#TnlTasteOfTheWorld With Chef Amninder Sandhu – Recipe Of The Final Table Paneer Kofta, An Indian Classic

When stepping out of the cosy, and safe space of your home is not an option anymore, dreams of exploring the world brew up within you. Add in a drizzle of virtual travel and a splattering of gourmet food, and you’ve got what we call #TnlTasteOfTheWorld. Throughout the series, we’ll be getting in touch with chefs from around the world to recreate their signature dishes for you to try at home. After all, who said one needs to leave the house to embark on a culinary trail? Recipe by Chef Amninder Sandhu

 

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Possibly one of India’s most popular female chefs, Chef Amninder Sandhu grew up in Jorhat, Assan where she would spend hours watching her mother cook delicious meats in the kitchen. This early introduction to cooking eventually led her to give up her study of life sciences and pursue a career in the culinary world. Since then, her two-decade-long career has garnered many accolades. In 2016, she was awarded a national award for the Best Lady Chef by the Ministry of Tourism; won Restaurant Of The Year at World On A Plate judged by legend Chef Marco Pierre White in 2019; and became the first Indian chef to compete on The Final Table, a Netflix series which featured global masterchefs. This Indian-food expert now divides her time between Arth – a gas-free restaurant in Mumbai and Pune, and Iktara – a comfort Indian food eatery in Mumbai.

For this episode of #TnlTasteOfTheWorld, Chef Sandhu whips another classic Indian dish from her reservoir and teaches how to make The Final Table Paneer Kofta – a vegetarian alternative to India’s famous butter chicken. 

Ingredients

Tomato and cashew nut gravy

• 8 tomatoes
• 100 grams brown cashew nuts
• 3 green chillis
• 1 teaspoon green cardamom
• 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tablespoon deggi chilli powder
• 4 pods of black cardamom
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 8 kernels of black pepper
• 100 grams of butter
• 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups of water
• Salt to taste

• 180 grams paneer
• 1/4th teaspoon green cardamom powder
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 tablespoons mawa (khoya)
• 1 tablespoon raisins
• 2 tablespoons brown cashew nuts
• Salt to taste

Recipe

Tomato and cashew nut gravy

• Add chopped tomatoes, dried cashew nuts, green chilli, ginger-garlic paste, deggi chilli powder, black cardamom, cumin seeds, black pepper, butter, dried fenugreek leaves, honey, and water in a pot.
• Cook on low heat till the tomatoes soften.
• Once cooked, blend it to form a puree.
• Pass this gravy through a sieve to remove lumps.

Paneer Kofta

• Mash the paneer in a separate bowl.
• Add salt, green cardamom powder and corn starch. Mix well.
• In a different bowl, mix mawa with raisins and dried cashew nuts.
• Take the paneer mix, and roll it to form a small ball along with a little bit of the mawa mix.
• Roll this with cornflour.
• Deep fry these paneer koftas.

Assembling and Plating

• Mix the gravy with the deep-fried koftas and cook on low flame.
• Transfer to a bowl and garnish with fresh coriander.

Related: #TnlTasteOfTheWorld With Chef Shafiq Ahmed – Learn The Recipe Of Talbina, A Traditional Arabic Dish