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Mamta’s Kitchen Paneer Malai

Ingredients

  • 350 g paneer

For the first marinade:

  • 2 tbsp vinegar
  • 1 tbsp ginger root , freshly ground or finely grated
  • 1 tbsp garlic , freshly ground or finely grated or crushed
  • 1 ½ tsp salt

For the second marinade:

  • 2 tbsp full fat cream cheese
  • 3 tbsp full fat sour cream or thick yoghurt
  • 2 tsp cornflour (not maze flour)
  • 1 egg , lightly beaten
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika powder for colour
  • 3 red or green fresh chillies , finely chopped (red chillies look nicer)
  • 1 tbsp coriander leaves , finely chopped
  • a few strands saffron , soaked in 1 tbsp of warm water
  • 1 tsp garam masala

Instructions

  • Cut Paneer into roughly 2 inch/5cm pieces.
  • Place vinegar in a bowl and add salt, ginger and garlic. Mix.
  • Add Paneer cubes, mix and marinate for 1 hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 200˚C.
  • Make a paste of the cream cheese, sour cream, egg, chillies, coriander, saffron, paprika and corn flour. (Mix this by hand rather than using a food processor, as a processor will reduce it to a thin runny liquid).
  • Lift paneer cubes pieces from the first marinade, leaving the liquid behind (but taking some of the ginger and garlic solids, if you like). Add them to 2nd marinade and gently turn to coat well. Allow to stand for an hour (or longer).
  • Line a tray with aluminium foil and cook for 10-20 minute, turning once or twice, to ensure even cooking.
  • They are ready when the marinade has formed a firm crust on the paneer cubes and they have started to take on a little colour at the edges.
  • If you do not have a grill or oven, you can stir-fry them in a heated wok in 2 tablespoons oil.

Notes

I used shop-bought paneer. You can make your own, which will be a little more crumbly, following this recipe. I used full fat sour cream. I didn’t have any fresh chillies or paprika so I used some very hot red chilli powder instead. I omitted the saffron completely.