Pakoda also known as pakora, pakodi or bhajiya are extremely popular Indian snacks. No monsoon or winter is complete without piping hot crispy pakoda and a cup of Indian masala chai. I have already shared quite a few pakoda recipes and this special Onion Paneer bhajia. But this special stuffed paneer pakora which I am sharing with you is a classic. Stuffed paneer pakora with a generous green chutney layer sandwiched between paneer slices is a perfectly spicy, moist inside and crispy outside. These Punjabi paneer Pakora with green chutney or tomato ketchup and a hot cup of tea are an ideal choice for sudden guests or planned party menu. Here’s my pakora recipe to make this popular Indian snack at home. Serve them for your Diwali party, friends get together or as an appetiser with your evening drinks! These Fritters will be the first ones to disappear from your table.
These Paneer Pakoda are:
Gluten-free, Vegetarian snack Excellent party appetisers Perfect restaurant-style recipe to make at home Ideal to serve for a party An indulgent snack to serve with a hot cup of tea on a cosy evening with family
Ingredients
Paneer: Indian Cottage cheese. I always prefer to use homemade paneer for most of my paneer recipes. But for this pakora, you can use store-bought paneer as well. Besan: also known as gram flour or chickpeas flour. Spices and Seasonings: Red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chaat masala powder, Salt, grated ginger, ajwain (carom seeds), green chilli, coriander/cilantro. Rice bran oil: You can use any vegetable oil with a high smoke point. In my experience rice bran oil is the best for deep frying.
How To Make Paneer Pakoda
Making Batter for Pakoda: First, add besan/gram flour in a mixing bowl. To this add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, grated ginger, crushed green chillies, chopped coriander leaves. Mix to combine and add about ½ a cup of water to make a thick pakora batter. Add little more water to make a coating consistency batter. Preparing Paneer Slices: To prepare paneer slices first cut 1-inch thick slab of paneer from the middle so that it makes two big slices. Now on one paneer slice coat a thick layer of green chutney. ( Green Chutney Recipe). Cover this chutney coated side of paneer with another plain slice of paneer. Cut these sandwiched paneer slices into smaller slices of 1x1.5 inch slices. Deep fry the paneer pakora: To Deep fry the pakoda, first heat oil in a wok or kadai. When it starts to smoke lower the heat and then dip the stuffed paneer slices in spiced gram flour batter and one by one add into the hot oil. After one or two minutes, turn them over and cook till crispy on both sides.
Recipe Notes & Tips
Use soft and fresh paneer for the perfect result. Instead of green chutney, you can use chaat masala for coating paneer. To make Chandni chowk Style Pakora I use a special chaat masala for coating them. To make them crispy make sure to deep-fry them at optimum temperature. The secret of making good pakora or fritters is the temperature of oil. Deep frying in lesser hot oil results in more absorption of oil, to make pakora absorb less oil always add them when the oil is hot. Paneer Pakora Is Low GI snack: In fact whenever I am making pakoda (not too often) Paneer pakoda is must on the list. First reason because it’s tastier and second it’s GI friendly. Paneer and Besan (gramflour) both have low GI values and deep-frying further reduces the GI value (although shoots up calories by too much) but still I will say is better if you are up for indulgence for people who like to follow low GI meals and even diabetics.
More tips for perfect Deep frying
More Pakora Recipes
Paneer Onion Bhajiya Palak Pakora Aloo Pakora Best Pakora Recipes for Monsoon
Video Recipe of Paneer Pakoda
📖 Recipe
Chandni chowk Style Masala Paneer Pakora: Chunks of paneer with the layer of pakoda masala sandwiched in between, coated with gram flour batter and deep fried till paneer pakoda turns golden. Serve these crispy paneer pakoda with green chutney and tandoori yogurt dip and see the faces light up 🙂
For this recipe of paneer pakoda, I used a special pakoda masala which I got from Chandani chowk from a vendor in parathe wali Gali. There is an interesting story behind that finger licking masala. When we were shooting for a daily soap “Zindagi ki Mehak” for Zee TV in Chandani chowk, I used to walk past this wall in hole shop pakoda wala who sold only two varieties one those aloo bonda, and other this paneer pakoda. It required a will of steel to walk past the shop with that tempting aroma of deep frying pakoda’s especially in the evenings when anyways you were craving for something with your chai. One day I gave in to the temptation and asked someone from unit to get me those pakoda for tea. OMG! What a delightful packets of heaven these paneer pakoda were. Softest paneer, most amazing masala layer which was thin but so flavourful and golden fried in gram flour batter to a crispy perfection. If you are following me on Instagram and saw my insta story that day you might remember how besotted I was for those amazing paneer pakodas. Needless to say, I needed that masala in my kitchen :D. While going back from the shoot, I stopped to tell him How amazing his pakodas were and this guy so generously gave me a small packet of masala he used to make it :). I still have that masala as I use this very sparingly until I go there again and maybe ask him to give me some more. I made these awesome batch of paneer pakoda for my family next day itself.
