Popcorn Paneer

I’ve always been disappointed by fried cheese dishes; they’re usually rather bland and rely on dipping sauce to make them halfway interesting. But I recently found this awesome recipe for popcorn paneer – and I’m so glad I did! This Indian dish is quite simple to make, and the spices can be found at any Indian grocery. This isn’t a low-calorie snack by any means, but if you’re in a decadent mood, it doesn’t get much better than this.

This is a little different video, in that one of our favorite chefs, Vahchef, uses his voice and a picture of another lovely chef to introduce us to her channel before he shows us how to make this tasty dish. He does have a refreshing sense of humor:)!

Ingredients

1 tbsp bread crumbs
1 tbsp chaat masala
1 cup corn flour
½ tsp cumin powder
½ cup grated cheese (any processed cheese)
1 cup grated paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
½ tsp marjoram spice
Oil for deep frying (the quantity will depend on size of the pan)
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp parmesan cheese (optional)
½ tsp red chili powder
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp tomato ketchup

Preparation Process

Add the grated cheese, ketchup, cumin powder, chilli powder, salt, grated paneer, 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, and bread crumbs into a large bowl

Knead the ingredients together into a dough, then squeeze out popcorn-size pieces and set aside. (As an alternative, you can also roll the dough into a cylinder and cut into small pieces.)

Stir together the corn flour, all-purpose flour in a bowl, and salt in a large plate, then transfer half of the flour mixture onto a separate plate

Add ¼ cup water in into one of the plates of flour and mix into a smooth paste

Drop the cheese dumplings into the flour batter and coat them completely, then coat them in the dry flour and set aside

Heat the cooking oil in a large pan. Once the oil is hot, fry the coated cheese dumplings on medium heat until they become golden and crisp (usually a little less than 1 minute)

Heat the oil in a large pan. Once hot, fry the coated dumplings on medium heat until they’re slightly golden

In a separate bowl, add the chaat masala, parmesan cheese (optional), marjoram and oregano. Mix them together, sprinkle over the paneer and serve.

Want to make this and need the written instructions? Just click here to download the full recipe.