Taige Shukla
By Taige Shukla
Instagram: @whatsthe_chai
I haven’t had a chance to say it yet so: Happy 2025 Saathee Family! I hope everyone started the new year on a healthy and hopeful note, I know I did! I’m excited to share this fun recipe that my family (aka the best taste testers) absolutely loved over the holidays. This can also be a great one for any Galentine / Valentine celebrations this month. I know this will definitely be repeated for our future gatherings. You really can’t go wrong with bite-sized pastries filled with paneer! You can use ready made paneer or try your hand at homemade paneer. You can find a full how-to video for this recipe on Instagram, follow @saatheemagazine or @whatsthe_chai.
Servings: 25 – 30 bites
Prep Time: One Hour
Cooking Time: 20 – 25 minutes
Ingredients
Pastry
1 Pack of Puff Pastry (2 sheets thawed)
1 egg + 1 tbsp water (or melted butter)
Toasted sesame seeds
Filling
1 cup paneer (crumbled)
1/2 medium white onion (diced)
1½ cups baby spinach (chopped)
1 tsp ginger (grated)
1 tbsp garlic (minced)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1 tbsp coriander powder
2 tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Optional: Deseeded green chili
Directions
Thaw puff pastry sheets for at least 40 mins.
Next, make tadka (infused oil). Add a tbsp of oil to a small pan along with the ginger, garlic, and cumin seeds. Roast for about 3 mins until fragrant, then set aside.
In a large bowl add onion, spinach, crumbled paneer, the prepared tadka (ginger, garlic, & cumin seeds), the remainder of the spices, lemon juice, and optional green chili. Mix until well combined. Taste the mixture to make sure it is as flavorful as you would like, feel free to add more of the spices if needed.
Once the pastry sheets have thawed, roll each out into a 12×10 inch rectangle and cut each into 3 equal strips. Add 1/6 of the paneer mixture to each strip and fold the strip in half lengthwise. Pinch the edges shut.
Brush the top of each filled strip with egg wash (egg + 1 tbsp water mixed or melted butter) and top with toasted sesame seeds. Cut into equal bite-sized pieces, about 1.5 inches each.
Add the bites to a prepped baking sheet and bake at 400°F for about 15 mins, until the pastry is cooked all the way through and golden brown. Serve with your favorite chutney or dipping sauce.
