Paneer Pockets

Having something for tea time snack is just so fulfilling. It's not a must in our family though. Just tea or milk with some biscuits or fruits would serve the purpose. But I love to see the happy faces when served with some home made snacks. All the more I come from a family where my mom used to make an effort to serve us something hot and homemade to munch on snack with our milk. I used to love it and I try to continue the same.

Now the other day, my intension was to make a fried paneer pocket. But then I had a packet of bread bought the previous day which I had to use up before it goes dry and bad. So I ended up making these and named them paneer pockets because they look like them, don't they.

Both the J's liked it. I didn't have to feed Jordan or beg him to eat it. e liked it and fed himself 😊. I was happy too that instead of deep frying the pockets, I got this done easily and as a healthy version.

Ingredients

For the paneer bhurji

1. 1 cup of fresh paneer, crumbled
2. 1 small tomato, cut into small cubes
3. 1 tbsp of finely chopped onions 
4. 1 tsp of ginger
5. 1 tsp of finely chopped coriander leaves 
6. 1/2 tsp of red chilly powder
7. 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
8. 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
9. 1/2 tsp of garam masala
10. A pinch of asafoetida 
11. 1 tbsp of cooking oil 
12. Salt to taste 

For the pockets

1. 7 slices of bread
2. Butter as required

Method 

For the paneer bhurji 

• In a pan, heat oil. Once hot add the cumin seeds and let it splutter. Now add the onions and ginger. Saute it until the raw smell goes off and the onions turn tender.
• Now add the red chilly powder, asafoetida, turmeric powder and garam masala. Give it all a mix. Add the tomatoes and salt and let it cook until the tomatoes cook.
• Now add the crumbled paneer and coriander leaves and stir it. Let it cook for another minute. If the mixture seems to be watery , let the water evaporate before switching off the heat. 

For the paneer pockets

• Take a slice of bread and chop of the hard sides.
• Now using a roller pin, flatten the bread. 
• Place a tbsp of paneer bhurji filling on one side of the rolled out bread. Fold one side of the bread to overlap on the other side. Seal it using water and pressing it down using a fork. Keep it aside in a covered container. Prepare the rest of the paneer pockets before pan frying them.
• Apply some butter on both sides of the paneer pockets. 
• Heat a pan. Once hot turn it down to medium heat. Place the paneer pockets on it and grill it until they get nice brown crusted surface. Flip and cook the other side.
• Serve it hot with some tomato sauce.

Tips

1. You could use tomato purée or sauce instead of adding the tomatoes. We love bitting on the tomatoes, and hence added the tomatoes rather than the sauce.