Paneer Patiala | Paneer Patiyala Recipe
Paneer patiala is one of the delicious dishes from Punjab, India. Like any other Punjabi dish, the gravy of this dish is rich, creamy, thick, and spicy. For this recipe, we need to use papad to fill paneer stuffing in it and make a roll. Then, fried paneer-stuffed papad rolls are shallow fried and served with the gravy. Even though this dish is delicious, it is a long and difficult one to make. Follow my step-by-step recipe to make this dish at home.
Paneer patiala is one of the delicious dishes from Punjab, India. Like any other Punjabi dish, the gravy of this dish is rich, creamy, thick, and spicy. For this recipe, we need to use papad to fill paneer stuffing in it and make a roll. Then, fried paneer-stuffed papad rolls are shallow-fried and served with the gravy.
Even though this dish is delicious, it is long and difficult to make. Follow my step-by-step recipe to make this dish at home.
About Paneer patiala ingredients:
Paneer (cottage cheese) and papad (a.k.a. papadam or poppadum) are the most important ingredients in this recipe.
Paneer:
Paneer adds a slightly milky, creamy, and sweaty flavor. It helps to balance the spicy and hot flavors of the spices.
You can use homemade or readymade paneer for this recipe.
Onions:
Onions add a touch of sweetness to the taste. They also add a bit of thickness and a soft, smooth texture to the gravy.
You can use white or red onions, whichever you prefer or are available in your area. Use medium- to large-sized onions. Avoid small onions. Use fresh ones.
Tomatoes:
Tomatoes are used twice in this recipe. Once, to make the onion-tomato masala, and a second time, tomato puree is used to make the gravy.
hoose red, fresh, and firm tomatoes.
Ginger garlic paste:
Garlic and ginger are mostly used for their aroma and flavor.
Ginger adds a slightly sweet, mildly spicy, and refreshing flavor to the dish. Garlic adds an earthy and pungent flavor. Together, they add depth and flavor to the gravy.
Lastly, crushed ginger and garlic are used in the stuffing.
Cooking oil and Butter:
Butter gives a rich flavor to the dish. Out of these two, only oil is used to fry the papads, not butter. Butter is used in the gravy.
You can use your regular cooking oil. Use good-quality butter. You can use salted or unsalted butter. I’ve used salted butter, so you don’t need to adjust the amount of salt in this dish.
If you use unsalted butter, adjust the amount of salt as per your taste.
Kaju:
Cashews are added to the gravy paste. They add a touch of sweetness and nutty notes to the overall flavor. They also help to make the gravy thick and smooth and enhance the creamy flavor gained from cream. They help to balance the other flavors in the dish.
Cream:
The cream has a very important contribution to the overall taste of this recipe.
Choose good-quality fresh cream from a good brand. It should be free of any foul odor or taste. A good-quality fresh cream will have a slightly sweet, milky, and neutral flavor.
Cheese:
I’ve used cheese along with paneer for the stuffing. Any type of cheese or any brand’s Cheddar cheese will work fine. The cheese adds a hint of saltiness and a creamy taste.
Green chili:
Green chilies are used twice in this recipe. Once in chopped form, make the masala. The second time, thinly chopped chilies are used in making the stuffing. Green chili adds a hot flavor to the dish.
Powdered masale:
Kashmiri Red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, garam masala:
Some of these powdered spices are used in making the onion-tomato masala and the gravy. They add a bit of spicy, hot, earthy, gently bitter, and refreshing flavor to the dish. They give a nice spicy aroma to the dish.
Whole masale:
Green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, tejpatta (bay leaf), and black cardamom
These are used while making the gravy paste. Cardamom adds freshness and sweetness to the taste. These spices enhance the spicy flavor and aroma of the dish.
Herbs:
Kasuri methi and coriander leaves:
These are used in all major steps except making the gravy paste. They are used in making onion-tomato masala, gravy, and stuffing.
These are used to add a distinct aroma and freshness to the dish.
How to cook paneer patiala:
To make the onion-tomato masala:
Make the onion-tomato masala by adding powdered spices as mentioned in the recipe card. Don’t overcook it; keep it a bit crunchy. The reason for doing this is that we’re going to mix it later in the gravy, so it’s going to be cooked again. That’s why we need to avoid overcooking it in the first step.
Once done, keep it aside to cool down a bit.
To make the gravy paste:
Gravy paste makes the base for the gravy. Gravy paste gets transformed into gravy with additional treatment.
Boil the gravy paste ingredients mentioned in the card till they become soft, and it’ll be possible to make their paste. Then make the paste using a mixer or grinder.
To make the gravy:
Add powdered spices and all the herbs to the tomato puree. Fry it till it starts releasing oils. Then add some water and boil it. Add crushed paneer and cream to it, mix well, and make its gravy. You’ve got to slow-cook this gravy.
Keep the gravy a little bit thick; don’t make it thin.
Making the stuffing of papads:
Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing (mentioned in the recipe card) by hand. Don’t mash it too much. It should not turn into a paste or a pulp; keep it granular and lump-free.
Making the rolls of papads:
Make the papads a bit wet to make them softer. Use a kitchen towel to soak up excess water, and it’ll prevent papads from breaking or sticking to your hands.
