Issue #140: Paneer Patty

Pleasant Airline Travel in India, Airport Snacks, Recipe for a Galette de Raj

It’s great to travel and it’s good to be home.

We are back in New York City for the moment, after 2 1/2 weeks on the road, mostly in India, with stopovers in Amsterdam and Dubai. I say “for the moment” because tomorrow we close on our new house in New Hampshire and next week we begin the move.

The bag for our Punjabi samosas served aboard IndiGo.

As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, we ate extremely well everywhere in India, from street food to fancy restaurants, and even on planes and in airports. I won’t soon forget the two large, spicy, flaky samosas we each received on our 50-minute, budget IndiGo flight from Agra to Jaipur, part of their “Street to Tray Table” program. Those samosas may well be the best thing I’ve ever consumed on an airplane. We took the leftovers with us and had them with dinner.

One of the pleasant surprises of the trip in general was the efficiency and pleasure of Indian air travel. The airports were clean and efficient, security was taken extremely seriously, the airline staff were lovely and helpful, the planes were new and comfortable. By comparison, JFK feels like a zoo. And don’t get me started about the Delta boarding process or their inflight service.

Vada pav in the Udaipur airport. That was a powerful chili.

Whenever we arrived in a new airport, we plunked down the bags and I went exploring for food and souvenir options, as is our custom. In the Udaipur airport, I spotted a chaat stand that had a selection of snacks that look particularly appetizing in a warming display case. I ordered one of each, of course, and a couple of cups of chai. Nate laughed when I had to make two trips to carry our treats. We enjoyed them all. Vada pav, a cumin-scented potato croquette on a soft bun, a respectable samosa with a pronounced black-pepper kick, the local variation of kachori, an onion-stuffed, flattened, and fried sort of dumpling, this one with a pleasant cinnamon note.

A very bad shot of a very good paneer patty in the Udaipur airport.

But it was a paneer patty that stole my heart. You could mistake the paneer patty—which I’ve also seen called a “puff”—for an apple turnover, a boureka, or any triangle of flaky puff pastry baked until golden brown. I had seen patties or puffs of various sizes for sale on the streets of Jaipur’s Johari Bazar. Even though we’d already been eating heavily spiced and seasoned Indian food at every meal for a week by the time I bit in, I was surprised at the intensity of flavor in the curried paneer filling. It was so, so good.

Although I generally think of mildly flavored things baked inside puff pastry—frangipane, cheese, apples, for example—that complement the richness of the dough, this powerful curried filling provided a perfect counterpoint. I told Nate I was going to try to make it when we got home.

Today, two days back, I kept my word.

Scattered between the various packing and moving tasks we need to complete, we are trying to see as many people as we can before we go. Tonight, some friends are coming for dinner and I decided to make an oversized paneer patty for an appetizer—a bigger visual bang and less fuss than individual turnovers. I can confirm it makes for an impressive and delicious start to a meal. Plus, I prefer the ratio of crust to filling in this oversized version. Of course, you can also make individual turnovers, if you prefer. I like to think of this bigger puff as a Galette de Raj.

Serve it with a mint, tamarind and/or coconut chutney, or maybe even raita.

For ease and impressiveness, I made an oversized paneer patty—Galette de Raj.

RECIPE: Paneer Patty

• 1 tablespoon olive or peanut oil

• ½ teaspoon cumin seed

• 1 small green chili, very thinly sliced, or a piece of jalapeño, minced

• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced

• Salt

• 1 clove garlic, grated on a Microplane

• 1 small knob ginger, grated on a Microplane

• 2 Roma tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped

• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

• 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1/3 cup frozen peas, defrosted

• 5 ounces fresh paneer, cut into ¼-inch cubes

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 1 recipe rough puff pastry (see here), or frozen puff pastry, defrosted and chilled

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add the oil add the cumin seed. Once sizzling, add the chili. Sauté for 30 seconds and add the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened and begun ever so slightly to brown. Add the garlic and ginger and cook another minute or so. Add the tomato, turmeric, cumin, and coriander, and cook until the tomato pulp turns to mush, another 4 or 5 minutes. Add the peas, paneer, and a few grinds of black pepper and cook another few minutes, just until everything is heated through and well mixed. Allow this mixture to cool completely. It can be refrigerated for up to a week at this point until you are ready to bake the patty.

The filling comes together quickly and can be stored for up to a week before baking.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the rough puff pastry to a long rectangle and trim to 16” by 8”. While working, be careful not to roll off the edge and flatten the layers, but rather, roll to the edge until you have an even thickness of about 1/4” or so.

Trim the pastry to equal squares or whatever shape you prefer.

Divide the rectangle into two 8” squares and place one on a plate in the fridge. Transfer the remaining square of dough to the prepared pan. Spoon the filling in the center of the pastry, leaving an untouched border around the perimeter of about 3/4”. Use an offset spatula to level out the filling. Moisten the border of dough around the edge with a finger dipped in cold water.

Leave the edge untouched to help make a good seal.

Retrieve the second square of dough from the fridge and carefully lay it on top of the filling, pressing the moistened edge with your fingers to seal. Be careful not to squeeze out any filling. Use your finger to roll from the edge of the dough to the filling to be sure to make a good seal. Using the tines of a fork dipped in flour, crimp and press the edges together. Don’t be gentle. Cut a few slits in the top of the dough all the way through to the filling to allow steam to escape.

In a small bowl, beat together the egg yolk and cream with a pinch of salt. Brush the dough with this egg wash and then chill the turnover for about 20 minutes before baking.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350°F. and continue baking until nicely browned, about 10 minutes more. Cool to room temperature before serving. If the patty has cooled completely, you can reheat it in a 300°F. oven for 10 minutes before serving.

Note: To make individual patties, cut the large rectangle into 3”- or 4”-inch squares. Place spoonfuls of filling in the center. Moisten two edges and fold over to make triangle turnovers. Crimp and press the edges with the tines of a fork. Glaze with egg wash, chill, and bake as advised, reducing the total baking time by about 10 minutes.