Cantuccini

All Italian cookies are called biscotti, but these are what we think of as classic biscotti. Twice baked cookies, they are first baked in a log shape, then sliced and baked again until they are very dry and crunchy. (Because they contain no butter or other fat, except that contained in the eggs, they can bake to a formidable state of crunchiness.) The techniques used to make can't-stop-eating-them biscotti are, like the cookies themselves, classic.

This post also goes to Meeta's Monthly Mingle : High Tea Treats

Recipe from Nick Malgiri. Adapted from the book "Baking with Julia".

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups unblanched whole almonds
3 large eggs
2 tsps pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 deg F(180 deg C). Line a baking sheet with parchment and keep aside.

Put the sugar, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and stir with a rubber spatula to mix. Stir in the almonds.

Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a small bowl, then stir them into the flour mixture. The dough may seem dry at this point but it will come together as it is kneaded.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead, folding it over onto itself until it is smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into 12-inch-long log. Gently press down on the logs to flatten them until they are about 2 inches wide and 1 inch high. Transfer them to the prepared pan.

First baking
Bake the logs for about 30 minutes, or until they are slightly risen and firm to touch. Slide the logs, parchment paper and all, off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack. The logs must be completely cool before you continue with the recipe. Since they will take about 30 minutes to cool, you can either turn the oven off or leave it on for the next step. You can bake the biscotti up to this point several days ahead. Wrap the logs well in plastic and continue when its convenient.

Second baking
When the logs have cooled completely, preheat the oven to 350 deg F(180 deg C), if necessary. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Working with a sharp serrated knife, cut the cooked logs diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place the sliced cookies cut side down on the pans and bake for 10 -15 minutes, or until the biscotti are crisp and golden. Cool on the pans.

Storing
These biscotti will keep for up to a month in an airtight tin or plastic container.

Homemade Puff Pastry and Vol-au-Vent

Daring Bakers September 2009 Challenge

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.


Vol-au-vent filled with pastry cream and topped with sweet whipped cream and sweet cherry. Hmm.. Yummy!!





Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough

From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Puff pastry is a quintessential laminated dough. A simple dough is wrapped around a block of butter, then rolled, folded and turned six times, so that when the final dough is baked, it puffs mightily and forms almost one thousand seemingly laminated layers. Puff pastry is called mille feuilles, or "a thousand leaves" in French, but thats an exaggeration. In fact, there are only 944 layers of pastry, seperated by 963 layers of butter, but no matter. This is still the queen of all pastries, the one that, once mastered, entitles you to whatever bragging rights you wish to claim.

Steph’s note:

-This recipe makes more than you will need for the quantity of vols-au-vent stated above. While I encourage you to make the full recipe of puff pastry, as extra dough freezes well, you can halve it successfully if you’d rather not have much leftover.

-Chill early and often - keep the pastry cold and you'll keep the layers.

-Be neat - fold the dough evenly.

-Stay away from the ends - Don't roll over the ends of the pastry or you'll glue the layers together.

-Take your time - don't skimp on the number of turns or the chilling periods.

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour (i used 1 cup APF + 1/4 cup cornstarch)
1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)
1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water
1 pound (4 sticks/ 16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter

plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Extracted From the book "Baking With Julia".

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:

Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:

Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.


Note on Freezing Puff Pastry

Although puff pastry can be chilled or frozen at any stage, it is really most convenient to give the puff pastry a full six turns, roll it out into a flat sheet, chill it on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and then, when it is cold, wrap it for the freezer. Rolling the dough into a sheet means it will defrost quickly and won't have to be rolled much before you cut and bake it. Thaw the dough, still wrapped, in the refrigerator.

Steph’s extra tips:

-While this is not included in the original recipe we are using (and I did not do this in my own trials), many puff pastry recipes use a teaspoon or two of white vinegar or lemon juice, added to the ice water, in the détrempe dough. This adds acidity, which relaxes the gluten in the dough by breaking down the proteins, making rolling easier. You are welcome to try this if you wish.

-Keep things cool by using the refrigerator as your friend! If you see any butter starting to leak through the dough during the turning process, rub a little flour on the exposed dough and chill straight away. Although you should certainly chill the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns, if you feel the dough getting to soft or hard to work with at any point, pop in the fridge for a rest.

-Not to sound contradictory, but if you chill your paton longer than the recommended time between turns, the butter can firm up too much. If this seems to be the case, I advise letting it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to give it a chance to soften before proceeding to roll. You don't want the hard butter to separate into chuncks or break through the dough...you want it to roll evenly, in a continuous layer.

-Roll the puff pastry gently but firmly, and don’t roll your pin over the edges, which will prevent them from rising properly. Don't roll your puff thinner than about about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick, or you will not get the rise you are looking for.

