Paneer Koliwada Recipe (Fried Paneer)

5 from 2 votes

Paneer Koliwada Recipe (Fried Paneer)

Paneer Koliwada is a quick, crispy and tasty fried snack made with marinated and spiced batter-coated paneer cubes. The batter is gluten-free and made with gram flour (besan). This Fried Paneer originated in Sion Koliwada in Mumbai.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Total Time50

Course: Side Dish, Snacks

Cuisine: Indian Street Food

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings:

Calories: 393kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

Marination ingredients

200 grams Paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
1.5 teaspoons lemon juice
1.5 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste or 1 inch ginger & 4 to 5 medium garlic cloves crushed to a paste in mortar-pestle
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
¼ teaspoon Kashmiri Chilli Powder

Batter ingredients

½ cup besan (gram flour)
½ teaspoon Cumin Powder (jeera)
½ teaspoon Garam Masala
½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
1 teaspoon Chaat Masala
1 teaspoon Kashmiri Chilli Powder
salt as required
4 tablespoons water or add as required
oil - as required, for deep frying

Serving ingredients

1 onion - thinly sliced, small to medium-sized
1 lime or lemon - chopped, small
Chaat Masala as required

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Marinating paneer

Chop the paneer in 1.5 inch cubes and take them in a bowl.
Add the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, kashmiri red chilli powder, lemon juice and salt as required.
Gently mix everything with your hands without breaking the paneer cubes. If you are unable to mix, then toss the bowl, so that the ingredients get mixed. Cover the bowl and marinate for 20 to 30 minutes.

Making batter

In another mixing bowl take the besan (gram flour).
Add cumin powder, garam masala powder, carom seeds, chaat masala and kashmiri red chili powder.
Next add 4 tablespoons water.
Mix very well to get a thick batter without any lumps.
Add the marinated paneer cubes in the batter.
Gently mix well with your hands or a spoon without breaking the paneer cubes. Check the taste of the batter and if required you can add more salt.

Making Paneer Koliwada

Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai (wok) or pan. Add a tiny portion of the batter in the oil. If it comes up gradually and steadily, the oil is ready for the paneer cubes to be fried.
Coat the paneer cubes evenly with the batter and drop them gently in the hot oil.
Fry on medium heat and do not over crowd the pan or kadai. Add depending on the size of the wok or kadai.
You can fry paneer in two to three batches. Alternatively you can even pan fry or shallow fry the paneer cubes.
When one side is golden, turn over with a slotted spoon and continue to fry.
Turn over a couple of times more and fry till the paneer cubes are golden and crisp.
Remove with a slotted spoon draining the extra oil in the pan.
Do not over do the frying part as then the paneer cubes can become dense and chewy.
Remove the fried paneer cubes on kitchen paper towels for extra oil to be absorbed. This way continue to fry the remaining paneer cubes.
Sprinkle chaat masala and then serve Paneer Koliwada hot with a side of sliced onions, lemon wedges and mint chutney.

Notes

Make sure to use fresh paneer. Homemade is always better. If using frozen paneer, thaw it according to package instructions.
The ground spices can be adjusted by adding less or more of them.
You can also try air-frying these paneer cubes.
Carom seeds is an essential ingredient in the recipe and try not to skip them.
Make sure to fry on medium to medium-high heat. Low heat will make the outside batter absorb more oil. An extremely high heat may brown the outer coating too much leaving the inside portion of the batter undercooked.

Nutrition