Craving your go-to Palak Paneer curry but don’t want to cave into the temptation of ordering a heavy Indian restaurant meal? These puffs are like a handheld version of palak paneer and naan all rolled into one.
Now I’m the type of person that believes if you’re eating something handheld then you need to be dipping (or dunking if you’re like me) that handheld into a sauce. Ketchup or lately sriracha are easily my go-to dipping sauces. But we’ve started experimenting with our dipping sauces to figure out complementary flavors. I thought that orange and mint would stand out and complement the more mild flavors of the spinach and paneer.
The puffs also turned out to be an easy and healthy snack to have on hand when you’re on the go. You can even prepare them ahead of time and freeze them unbaked. When you’re ready to eat, just pop them in the oven and you have a hot and fresh snack ready in 20 minutes!
Puffs are also a great way to get kids to eat their veggies. I don’t know why but you can hide almost any medley of veggies in puff pastry and they will be sure to try it. Even more so if you fill it with extra cheese!
Palak Paneer Puffs with Orange Mint Chutney
Yields: 9 Puffs
Ingredients
1 diced onion
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt to taste
6 ounces crumbled or grated paneer
2 cups chopped spinach
1 sheet prepared puff pastry sheet, defrosted as per instructions
To Prepare Filling
Heat cooking oil in saucepan over medium heat for about 1-2 minutes. Add diced onions and let them soften for about 3 minutes. Once onions are softened, add all the dry spices (including salt), garlic, ginger and lemon juice. Stir to combine.
Add the paneer and spinach, mix everything together. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, remove from heat. Allow to cool before assembling puffs.
To Assemble & Bake Puffs
Once the puff pastry dough has defrosted, take 1 sheet and cut into 9 squares, approximately 3 inch squares. Take each square and gently roll out each one on a lightly floured surface. You want to make the squares slightly thinner to about a ¼ inch. The square should only be about 3 ½ to 4 inches. Add about 2 tablespoons of filling to the square. Fold over at a diagonal to make triangle-shaped puffs, seal the edges with a fork.
Bake the puffs according to the directions on the puff pastry sheets.
Serve warm with Orange Mint Chutney.
Orange Mint Chutney
Ingredients
1 teaspoon orange zest
Juice of 1 orange (at least 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon lime juice
¼ cup mint leaves
1 green chili pepper (Can be any variety: Thai, Serrano, jalapeno, etc.)
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Directions
Blend all of the ingredients together. Pour into a dipping container and serve with warm puffs.
Optional: if the chutney is too hot, try to mellow the heat by mixing in yogurt or sour cream.
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