Paneer is made from cow’s milk or buffalo’s milk and it is similar to cottage cheese. Paneer can be made at home easily, all you need to do is boil some milk and use something acidic like lemon juice or vinegar to curdle the milk. The curdled milk has to be strained out to collect the solids and the liquid part is discarded. This is done by straining it with a cheese cloth. All the liquid is squeezed out of the solid part or the Paneer by keeping it for 3 or 4 hours with weights on it. It becomes a solid block of cheese – Paneer. You can now use this to make curries, pakoras or even to make sweet dishes like Kalakand, sandesh etc.
In India ready made Paneer is available at the local grocery stores or vegetable vendors so very few people make it at home.
This Paneer cutlet recipe was given to me by a friend who is a wonderful cook. I think it is the best Paneer cutlet I have tasted. Many people add some boiled mashed potatoes to the paneer as it acts as a binding agent. It is easier to form the shape of the cutlet if you use potato, but in my recipe I have not used potato, so the taste is better I feel. BUT if the Paneer you buy is too dry and crumbly then it is better to add some mashed potato.
HOW TO MAKE PANEER CUTLET
Mash paneer by hand or with potato masher. Add some salt, sauted onion, chopped green chilies, coriander leaves chopped, mint chopped ( optional),a few cashews broken into bit, few raisins or sultanas ( kismis).
Mix all of the above well.
In a bowl you need to make a slurry with flour ( maida) and water,the slurry shouldn’t be too thin. Since we cannot use egg in paneer cutlet because it is vegetarian, we make a flour and water slurry to dip the paneer cutlet before rolling it in bread crumbs and frying.
This is plain paneer that has been crumbled and mashed a little by hand.
To the mashed paneer I added sauteed onions, chopped greean chilies, salt, cashews and raisins. Mixed all of these properly with the paneer.
This is what it looks like after all the ingredients are mixed together.
Take a portion in you hand and see if you can squeeze it together to make a ball, then gently flatten it between your palms.
Roll the flattened shaped cutlet in flour( maida). and keep aside.
The slurry is made by mixing water and flour. You dip each shaped cutlet into the slurry and remove it quickly. Then roll it in the breadcrumbs. Keep the coated cutlet on a plate till ready to fry.
I have made it rectangle , but you can make it oval or like a roll. Its up to you.
This cutlet is now ready to be deep fried.
Heat some oil in a pan or a kadai/wok and deep fry it till it looks like this.
RECIPE
Paneer – 250g
Onion chopped and sauteed – 1/2 cup
green chilies -1 or 2
salt -1 teaspoon
Mint leaves chopped – 1/4 cup
coriander leaves chopped -1/4 cup
cashews and raisins -1/4 cup
flour 1/4 cup or as required.
bread crumbs 1 cup or as required
Slurry – 1/2 cup flour mix with about 3/4 cup of water. There should be no lumps.
Oil for deep frying
METHOD
- Chop onion small and saute it in a little oil in a frying pan. It should not be brown, just translucent. Keep aside till it cools.
- Chop the green chilies, coriander leaves, mint leaves, and the cashews.
- Crumble the paneer and mash it with your hand. It will be like a dough and begin to bind together.
- Add the onion , chopped chilies, coriander, mint , salt , and the cashews and raisins and mix them well with the Paneer. At this point you can taste to see if the salt and chilies are alright.
- Pick up a portion of the paneer mixture and make a ball in your hand, then flatten it between you palms to make a rectangle.
- coat the flattened panner cutlet with flour nicely and keep aside on a plate. Do the same with the rest of the paneer mixture .
- Make the slurry with the flour and water. the slurry should be thick enough to coat the cutlet. you may need more slurry as you go along
- Put the breadcrumbs in a flat dish.
- Now dip the shaped cutlets into the slurry quickly and the roll it in the breadcrumbs. Tap with your palm so the the breadcrumbs stick to the cutlet. Keep it on a dish. Once you have finished making all the cutlets, put the dish in the fridge for at least an hour. This helps the coating to adhere well.
- Take them out of the fridge half an hour before frying.
- Heat enough oil to deep fry the cutlets in a Kadai /wok. Fry them one or two at a time on medium high heat, till golden brown on both sides.
- Remove them with a slotted spoon and place on a dish with kitchen towel to drain out some of the oil.
- Serve hot with green chutney or Tomato ketchup.