Easy paneer sandwich filling
I kept a wee bit of paneer aside for today’s breakfast from what we had bought yesterday. The idea was to reprise one of the first dishes that I have ever made. A mixed paneer dish from the time I was in college in Calcutta as it was called then. I have no idea where I learnt the recipe from, but it was quite the crowd favourite at home.
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| Too messy for Insta? |
Thought I will share the recipe with you as it is very simple to make. There is no reason why you should not attempt if this if you are a student and have access to a kitchen. My mother did not let me cook till I was of an age where she felt that I could be trusted with fire.
I like to use this as a sandwich filling and that was our breakfast today. Thirty odd years after I first made this.
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| Should have toasted the bread a bit less |
Purano shei diner kotha
Well, here goes. My collegian’s paneer recipe:
- Heat cooking oil in a wok or a saucepan. A tablespoon of it.
- Add 50 g cubed paneer (enough for two sandwiches). Fresh paneer is nicer.
- Let the paneer rest on the pan for 15-20 sec and then turn the cubes around so that they get a slight char.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of chopped cucumber and tomato. These were winter vegetables back in the day in Kolkata and rather premium ones at that. Stir gently.
- Add salt, black pepper, red chilli powder, a pinch of each. Stir for a few seconds and you are done. You can play around with the spices and try chaat masala, aamchur, kaala namak, etc.
PS: Looked up an old picture of my making the dish. Possible the first picture of me cooking. Turns out that I would use potatoes and not paneer then. Makes sense in a way. Just goes to show how memories get hazy with time! Paneer cooks faster than potatoes of course but if cooking with potatoes, parboil them first and then let the cook over a longish period so that they become soft and the sweetish flavours of the tuber come to play.
