Receta Saag paneer puffs with mango dipping sauce
Has anyone noticed just how predictable my posts are? If I use half a packet of something in one recipe, you can be pretty certain that the rest of it will appear in a dish a few days later. The paneer in these saag paneer puffs (or is it palak paneer? I’ve never been too sure of the difference) was left over from the Indian style paneer pizza I posted a couple of weeks ago. The spinach was left over from my spinach and goat’s cheese muffins. The sour cream in the mango dipping sauce was left over from my mushroom stroganoff. Honestly, if you wanted to (although… I literally can’t think of a single reason why you would want to), you could sit down and figure out exactly what ingredients will be appearing in my next post. I hate throwing anything away, so everything gets used in a recipe at some point.
Also I’ve just realised that I seem to have developed an obsession with throwing herbs everywhere. Three out of the last four posts have been strewn messily with chopped herbs. Whoops. I guess I need a new way of making my photos pretty. Suggestions are welcome! Perhaps I should start drizzling things instead?
Anyway, yes. Sorry. As I mentioned the other day, saag paneer is pretty much my go-to Indian dish, so when I saw those two ingredients sitting happily alongside each other in my fridge, I knew it had to be done. Then I saw the pastry, and I got all confused because there’s no way I can turn down pastry, but… I wanted the saag paneer too. Hence, saag paneer puffs! Just make up your saag paneer like normal, ensuring it remains fairly dry so you don’t end up with soggy pastry, and then wrap it up and bake. Make sure you don’t skip the mango dipping sauce! It takes these puffs from good to great.
Saag paneer puffs
Author: Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche
Recipe type: Snack
- Prep time: 25 mins
- Cook time: 25 mins
- Total time: 50 mins
- Serves: 3
- 1tbsp oil
- ½ onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 125g paneer cheese, cut into ½cm dice
- ½tsp garam masala
- ¼tsp ground cumin
- 80g fresh spinach, chopped
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 350g puff pastry
- Spray oil
- 3tbsp sour cream (I used reduced fat)
- 3tbsp mango chutney
Fresh coriander, to serve (optional)
Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
Heat the oil in a large pan, and cook the onion, garlic and paneer over a medium heat for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the spices, and cook for a further 2 minutes, before adding the spinach. Allow the spinach to wilt and release its moisture, and then cook for a further 2 minutes until the mixture is quite dry. Season to taste. Remove from the heat, and set aside.
Roll out the puff pastry, and cut it into three strips measuring approximately 4 x 12 inches (if this isn’t possible with the sheet of pastry you have, you might need to make several smaller puffs rather than three large ones).
Heap a third of the spinach mixture (or less if you’re making more puffs) into a pile at one end of one of the strips of pastry. Fold one corner of pastry over the spinach at an angle, and continue folding along the strip in triangles until the filling is entirely enclosed. Repeat with the remaining spinach and pastry.
Place the triangles on a lightly greased baking tray, and spray lightly with the spray oil. Top with a little more black pepper. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the puffs are well risen and golden brown.
While the puffs are baking, combine the sour cream and mango chutney to create your dipping sauce. Serve the puffs with the sauce, and sprinkle with coriander if desired for added flavour.
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To see a video explaining how to fold your pastry into the triangle shape, see here.