We’ve got to make rolls of these papads. As they’re hard and brittle in their raw form, this becomes near to impossible. Soaking them in a small amount of water makes them soft and easy to fold.
Frying the papads:
You can shallow fry or deep fry the papads as per your preference. I’ve deep fried them. Deep-frying makes the papads crispier. Take the papad out of the fryer once it turns reddish brown.
Don’t let the oil become too hot, or it’ll burn the outside papads in the roll while the stuffing will remain raw. So, fry them slowly on a low flame to avoid this problem.
Important Tips
- Don’t overcook the onion-tomato masala; keep it a little crunchy
- Use papads made from ‘urad dal’ (black gram). Urad dal (black gram) papads are better suited for this dish as they don’t break easier after they’re soaked in water. Using moong papads will make it more difficult to make the rolls. I’ve used urad dal papads.
- When frying papad rolls, the oil shouldn’t be too hot, and don’t drop papads immediately into the hot oil. Adding papads immediately to very hot oil will cause the outer papads to burn, while the stuffing will stay raw inside.
Serving Suggestions:
When serving, add some gravy to the serving plate, put the rolls in that gravy, and then add some more gravy to these rolls. Add some grated paneer to that for garnishing. Enjoy the royal taste of this dish.
Similar main course recipes:
Paneer Patiala
Ingredients
For onion-tomato masala
- 2 tbsp oil
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 cup onions, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ginger garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp green chilies, chopped
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ cup tomatoes, chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp coriander leaves, chopped
For gravy paste
- 1½ cup onions, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves
- ½ inch ginger
- 3 green cardamoms
- 3 cloves
- ½ inch cinnamon
- 1 tejpatta (Indian bay leaf)
- 1 black cardamom
- 12 cashews
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ cup water
For gravy
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ½ cup tomato puree
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup water
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp kasuri methi
- 1 tbsp paneer, crushed
- 2 tbsp cream
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves
- ¼ tsp sugar
For papad stuffing
- 200 gm paneer, crushed
- 1 cheese cube, grated
- ½ tsp ginger crushed
- 1 tsp green chili, chopped
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ¼ tsp kashmiri red chili powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp onions chopped
- ½ tsp kasuri methi
- 2 tsp coriander leaves, chopped
For frying
- 4 tbsp oil
Instructions
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai on medium heat. Add ½ tsp cumin seeds, and once they start crackling, add 1 cup finely chopped onions. Stir and fry onions for 2 min.
- Add 1 tsp crushed ginger, 1 tsp crushed garlic, and 1 tsp chopped green chilies. Mix well and fry for a minute.
- Add ¼ tsp turmeric powder, 1½ tsp kashmiri red chili powder, ½ cup chopped tomatoes, and ½ tsp salt. Mix well and fry for 2-3 min. Do not cook for long, as tomatoes and onions should be a bit crunchy. Turn off the heat and mix 1 tsp coriander leaves. Keep aside to cool down.
- In a pan, add all the ingredients mentioned for gravy paste, to make onion-cashew paste. Mix well and boil for 15-20 min. Turn off the heat and let it cool down.
- Remove tejpatta, cinnamon, and black cardamom from the boiled ingredients. Transfer all other boiled ingredients into a mixer jar. Blend till you get a smooth paste. Add a little water if needed.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter in kadai on medium-high heat. Add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder, and 1 tsp coriander powder. Then add ½ tsp cumin powder, and ½ cup to-mato puree. Mix well and add ¼ tsp salt.
- Add onion-cashew paste in a kadai and mix well. Keep stirring and cook for 4-5 min. Then add ½ cup water, mix well and cook for 5-7 min. Add 2 tbsp of onion tomato masala to the gravy and mix well.
- Add ½ tsp garam masala, ½ tsp kasuri methi, and 1 tbsp crushed paneer. Then add 2 tbsp cream, 1 tsp chopped coriander leaves, and ¼ tsp sugar. Mix everything well and cook for 2-3 min. Turn off the heat.
- To make a stuffing for papad, add all the ingredients mentioned for papad stuffing and the onion tomato masala, which we prepared earlier, in a mixing bowl or a plate. Use your hands and mix all the ingredients well together.
- Take water on a plate. Soak the papad for a few seconds in water and put it on a clean cloth. Once the papad becomes soft, put sufficient stuffing at one end of the papad.
- Start folding the papad from both sides and make a roll of papad. While doing this, keep applying a bit of water to all edges of papad to make it stick together properly. Keep aside for 2 min.
- Heat 4 tbsp oil in a pan. Fry papad rolls till they turn golden brown. Keep turning roll to all sides to fry it evenly.
- Put fried papad rolls on kitchen paper towels to drain excess oil.
- Now cut all the papad rolls in half using a knife.
- Now pour gravy on a serving plate. Put all the pieces of the papad roll side by side in the gravy. Pour a little of gravy over all papad rolls.
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and grated paneer. Serve hot paneer patiala with roti, naan, or paratha.
Notes
- Adjust the spice level as per your taste.
- I have used two small papad to make a single roll. Put half of one papad over the other after they are soaked in water to make a roll. You can use a single, bigger papad if available.
- Make sure the papad is not too thin; otherwise, it will break while making a roll.
- I have used udad papad for this recipe. Moong papad may break while making roll.
