Paneer Pinwheels – Recipe Variation

As I had promised, I did try to make Paneer pinwheels with wholemeal flour – atta. I only had multigrain atta, so I just used it, but I am sure even the regular flour should be fine.

Here’s how it turned out.

The taste – it was different, but nice different. The pastry was crisp, not flaky. More like Bhakarwadi rather than puff pastry- but that was to be expected. For me, I might use this method more as it is far healthier than the puff pastry. And it tasted just as delicious on the whole. And easier to rustle up. Just use chappathi atta!

I had planned to make a stiffer dough, but ended up with softer dough. I was too lazy to correct it, so went ahead and made it. Thankfully, it still turned out delicious! It was a little more delicate to handle, but a few minutes in the fridge was enough to sort that out.

Ingredients

For the pastry

Whole meal flour – I cup( I tried with scaled down ingredients)

Water – to knead- I did not measure, I’m afraid

salt to taste

For the mixture. I used the same amounts as I used for the earlier version. Just made stuffed paranthas with the remaining mixture.

Paneer – One store bought block- 9oz approximately

Oil – 1 tsp

Turmeric – 1/4 tsp

Red Chilli Powder – 1/2 tsp or to taste

Chat Masala – 1/2 tsp

Amchoor – 1/4 tsp

Salt – as per taste

Corainder leaves – a handful, chopped

Green chutney – Enough to spread lightly on the pastry.

For the pastry, combine the flour, water and salt and knead well until it comes together in a nice firm dough. Mine went a little softer than I wanted it, but it did not really matter much in the end.

In a little oil, lightly saute the paneer with all the ingredients mentioned. This time, I just added the green chutney to the mixture – laziness, that is me! Keep aside for to cool down.

Roll out the dough. Brush a tiny amount of oil, fold it and roll it out again. I used very little oil, but I am sure a little more oil would taste better. I did this about 3 times. Had my dough been stiffer, I could created more layers. Once the layers were done, spread the paneer mixture evenly, and roll it up, firmly but gently. Seal the ends with a little water.

I had to put mine in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes before cutting the roll into equal sized pieces, Place them on a greased baking tray and bake them for about 15 minutes at 400 deg F or until golden.

Paneer Pinwheels

That is what this was supposed to be. Paneer Pinwheels. And since so many of you have asked me for it, I have to write out the recipe.

I had planned to make this ever since I saw the recipe on showmethecurry.com. I wanted a large enough gathering to feed, because I did not want to be scoffing all of them myself, you see. Daughter’s birthday party seemed perfect – loads of guinea pigs to be experimented on.

I made one batch on saturday evening to check if it were doable. I followed the recipe with a few changes of my own.

Ingredients

Puff Pastry sheet –  392 gms. There was one sheet in the pack. I used the chilled variety, so did not need to thaw it out. Just used it directly.

Paneer – One store bought block- 9oz approximately

Oil – 1 tsp

Turmeric – 1/4 tsp

Red Chilli Powder – 1/2 tsp or to taste

Chat Masala – 1/2 tsp

Amchoor – 1/4 tsp

Salt – as per taste

Corainder leaves – a handful, chopped

Green chutney – I had some on hand and decided to use it.

Grate/crumble the paneer. I grated it. Mix everything together except the oil.

Heat a pan, and stir fry the mixture in the oil, for about a minute, until all the masalas are well combined. Remove from heat.

Roll out the pastry sheet a bit, after dusting the surface with a little all purpose flour.

Spread the chutney, a very thin layer to avoid making the pastry sheet soggy.

Spread the entire paneer mixture over the whole pastry sheet.

Roll the pastry sheet gently, but firmly until you have a nice firm log. Use a little water to seal the end of the sheet firmly. I popped the prepared log into the freezer for a few minutes before cutting it up into equal sized slices, and baked them for about 15 minutes at 400 deg F. You need to keep checking it. Remove once nice and golden.

Let it cool, and bite in

Tips:

I made the first batch with puff pastry block, instead of sheets, and while the taste was just as good, it was more labor intensive. Sheets were much easier.

You could also use other stuffings, although I haven’t tried it yet. Do let me know if you guys try it with other stuffings.