Paneer Pakora recipe/ How to make crunchy paneer pakora

Chunks of paneer stuffed with green chutney, dipped in gram flour batter and deep fried. This makes one of the perfect starters. One of the quick recipes when you have unexpected guests for hi-tea. The crunchy outer layer and softer inner part is surely a hit amongst all the paneer lovers 🙂

If you do not want to stuff the paneer with green chutney, you can blindly eliminate it. There is not hard and fast rule that the stuffing should be present. I have already shared the post of green chutney in my blog. You can also add any stuffing of your choice.

Baarish ka mausam hai – Pakore toh bantehihai nah??? !!!!

Ingredients:

Paneer/Cottage cheese – 200gms (cubed thick)

Green chutney – 1/8 cup

For Batter –

Besan/Gram flour – 1/2 cup

Corn flour – 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp

Garam masala – a pinch

Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp

Baking Soda – a pinch

Salt as required

Oil for deep frying

For Garnish –

Chaat masala – as required

Method:

Soak paneer cubes in hot water for ten minutes or till they are tender.
Pat them dry with a kitchen towel and slit them till 3/4 horizontally
Now spread hari chutney/green chutney as a stuffing
Repeat the same for all the paneer chunks

For the batter :

Mix all the ingredients except salt and baking soda in a bowl adding water as required and form a lump free batter. Batter should neither be too thin nor thick. It should coat the paneer cube well
Add salt and baking soda
Mix well
Heat oil in a kadhai for deep frying
Once its hot, dip one stuffed paneer cube into the batter and coat both sides
Dip this coated paneer cube into the hot oil and fry till they turn golden in colour
Repeat the same for all the remaining paneer cubes
Drain excess oil by placing them on a kitchen tissue
Serve it immediately hot with tomato ketchup

Tips:

Adding hari/green chutney is totally optional and can be skipped
You can also replace green chutney with garlic chutney or any spicy chutney of your choice 🙂