Punjabi Tadka: Paneer bhare bhindi

By now the regular reader of my blog would have realised how much I love Paneer. This time I am posting a recipe of Stuffed Bhindi Masala which I cooked last night without following any recipe in particular. I used the ingredients which I thought would enhance the flavour of Bhindi and fortunately they did. By the time I finished stuffing and sautéing, I had already gobbled up a few. Add to it, the blend of tomato gravy and you are tossed into a sea of exotic taste.

Stuffed Bhindi with Paneer is a very popular and exotic North Indian recipe, often served with curd and roti. This is prepared by stuffing the Bhindi (ladyfinger or okra) with a rich filling of Paneer (Indian cottage cheese), roasted peanuts and few spices which give a pleasant nutty flavour with touch of spiciness to the okras, while onions add more crunch and sweet note, and tomatoes lends a lovely tangy flavour to the dish.. This works as a perfect recipe to treat the guests, also stuffed Bhindi with Paneer is a commonly served dish in most wedding ceremonies in India. Such a wonderful dish shouldn’t go to waste so I am hereby sharing the secret to this wonderful dish. Make it in your kitchen tonight and enjoy this exotic dish.

Things you need for this recipe are: 200 grams Bhindi (Okra/Ladyfinger), 1 medium sized onion, grated, 2 large tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon chilly powder, 1/4 teaspoon Garam masala, 2 tablespoons ghee or oil, 4 tsp ginger-garlic paste, Salt to taste, 2 tablespoons chopped coriander for garnishing

For Stuffing/Filling: 100 grams Paneer cut into small pieces, ¼ cup Roasted Peanuts, 1 tbsp Channa Dal/Split Chickpeas, 1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds, ½ tbsp Coriander Seeds, 4-5 Dry Red Chillies (adjust acc to taste), ¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida, 1 tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder, ½ tsp Turmeric Powder, Salt to taste

Let’s get cooking: Take a pan and heat 1 tbsp oil in it. Add Paneer pieces to it and fry till they turn golden in color. Wash okras and spread them on dry kitchen towels to remove excess water or simply pat them dry with kitchen towel.

While the okras are drying, heat a pan and dry roast channa dal, dry red chillies, hing, jeera and coriander seeds till they turn golden red and fragrant. Let them cool completely before you powder them. Add these roasted spices with roasted peanut, turmeric, amchur and salt to taste and grind them to coarse powder. Mix in with the paneer into a nice paste and keep aside. Use only enough spice powder to make the paste. Store the rest for later use. Now trim the okra ends and carefully make a slit on one side and stuff it with ¼-½ tsp of spice powder and paneer mixture.

Heat about a tbsp of oil in a pan and sauté stuffed okras on high flame, if required in batches, for about 4-5 minutes till brown spots start to appear and it is half cooked. Place them on paper towel till needed. Now heat another tbsp of oil in a pan and add cumin seeds to it. When jeera starts to sizzle and turn light shade of brown, add finely chopped garlic, ginger and slit green chillies. Sauté till garlic turns light shade of brown, about one minute. Add thinly sliced onion and sauté on medium flame till it turns golden brown for about 3 minutes. Now peel off the skin of the tomatoes and mash the pulp to form a thick paste. Add this to make thick gravy.  Finally add the stuffed okras and sauté for 5-7 minutes on medium flame till the okra is cooked through and the flavours blend well.

Your Stuffed Bhindi with Paneer is ready to serve. You can serve it with chapattis, paratha, roti and yoghurt.