Recipe: Paneer And Mayo Sandwiches

If your family is bored of eating the same green chutney or cheese sandwiches week after week, opt for Nadiya Sarguroh's open Paneer and Mayo Sandwiches. As handy for nashta and breakfast, it's an quick bite option for any time of the day.

It can get a little messy, but your kids will love it, especially the sliced potatoes with the crunchy green bell pepper. And the cheese!

The paneer can be replaced with tofu or shredded chicken. Serve the sandwiches with hot sauce, chutney or ketchup.

Nadiya's cooking often runs to Western dishes spiced up to suit the chatpata Indian palate.

Paneer and Mayo Sandwiches

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

For the marination

• 300 gm paneer, cut into cubes
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tbsp store-bought tandoori chicken masala or tandoori masala
• 1-2 tsp Kashmiri red chilly powder
• Salt to taste, about ½ tsp

For the sandwiches

• 4-6 slices of white/brown/multigrain/ragi bread 
• 2-3 tbsp butter
• 2-3 tbsp or less sriracha sauce
• 2-3 tbsp mayonnaie
• 2-3 tbsp green coriander chutney
• 2 large potatoes, boiled, peeled and sliced
• 1 large green capsicum, cored, deseeded and diced
• 2-3 tsp chaat masala
• Mozzarella cheese
• Dried mixed herbs, to garnish (usually a mix of dried oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme)
• Ketchup, to serve
• Parchment paper or foil

Method

For the marination

• In a bowl, combine the paneer cubes with the ginger-garlic paste, tandoori chicken masala, red chilly powder, salt.
  Keep aside to marinate for 30 minutes.

For the sandwich

• Preheat an oven to 200°C on the fan forced setting (at this setting a fan distributes the heat within).
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper or foil.
  Place the slices of bread onto the tray.
  If you like, cut off the edges of the bread slices before placing them on the tray.
  Spread a thin layer of butter, green chutney, sriracha sauce (reserve some for later) and the mayonnaise on all the slices.
  Add a layer of the sliced potatoes.
  Add another thin layer of the sriracha sauce.
  Top it with the paneer cubes and the diced green capsicum.
  Sprinkle the chaat masala and a little bit of the dried herbs.
  Grate the mozzarella cheese over each open-faced sandwich generously.
  Place the tray in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese melts and the paneer softens or else grill the sandwiches till the cheese melts and the paneer becomes soft.
  Take out of the oven and serve hot with ketchup.

Editor's Note: This recipe contains a fair amount of chilly or spice. Reduce the quanitites of sriracha, tandoori masala, chilly powder and green chutney to suit your chilly capacity.

For a recipe of green chutney, use Lahu Kapduskar's Green Chutney recipe.

For vegan sandwiches, use vegan cheese and substitute the paneer withtiny pieces of tofu.

For Jain sandwiches, use 2 large green bananas or plantains instead of potatoes. Slice the unpeeled green bananas lengthwise into large pieces and boil in water in a saucepan till cooked or tender, about 15 minutes. Drain. Pat dry and peel off the skin. Cut into thin slices. Alternatively, use long banana chips in place of the potatoes and you will have a crunchier but equally tasty variety of the same sandwich.

Nadiya Sarguroh lives in Mumbai and publishes the food blog HautePot.

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