic – crushed into a paste in a mortar-pestle or 1-1.5 teaspoon ginger garlic paste (adrak lahsun ka paste)
▢ ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder
▢ ½ teaspoon of Kashmiri red pepper powder or deghi mirch
▢ ½ teaspoon coriander powder (ground coriander)
▢ ¼ teaspoon of garam masala
▢ ¼ to ½ teaspoon of sugar or to taste
▢ 1 teaspoon crushed kasuri methi
▢ 1 cup of water
▢ 2 tablespoons low fat cream, 25% to 35% fat
▢ 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves for garnish (Coriander leaves)
▢ salt as needed
Instructions
Make tomato paste
- In a frying pan or kadai, take 1.75 cups of coarsely chopped tomatoes, 1/2 inch of cinnamon, 2 green cardamoms, 2 single sprigs of mace, 10 to 12 halved or coarsely chopped cashews, 2 cloves and 1 cup of water.
- Over low to medium heat, mix and simmer this mixture until the tomatoes soften.
- When the tomatoes soften, turn off the heat. A little broth will remain in the pan and we will use it to crush the tomatoes. Allow this mixture to cool completely before grinding.
- Add the cooked tomato-cashew-spice mixture with the broth. Addition of extra water during grinding is not needed.
- Grind into a smooth paste. There should be no lumps or pieces of cashews in the paste. Keep this paste aside.
Make onion paste
- Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and add 1 cup of domed chopped onions.
- Mix and brown the onions over low heat. Add a little salt to make the onions brown faster.
- Once the onions turn lightly golden, turn off the heat. Let the onions cool. Now, in a bowl of grinder, take the fried onions and add 4 to 5 tablespoons of water.
- Then, grind the fried onions into a smooth paste. Keep this paste aside.
Assemble and stuff the Paneer sandwiches
- In a bowl or plate, take 2 to 2.5 tablespoons of crumbled or grated paneer, 1 tablespoon of chopped raisins, 6 to 8 finely chopped cashews or 2 tablespoons finely chopped cashews, 1 or 2 chopped green chillies or about 1 teaspoon chopped green peppers, 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves and 1/2 tablespoon chopped mint leaves.
- Now add 1/4 teaspoon of red chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt or add as needed. Mix everything together and keep aside.
- Cut the paneer into triangles. Now gently cut each triangle into two halves. Cut all the triangles this way.
- Now place little of the stuffing on the sliced paneer triangle. Gently cover it with its upper edge. Don’t press. A paneer sandwich is ready.
- Prepare all the paneer sandwiches stuffed with the filling like this.
Fry Paneer Sandwiches For Paneer Pasanda
- In a bowl, make a paste of 1/2 cup cornstarch with 4 tablespoons of water. Dip the paneer sandwich slice into the batter.
- Turn over and coat on all sides. You can also use a spoon to dip the slices. Place paneer slices in medium hot oil for shallow frying.
- Dip each triangle this way, then place more paneer triangles in the hot oil. Stir the cornstarch paste before coating the paneer triangles as it settles down.
- When the base is golden, turn another side and continue to shallow fry. You can also deep fry these triangles of paneer.
- Now remove the fried paneer sandwiches on paper towels. Set aside.
Make Paneer Pasanda Gravy
- In the same pan, in which we sauteed the tomatoes, add oil. Add 1 tej patta and 1/2 teaspoon of shahjeera. Sauté until the shahjeera crackles. Substitute the cumin/jeera if shahjeera is not there.
- Add 1 to 1.5 teaspoon of ginger garlic paste. Stir and sauté until the raw aroma of garlic and ginger disappears.
- Now add the tomato-cashew-spice paste. Stir and cook for 3 to 4 minutes over low to medium heat.
- Stir then add the fried onion paste. Stir well and for 3 to 4 minutes, cook it.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder, 1/2 teaspoon of coriander powder and 1/2 teaspoon of Kashmir red pepper powder or Deghi mirch. Stir very well.
- Then add 1 cup of water. Stir again very well. Simmer the paneer pasanda sauce over low heat. If the sauce splashes a lot, cover the pot with a lid.
- Simmer or sauté the paneer pasanda sauce until you see oil stains on the top. The sauce will also thicken in about 4 to 5 minutes over low to medium heat.
- Then add salt if needed. Add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of sugar as needed.
- Stir then add 1/4 teaspoon of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of crushed kasuri methi and 2 tablespoons of low fat cream.
- Stir until the cream is evenly mixed with the remaining paneer pasanda sauce.
- You can now place the paneer triangles or the pasanda in the sauce. Alternatively, you can place them in a serving platter or plate and pour the sauce from above.
- Coat the paneer pasanda in the sauce.
- Serve the hot paneer pasanda garnished with a few cilantro leaves. The best supplements with paneer pasanda are chapati, lachcha paratha, malabar paratha, naan, tandoori roti and jeera rice or veg pulao.