-Try to keep “neat” edges and corners during the rolling and turning process, so the layers are properly aligned. Give the edges of the paton a scooch with your rolling pin or a bench scraper to keep straight edges and 90-degree corners.

-Brush off excess flour before turning dough and after rolling.

-Make clean cuts. Don’t drag your knife through the puff or twist your cutters too much, which can inhibit rise.

-When egg washing puff pastry, try not to let extra egg wash drip down the cut edges, which can also inhibit rise.

-Extra puff pastry dough freezes beautifully. It’s best to roll it into a sheet about 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick (similar to store-bought puff) and freeze firm on a lined baking sheet. Then you can easily wrap the sheet in plastic, then foil (and if you have a sealable plastic bag big enough, place the wrapped dough inside) and return to the freezer for up to a few months. Defrost in the refrigerator when ready to use.

-You can also freeze well-wrapped, unbaked cut and shaped puff pastry (i.e., unbaked vols-au-vent shells). Bake from frozen, without thawing first.

-Homemade puff pastry is precious stuff, so save any clean scraps. Stack or overlap them, rather than balling them up, to help keep the integrity of the layers. Then give them a singe “turn” and gently re-roll. Scrap puff can be used for applications where a super-high rise is not necessary (such as palmiers, cheese straws, napoleons, or even the bottom bases for your vols-au-vent)

Forming and Baking the Vols-au-Vent

Yield: 1/3 of the puff pastry recipe below will yield about 8-10 1.5” vols-au-vent or 4 4” vols-au-vent

-egg wash (1 egg or yolk beaten with a small amount of water)
-your filling of choice

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.

Using a knife or metal bench scraper, divided your chilled puff pastry dough into three equal pieces. Work with one piece of the dough, and leave the rest wrapped and chilled. (If you are looking to make more vols-au-vent than the yield stated above, you can roll and cut the remaining two pieces of dough as well…if not, then leave refrigerated for the time being or prepare it for longer-term freezer storage. See the “Tips” section below for more storage info.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3-6 mm) thick. Transfer it to the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the cutting.

(This assumes you will be using round cutters, but if you do not have them, it is possible to cut square vols-au-vents using a sharp chef’s knife.) For smaller, hors d'oeuvre sized vols-au-vent, use a 1.5” round cutter to cut out 8-10 circles. For larger sized vols-au-vent, fit for a main course or dessert, use a 4” cutter to cut out about 4 circles. Make clean, sharp cuts and try not to twist your cutters back and forth or drag your knife through the dough. Half of these rounds will be for the bases, and the other half will be for the sides. (Save any scrap by stacking—not wadding up—the pieces…they can be re-rolled and used if you need extra dough. If you do need to re-roll scrap to get enough disks, be sure to use any rounds cut from it for the bases, not the ring-shaped sides.)

Using a ¾-inch cutter for small vols-au-vent, or a 2- to 2.5-inch round cutter for large, cut centers from half of the rounds to make rings. These rings will become the sides of the vols-au-vent, while the solid disks will be the bottoms. You can either save the center cut-outs to bake off as little “caps” for you vols-au-vent, or put them in the scrap pile.

Dock the solid bottom rounds with a fork (prick them lightly, making sure not to go all the way through the pastry) and lightly brush them with egg wash. Place the rings directly on top of the bottom rounds and very lightly press them to adhere. Brush the top rings lightly with egg wash, trying not to drip any down the sides (which may inhibit rise). If you are using the little “caps,” dock and egg wash them as well.

Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.)



Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the shells. This will help them rise evenly. Bake the shells until they have risen and begin to brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC), and remove the silicon mat or parchment sheet from the top of the vols-au-vent. If the centers have risen up inside the vols-au-vent, you can gently press them down. Continue baking (with no sheet on top) until the layers are golden, about 15-20 minutes more. (If you are baking the center “caps” they will likely be finished well ahead of the shells, so keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when browned.)

Remove to a rack to cool. Cool to room temperature for cold fillings or to warm for hot fillings.



Fill and serve.

*For additional rise on the larger-sized vols-au-vents, you can stack one or two additional ring layers on top of each other (using egg wash to "glue"). This will give higher sides to larger vols-au-vents, but is not advisable for the smaller ones, whose bases may not be large enough to support the extra weight.

*Although they are at their best filled and eaten soon after baking, baked vols-au-vent shells can be stored airtight for a day.

*Shaped, unbaked vols-au-vent can be wrapped and frozen for up to a month (bake from frozen, egg-washing them first).

Pastry Cream

Pastry cream is also known as Crème Pâtissière, pastry cream is a thickened custard used to fill sweet pastry cases and choux buns.

