24 Jan Paneer Ghotala recipe

Posted at 19:31h in Glutenfree Recipes, Snacks/Street Food by blessmyfoodbypayal 1 Comment

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Last Updated on January 24, 2023 by blessmyfoodbypayal

Paneer Ghotala recipe | Surat Veg ghotala | Cheese paneer Ghotala with step wise pictorial and video method.

WHAT IS PANEER GHOTALA?

A famous street food from the land of Surat, Gujrat, Paneer Ghotala is a lipsmacking recipe made with grated paneer, capsicum, tomatoes, onion, processed cheese with certain aromatic spices.

It is served with masala pav, much like pav bhaji and is the vegetarian version of Anda (egg) Ghotala.

WHY IT IS NAMED AS PANEER GHOTALA?

PANEER is an Indian Cottage Cheese and GHOTALA in English means Scam.

You must be wondering what the word Ghotala (scam) has to do with food but keep all your logics aside when it comes to food names from Gujrat…lol.

Gujrat is well known for its unique names in food items, be it Dhokla, Fafda, Thepla, Khandvi, Poodla, Khakhra, Chodafadi, Debra, Khichoo, Handvo, Gota or Muthia.

But whatever be the names, the Gujrati food is such a delicious that whole of the India has accepted the Gujrati cuisine whole heartedly.

Coming back to paneer Ghotala, there’s a probability why it is called Ghotala because the paneer is added to the gravy in such a way that you can’t see paneer from its first appearance.

Only after digging in and by proper & thorough investigation, you will be able to expose the scam. Lol.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PANEER GHOTALA AND PANEER BHURJI

This recipe looks quite similar to paneer Bhurji but if you look into the list of ingredients, you will find a major difference.

Where Paneer Bhurji has paneer, onion and tomatoes only with regular spices, Paneer Ghotala has capsicum, processed cheese and pav bhaji masala out of league.

Although there’s no hard and fast rule and some says contrary to what we have mentioned, meaning thereby that paneer ghotala doesn’t have capsicum but paneer bhurji has. But if you observe in majority, you will find capsicum in paneer ghotala only and not in paneer bhurji.

Further, the biggest difference is in the texture of paneer. In bhurji, paneer is added after crumbling whereas in Surat Veg Ghotala, paneer is added by grating.

Also, paneer bhurji is served only with naan, roti or Paratha as it is a main course whereas paneer Ghotala is served with pav as a street food.

Although this is the traditional method of serving cheese paneer ghotala, but you can feel free to serve it with bread, kulcha, naan, roti or Paratha even.

INGREDIENTS USED IN MAKING PANEER GHOTALA RECIPE

PANEER: Paneer is indian Cottage Cheese made after curdling milk. For this recipe, use fresh paneer, either it is homemade or store bought.

But paneer must be hard enough to get grated and not like a crumbled one.

Also make sure that grate the paneer from largest shredding holes of the grater, otherwise paneer will turn mushy and you are not going to get the thin strips of paneer.

ONION: If it is medium sized, then one onion is enough and chop it very finely.

TOMATOES: Medium sized 3 tomatoes are used in this recipe after chopping them very finely. You may or may not remove the skin of tomatoes, choice is yours.

CAPSICUM : A very finely chopped single capsicum/bell pepper is enough.

GINGER GARLIC PASTE: You can use readymade ginger garlic paste or can separately crush ginger and garlic pods.

SPICES : This recipe has regular Indian spices like red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt and pav bhaji masala.

KASURI METHI: It helps in enhancing the flavours of the dish.

OIL : We have used refined oil in this recipe. You can add any oil you use in your regular cooking.

PROCESSED CHEESE: The presence of processed cheese makes this recipe more rich, more creamy and more delicious. There’s no hard and fast rule as to the quantity of cheese and add as much you like.

Few recipes use mozzarella cheese also in place of processed cheese but prefer to add processed cheese only because it melts better than mozzarella.

VEGAN OPTIONS

There are only 3 ingredients in the recipe which are dairy products i.e. Paneer, butter and processed cheese.

You can replace paneer with tofu, butter with vegan butter or omit this ingredient and processed cheese with vegan cheese.

STEP WISE PICTORIAL MWTHOD OF PANEER GHOTALA RECIPE

MAKING OF PANEER GHOTALA

1. Grate 200 gram paneer from the largest shredding holes. Keep aside.

2. Add 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste and 2 green chilies. Saute till paste turns brown.

3. Add 1 onion (chopped), red chilli powder to taste, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp coriander powder and salt to taste.

4. Cook till onion turns soft.

5. Add 3 tomatoes (finely chopped) and 1 finely chopped capsicum. Mix.

6. Put a lid and let it cook on moderate heat for 12 to 15 minutes.

7. By now the tomatoes must have become mushy. Mash tomatoes and capsicum with a masher.

8. Tomatoes need to be cooked till they start releasing oil.

9. Add grated paneer and mix.

10. Add water and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.

11. Lastly add 1 tbsp butter, 1 tsp Kasuri methi, 1 tbsp pav bhaji masala and 2 cubes of processed cheese by grating them.

12. Cook for 2 minutes.

13. Top with 2 tbsp of coriander leaves and mix. Paneer Ghotala is ready.

MASALA PAV

1. Put 1 tsp butter, pinch of red chilli powder and few coriander leaves on a tawa.

2. Mix them properly and spread on the tawa.

3. Toss pavs after cutting them from the middle.

4. Serve with paneer ghotala.

NOTES

If you don’t have pav bhaji masala, add garam masala, though you get the authentic taste with pav bhaji masala only.