Mar 25, 2010

Paneer and Vegetable Puff Pastry

A simple appetizer for a nice dinner party. Puff Pastries are made with a lot of different fillings. This happens to be one of my favorite fillings. This can be made mild or spicy as needed.

I also used ready made pastry sheets for this. One day, when I learn how to make these pastry sheets from scratch - I'll blog about it then. Pinkie Promise. Until then, my freezer will carry these famous pastry sheets. 

This same filling can be used to make samosas or spring rolls - works as a great stuffing for anything - maybe even turkey! LOL - please don't try that. I'm not responsible if you do. Really.

You could add/delete any veggies from here. I used -

Onions - 1 medium
Green bell peppers - 1 medium
Carrots - 2
Green peas - about 1/2 cup
Green beans  - about 1 cup chopped
Potato - 1 medium russet washed, peeled and chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped finely
Garlic - about 2-3 cloves - peeled and chopped
Green Chilli - 2-3 or more if you want it spicy!

and finally

Paneer - cut into small cubes - about 1 whole cup.

In a pan, add 1 tsp of oil. Add chopped GGG (Ginger, Green chilli and Garlic). Saute for a min and then toss in the cut onions. Fry till they turn pink.


Throw in the chopped green bell pepper.  Saute for a min.


Throw in the rest of the veggies and the cut paneer.


Add spices at this point. Add salt to taste. Add a pinch of turmeric. I added 1 tsp of garam masala and 1 tsp of Pav bhaji masala - you be as creative as you can and spice this thing up the way you love it.


Cook for a few minutes until all the veggies and paneer have absorbed the flavors of the masala and the veggies turn a little soft. How do you know they absorbed the masala - just ask them. Don't you talk to your food?


Oh yeah..I forgot to mention. Thaw the pastry sheets - you can keep them out of the freezer when you start chopping your vegetables. And keep them covered with a kitchen cloth so they don't dry up.

When they are thawed and soft and pliable, arrange them on a baking tray. Moisten the edges with water. You could be all fancy and use a silicone pastry brush for that or like me, depend on your forefinger to get the job done. Works better than the fancy silicone pastry brush.

Fill it up good - don't skimp on the filling. Because when the puffs bake, there should be enough stuff inside. Just like your mom taught you - Its not enough if you are beautiful outside, you really should have stuff inside. See what I mean? ( And no, she was not talking about me. It was a general statement)


Seal the edges tight. Move the baking tray to a pre heated oven at 375F. Bake until golden brown.


And its Golden Brown now. I cut each puff into 2 pieces for serving as these do tend to be big. Serve hot with either ketchup, or Hot n sweet, or Green and red chaat chutnies.


Did I tell you they were buttery flaky and delicious? Do you want to come to my party?


 Enjoy! Peace Out!

25 comments:

  1. Mouthwatering!!!!!!!!! I would love to come to the party

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  2. Droooooool! Yummmmmy!
    Parcel to Bengaluru, IN please?

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  3. Paneer and vegetable puff pastry looks so tempting.Thanks for dropping by my blog.

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  4. Where is your party? Am definitely coming!!

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  5. I like this pastry with the Indian spices and flavors :)

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  6. Yummyy pastry... sounds too good. :)

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  7. I used to make these often. I don't now for the fear of eating them too much. Nice pictures. I have a weekly bake-off event to which you can send this entry if you wish.

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  8. this is awesome... I make this often but I have never tried adding paneer... will rectify that :)

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  9. Slurpp, thats a tempting puffs....drooling!!

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  10. Very crispy looking puffs. Loved the colorful filling too. Appreciate ur illustrative pics.

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  11. Looks so good and yummy.. nice filling too.

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  12. Mmmmm, I want some of these puffs for lunch!

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  13. Amazing pictures, everything looks mouthwatering delicious!

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  14. Delicious!! I am waiting for the pastry recipe from scratch!

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  15. Yes, Anu! I would like to attend the party. But I remember that you had already treated me with this tasty stuff when we came to your place. It was indeed so tasty.

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  16. I am gonna make this now!

    But how I wish there had been measurements for the ingredients... I am still a novice cook wanting to make lovely dishes for my family, I hope this turns out good without that little help.

    Thank you for posting anyway :)

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  17. its easy but seems to be a delicious recipe. I'll definitely try it..

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  18. I have tried them and they are really nice.

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  19. I tried this recipe today and it came out really nice. I added some broccoli also and sauted all veg. in Olive oil. Please do let me know if you come around any substitute for frozen puff pastry

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  20. Hi Anu, I love your recipies. The dishes turns out to be perfect and very tasty if i just follow your steps. I have a question regarding Veg puff. Where can I find Frozen pastry sheets? Also, will the pack be named as Pastry sheets itself?

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  21. Krithika - thank you much for your comment. Yes. these are called frozen pastry sheets and you can usually find them in the grocery store. The big american grocery stores carry a version of this that is more flaky. But if you can find indian or mediterranean stores, they have the pastry sheets used for puffs. Those turn out great. See if you can find the Indo-european brand.

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  22. Thanks Anu. I tried it this weekend. It came out really well. Both of us liked it so much. Thanks to you for the recipe. The way you explain about any recipe with pictures gives me a clear picture. It is really helpful for beginners like me. Keep up the good work.

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