Source: Fresh Baked

Makes 350ml

Ingredients:
300ml milk
1 vanilla pod, split
3 egg yolks
50 gm caster sugar
2 tbsps cornflour
2 tbsps plain flour
15 gm unsalted butter

Method:
Put the milk in a saucepan and scrap in the seeds from the vanilla pod. Bring the milk slowly to the boil and remove from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, and sugar and then whisk in the cornflour and flour until the mixture is smooth.

Whisk in the hot milk and then return the mixture to the pan. Heat gently, stirring constantly until the mixture just starts to boil. Simmer for 1 minute, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Cover the surface with clingfilm and set aside to cool completely. Use as required.

Note:
It is really important to stir the mixture constantly as it cooks so that it thickens but doesn't become lumpy. If this does happen, put the pastry cream in a food processor and process until it is smooth. Always cover the surface of the cream with clingfilm as it cools to prevent a skin forming.

Creamy Apple Pumpkin Soup

This is one of the wonderful soup I've ever tasted. It is mild, nutritious and has the perfect blend of flavors. The addition of apple gives a nice sweetness. And the texture is so soft and creamy. This is perfect before any meal.




Source: Myrecipes

Ingredients:
2 tsps Butter or Margarine or any unflavored oil
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 tsp dried rubbed sage
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 tbsps all-purpose flour
500 ml vegetable stock or water
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt
3 cups deseeded, peeled & cubed fresh pumpkin (1 pound)
1 cup sweet cooking apple, chopped
1/4 cup milk

Preparation:
Melt butter in a big vessel over medium heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add sage, curry powder, and nutmeg; cook 30 seconds. Stir in flour; cook 30 seconds. Add broth, tomato paste, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in pumpkin and apple; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until pumpkin is tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

Place mixture in a blender or food processor; process until smooth. Return mixture to to the vessel; add milk. Cook until thoroughly heated. Garnish with sage sprigs, if desired.

Bharlele Masala Bhindi (Cashew and Coriander Stuffed Okra)

This one has to be the best Okra recipe i have ever had. I used to avoid using this vegetable as i could not get rid of the sticky thing in it while cooking. But then i found this recipe in the book 660 curries written by Raghavan Iyer. I got this book as a gift from my hubby on my birthday and i've never looked back. I've been trying out all the recipes one by one and not one recipe has disappointed me. So look forward for more curry recipes from this book on this blog. The curries are finger licking and i'm glad i'm able to cook such wonderful curries for my family. I recommend all the Indian curries lovers to buy this book.
This curry Bharlele masala bhindi has got the perfect blend of spices and goes wonderfully with Indian flat breads as its little dry. Its got a little more amount of oil but this is what gives the curry a wonderful texture. But you can try reducing the amount of oil a little bit. The red onions give a lovely sweetness and the tomato which is added at the end of the process gives a tiny tang to the curry. So here goes the recipe..


Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 pound (454 gms) Fresh Okra, rinsed and thoroughly dried
1/2 cup raw (unroasted) Cashew nuts , ground (powdered)
2 tsps Degi mirch red chilli powder
2 tsps coriander powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 cup canola oil (or vegetable/ sunflower will do)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 small red onion, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
12-15 curry leaves
1 large tomato, cut into 1-inch cubes

Directions:
Trim the caps off the Okra without cutting into the pods. Then form a small cavity in each okra by cutting a slit down three quarters of the length, making the slit about 1/4 inch deep. Be careful not to cut all the way through the pod. This cavity will hold the stuffing.

Combine the cashews, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt in a small bowl, and mix well.

Using your fingers, stuff each okra pod with approximately 1/2 teaspoon of this spice blend. (You can safely stuff the okra a day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.) There shouldn't be any blend left over, but if there is, either sprinkle it over the stuffed okra or save it, stored in a jar or a self-seal plastic bag, on a cool pantry shelf for future use; it will keep for up to 2 months.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds, cover the skillet, and cook until the seeds have stopped popping (not unlike popcorn), about 30 seconds. Stir in the onion, and add the okra along with the curry leaves. Lower the heat to medium, and roast the mixture, uncovered, occasionally stirring gently, until the onion softens and the now olive-green okra is partially tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in the tomato, cover the skillet, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the okra is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Then serve.

Tips:

* To grind the cashews powder-fine, use a spice grinder or a blender. If some kernels refuse to pulverize, empty some of the ground nuts into a bowl, freeing up space for the blades to do their thing.

* When you rely on the juiciness of a tomato to provide essential moisture to a curry, it had better be perfectly ripe, bursting with sweet succulence- none of those waxy, pale pink specimens that remain firm even after squatting on the kitchen counter for days. If you cant find that just-right tomato, use 1 can(14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, juice and all, instead.

