Recipe: Crispy Paneer Bread Pakora

Does making Bread Pakora without potatoes seem like an impossible task?

Priyanka Bolia replaces the starchy tuber with raw banana and paneer. Deep-fried, crispy and savoury -- it's a great tea-time snack and you won't miss the potatoes.

Eight years ago, after marriage, Priyanka, a home cook, moved from Asind, a village in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, to Thane, Maharashtra.

"In the village I grew up in Rajasthan, we didn't get pav or bread. We savoured litti and dal baati for lunch, samosas and kachoris with tea and sweets like ghewar on special occasions," she says and this recipe was something she developed later.

Through her YouTube channel Jain and Veg Recipes Cooking With Pinki (external link), the food blogger celebrates her passion for Jain cuisine with 5,000 plus followers.

Jain Paneer Bread Pakora

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

• 4-6 slices white or brown or multigrain bread
• Peanut oil for deep frying

For the stuffing

• 2 raw bananas, boiled and grated or mashed
• ¾ cup grated paneer
• 1 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chilly powder
• 1 tsp dhania or coriander powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp amchur or dried mango powder, alternatively use 1 tsp lemon juice
• ¼ tsp garam masala powder

For the batter coating

• 3 tbsp besan or chickpea flour
• 1 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilly powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp rice flour or cornflour
• Pinch baking powder
• Water

For the green chutney

• 1 cup green dhania or coriander or cilantro
• 2-3 green chillies
• 1 tbsp raw peanuts
• 1 tsp jeera or cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• Juice of ½ lime

Method

For the stuffing

• In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the stuffing.
  Mix well and knead into a firm dough.
  Keep aside.

To make the green chutney

• Grind all the ingredients, except the lime juice, to a fine paste.
  Add the lime juice; it helps the chutney retain its fresh green colour.
  Keep aside.

For the batter

• In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the batter.
  Mix well till smooth and without any lumps.
  Add a few tbsp of water to achieve the desired consistency.
• Place two slices of bread on a flat surface.
  Spread a layer of the stuffing on one slice of the bread.
  Spread chutney on the second slice of bread and put both slices together.
  Cut diagonally to form two triangles.
  Repeat for the remaining stuffing.

To fry the pakoras

• Heat peanut oil in a heavy-bottomed kadhai.
  Dip the stuffed triangles of bread in the batter and deep-fry in batches until golden brown.
  Drain onto a tissue or paper towel-lined plate.
  Serve hot with the green chutney or ketchup or sauce of choice.

Editor's Note: Replace the paneer with mashed tofu for vegan pakoras.

WATCH: How to make Jain Bread Pakora.