Paneer and potatoes in a jugalbandi of tasty flavours

Driving down the picturesque root from Bengaluru to Hyderabad, one goes through Kurnool; we spotted this quaint  village called Bhootpur. 

Its name was given by the Muslim invaders who came with Mughal army and settled here. In the late 17th century, a khanzama, named Irfani Khan, said to be a great cook of the invading Muslim army, who settled here introduced paneer, potato bonda, a fusion of the local and the invaders’ recipe. 

It was during this period, that paneer, unknown till then, made its way into southern cooking. Paneer is mentioned in the Vedic period, during the Indus valley civilization. The Vedas refer to two types of cheese: with pores and without, very similar to modern-day paneer. 

The Persians and Iranians brought paneer to India, first to the north, then to the central parts of the country, which was used extensively by the Mughals. The Portuguese gave it as a gift to Bengal, who made their own version of paneer and made many Bengali sweets out of it. After the era of Vijayanagar kingdom, when the Nizam ruled with the support of the British, who had defeated the last of the Mughals, there used to be a number of Muslim traders who had come down from Mughal times. 

They brought with them food and spices which were used to develop new dishes and influence the local cuisine. Some of them settled in the Hyderabad province and Bhootpur, a small village which saw a few Muslim settlers. They not only introduced paneer, but taught how it was made. The buffalo milk split with a sour lemon, tamarind or vinegar, was made into paneer by kneading the thick portion with the hands. 

The pieces of homemade cottage cheese and mashed potato, marinated in a red chilli/sesame seed, cumin paste while adding a hint of ginger, green chillies, onions and green coriander were then dipped in a flour batter and fried crisp. This dish became so popular that people from distant villages came  and relished the  recipe. The Nizam of Hyderabad would order the dish whenever he had important guests. It was served with a sauce made of eggplant and tomatoes. 

Serves: 6-8 nos

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

Calories per serve: 310 calories per bonda

Potatoes: 4 cooked and mashed

Paneer: 1 cup 

Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp

Shallots: ¾ cup (finely chopped) 

Ginger garlic paste: 1/4 tsp

Red chili powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder:  1/8 tsp

Garam masala powder: 1 tsp

Coriander leaves: to garnish 

Lemon juice: few drops 

Salt: as needed 

Besan flour: 1/2 cup 

Rice flour: 3 tbsp

Cooking soda: 1/8 tsp

Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp

Ginger & Garlic paste: 1/2 tsp

Salt: as needed 

Water: 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp, more if needed 

Cooking oil:  to deep fry

Pressure cooks the potatoes and peels the skin Mash it well Set aside Grate paneer Chop the onions finely. Heat oil in a pan and splutter cumin seeds

Add the onions and sauté till transparent Add ginger and garlic paste and sauté till raw smell goes off Now add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder Add the grated paneer, mashed potato and mix well No need to add water. Mix well so that masala is coated well Lastly add the lemon juice and coriander leaves

Now allow the masala to cool down and make balls of small lemon size Now make the bonda batter, take the besan, rice flour, red chilli powder, ginger and garlic paste, salt, cooking soda and mix well Add water to make a thick batter. 

The consistency of batter should not be too thick or too thin It should fall like a thick ribbon. I used ¾ cup of water. Take this as an approximate measure. Heat oil to deep fry Check the temperature of oil by dropping a pinch of batter. 

If it rises immediately oil temperature is right. Now take a dough ball and dip in the bonda batter. Drop it in the oil immediately Drop 3-4 balls in one batch Cook until golden brown by turning the bonda whenever needed. Keep the flame medium. 

Drain the bonda in a tissue paper Serve the Seemai potato paneer delicacy with any chutney, best being the tomato/eggplant one

Kitchen tips: You can use harbi or sweet potato instead of potatoes. Always keep anything fried on a paper towel first and squeeze out extra oil. Left over, when heated, will not taste good. So, add it to a gravy and it becomes a new tasty dish.