Fresh Rhubarb Upside-down Baby Cakes

Here's a tender, soft-crumbled butter cake, a classic of the genre, made as individual upside-down cakes. The baby cake pans, each four inches across, are lined with a mixture of melted butter, brown sugar, and pecans and decorated with slices of Rhubarb before the bourbon-boosted butter cake batter is poured in. In fact, there's nothing sacred about Rhubarb; you can vary the fruit as you choose. Try using mangoes, apples or pears, apricots, plums, or bananas, and vary the liqueur or flavoring to match the fruit.

If the urge to bake these lovely cakes strikes and you haven't a set of baby cake pans at hand, make these in muffin tins or custard cups, or make the recipe as one large cake. The batter is perfect for an eleven- or twelve-inch cast iron skillet or a twelve-inch round cake pan, and turned out, the large cake is impressive.

These baby cakes, as well as the Hazelnut baby loaves, Vanilla pound cake, are members of the same large and universally appealing family, the butter cake clan.

Recipe adapted from "Baking With Julia"

You'll be needing the following ingredients..

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup creme fraiche, homemade or store bought, or sour cream
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup(lightly packed) brown sugar
1 tbsp bourbon
2 tbsps chopped pecans
6 to 7 stalks (12 ounces) fresh Rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch-thick-slices
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Melted butter for greasing the pans
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, for serving(optional)

Here we start..

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 35o deg F. Brush the insides of 8-mini or baby cake pans, each 4 inches across and 1 inch deep, with a light coating of melted butter, dust the flour and tap out the excess. Whisk or stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together just to blend;reserve. In a separate bowl, stir the vanilla into the creme fraiche and set aside until needed.
Melt the 1/2 stick butter in a heavy skillet. Add the brown sugar and bourbon and cook over medium heat, stirring with wooden spoon until the sugar melts. Stir in the pecans to coat with the caramel and turn of the heat. Divide the caramel evenly among the pans, working quickly to get it to the edges of the pan before it sets( cooked sugar cools rapidly). Arrange the rhubarb in circles over the sugar, and set aside while you make the batter.
Put the remaining stick of butter and the granulated sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or use a hand-held mixer, and beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is smooth and creamy, scrapping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. The butter and sugar must be beaten until they're light, fluffy, and pale, so don't rush it- the process can take 3 to 4 minutes with a heavy duty mixer and 6 to 8 minutes with a hand-held mixer. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Working with a rubber spatula, carefully fold in the dry ingredients and the creme fraiche alternately- 3 additions of dry ingredients, 2 of the creme fraiche. You'll end up with a thick batter.

Baking the cakes Spoon the batter over the rhubarb and smooth the tops by rotating the pans while you run the rubber spatula over the batter. Put the pans on a jelly role pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean. (Test couple of cakes to be certain.) As soon as the cakes are removed from the oven, turn them out of their pans on to a rack.

Serve with whipped cream if desired.

Storage The cakes can be kept wrapped in plastic at room temperature overnight.

Paneer Pakora (Indian cheese fritters)

Pakoras can be made from nearly any vegetable be it, spinach, onions, cauliflowder, potatoes and even chillies by dipping them in a seasoned batter of besan (chickpea flour) and then deep-frying.

Pakoras taste best when eaten piping hot. Paneer makes great pakodas that melt in your mouth. Chutney is the perfect accompaniment to this wonderful snack that is sure to leave you, your family and guests licking their finger tips.

Serves 4

Ingredients required:

To be mixed into a filling
1/2 tsp carom seeds(ajwain), dry roasted and lightly crushed
1/4 cup grated onion, squeezed
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp crushed and chopped garlic
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp coriander (dhania) powder
1 tbsp dry mango powder(amchur)
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

For the batter1 cup bengal gram flour(besan)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 pinches asafoetida (hing)
1 tbsp hot oil
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves(dhania)
A pinch soda bi-carb
Salt to taste

Other ingredients
2 cups paneer (cottage cheese), cut into 1" cubes
2 tbsp chaat masala

Oil for deep-frying
Tamarind chutney or Tomato ketchup to serve

Method1) For the batter : Mix all the ingredients together with a little water to make a thick batter. Keep aside.

2) How to proceed: Slit the paneer cubes, with the help of a knife, a little more than halfway, but not till the end.

Sprinkle some chaat masala in between the slit portion of the paneer cubes

Stuff a little filling into each paneer cube with the help of a knife and press well.

Heat the oil in a kadhai, dip each paneer cube in the batter and deep-fry on a slow flame till golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper.

Sprinkle with chaat masala and serve hot with chutney of your choice or with one of my hot and sweet or sweet and sour dip.