Travels for Taste

Tales of travel and food with a touch of spice

  • Home
  • About
    • In the Press, Published Work and Interviews
    • PR and Disclosure Policy
  • Food
    • Recipe Index
      • Indian
        • C.K.P recipes
        • Curry – Meat, Seafood
        • Curry – Vegetarian
        • Sides
        • Chutneys
      • Healthy
        • Soups
        • Salads
      • Quick and Easy
      • Baking
        • Desserts
      • Meat
      • Seafood
      • Vegetarian
        • Salads
      • Vegan
    • Product Reviews
    • Events
  • Travel
    • UK
    • India
    • Around the World
  • Lifestyle
    • Home
    • Kitchen
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Miscellaneous
  • Giveaways
  • Work with me
    • Meet interesting foodie entrepreneurs here
You are here: Home / Food / Paneer Firecracker Parcels

Paneer Firecracker Parcels

October 12, 2017 by manjirichitnis 6 Comments

A delicious paneer starter for special occasions

 The countdown to the most opulent and bright Hindu festival of the year has begun. DIWALI โ€“ the festival of lights is knocking on our doors. Delicious spicy shredded paneer bhurji encased in a delicate filo pastry parcel and baked to just the right temperature. These bite-sized mini parcels of deliciousness pack a punch of flavour and are certain to become a crowd-pleaser in no time. These mini โ€˜firecrackersโ€™ explode when bitten into engulfing oneโ€™s palate in a riot of beautiful flavours and textures.

Easy Vegetarian Party food recipe, a sure-fire crowd-pleaser

A great recipe to rustle up quickly and impress guests, perfect for both at a planned party or for surprising those guests that drop in unexpectedly. And with ASDA by my side, I can bring home all these beautiful ingredients and unleash my creative side in the kitchen. It also gives me an opportunity to save some precious time and spend it with those that matter most โ€“ my family โ€“ and celebrate this amazing and lively festival with pomp and pageantry โ€“ at home.

Paneer Firecracker Parcels
manjirichitnis

PANEER FIRECRACKER PARCELS

Delicious, Vegetraian and festive this is a great recipe torustle up quickly and impress guests, perfect for both at a planned party orfor surprising those guests that drop in unexpectedly.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Servings: 6 people
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Fusion Indian
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 250 grams Paneer
  • 2 sheets Filo pastry
  • 1 handful cashews and almonds for purรฉe
  • 2 Red onions medium sized
  • 1.5 small juicy sweet tomatoes
  • 2 Sweet Peppers (small, sweet crunchyones)
  • 2 tbsp Tomato purรฉe
  • 4 tbsp Oil
  • 1 small pinch Asafoetida
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin (jeera)
  • 2 Green chillies
  • 1 tsp Red chilli powder
  • 1.5 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
  • 2 tsp Garam masala
  • 2 tsp Coriander powder
  • 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
  • 1/4 tsp Kasoori methi
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
  • 1/2 tsp salt or as per taste
  • 2 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter)
  • 1 handful Almonds + cashew nuts +Raisins ( for garnishing)

Equipment

  • Pan, Oven

Method
 

  1. Grate the paneer to get longcheese like curls, set aside
  2. Soak a handful of cashews andalmonds in warm water, it becomes easier to peel off the skin, peel and leavethem to soften in lukewarm water. Once they soften, make a thick smooth pasteof the cashews and almonds. Set aside
  3. Remove the seeds and thenroughly chop the tomatoes
  4. In a heavy bottomed pan heat 1tbsp oil, then reduce the flame and add a pinch of asafoetida and 1/2 tspginger garlic paste, roughly chopped tomatoes, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 1/2 aย green chillies chopped roughly, 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
  5. Cook on a medium flame forabout 2 mins, stirring to ensure the paste doesnโ€™t burn or overcook
  6. Remove thisย mixture fromthe pan and allow to cool, once it has cooled downย blend the mixture tomake a thick paste. Add 1 tbsp water to blend to a smooth consistency
  7. Meanwhile, start on the peppers by removing all the seeds andfinely chopping theย sweet peppers intoย tiny bite-sizedย cubes,similarly chop the red onions very fine. Setย aside
  8. In the sameย pan addย 3tbspย oil, when the oil is hotย sputter some cumin seeds and add 1/2tspย  ginger garlic paste, reduce the flame
  9. Then add the chopped onionsย andreduce the flame to low, allow the onions to brown slightly while stirringoccasionally
  10. Now addย the dry powdermasalas (garam masala, 1/4 tsp black pepper powder, red chilliย powder,coriander powder) and saute well untilย the onions are reduced and releasea strong aroma. To ensure the onions and masalas donโ€™t burn, stir occasionallywhile they reduce
  11. To this, addthisย cashew-almond paste and the thick tomato mixture andย mix wellThen add in the chopped sweet peppersand cook them until they begin to soften.
  12. Now add in the gratedpaneer,ย turmeric powder,ย kasoori methi andย finely choppedcoriander leaves. Cook on a low flame until the mixturethickens it looses all its excess moisture. Do not cook with a lid on, do notadd water and ensure that you stir occasionally
  13. Allow this mixture to cool completelyand then rshapeinto tiny bround balls. On a baking sheet lay open the filopastry pack and use two sheets to make a strong outer covering
  14. Cut the sheet using a pizzacutter into large rectangles. If you find this fiddly place the sheet on amuffin tray and cut using a scissor
  15. Drizzle some melted butter or use anoil spray to line the inside of the sheets
  16. Add one small paneer mixture ballinto each filo rectangle and gentlyย fold to make a neat parcel, spray someoil over this and cook in a pre-heated oven at about 150 deg cel (fan oven). Keep an eye so that the outer filopastry does not burn
  17. While this is in the oven heat gheein a small pan and add the raisins, they are ready when they begin to swell insize, then dunk in some skinless whole cashew nuts and skinless whole almondsfry them in the ghee too, once done, remove and set aside
  18. When the parcels turn a toasty lightbrown colour on the outside, they are done, remove and serve on a prettyplatter on a bed of chopped coriander, sprinkle ghee roasted nuts on top tomimic tiny jewels
Spicy paneer bhurji encased in delicate filo pastry parcels

This dish is meant to tease the palate before a festive meal. The vibrant spices ensure an explosion of flavour and the rich cashew-almond paste adds a regal twist which also balances the flavours ensuring those who are not partial to heaty spices can savour this dish too. Congratulations – you have in your repertoire a cracking crowd-pleaser recipe. Now all you need to do is to go stock up that list of ingredients ๐Ÿ˜‰ – time crunch? No problem – shop online!

Spicy paneer bhurji encased in delicate filo pastry parcels

ASDA has some really cool offers for Diwali, why not check out the special Diwali offers here before you head out to ASDA?  I have stocked up on oil, ghee, spices and a few store cupboard essentials – after all, it helps to have time-saving tricks up our sleeve!

*With thanks to ASDA. As always, all opinions expressed are always my own.

Filed Under: Food, Indian, Recipe Index Tagged With: ASDA Diwali, autumn, celebrate, celebration recipes, cottage cheese, Deepavali, Deepawali, Diwali 2017, Diwali Food, Diwali in London, Diwali in the U.K, Diwali recipes, festive recipes, Indian Food, Indian recipes, paneer, Paneer Firecracker Parcels, spicy vegetarian starter recipe, starter recipe, the festival of lights

« Springtime at Keukenhof – The Garden of Europe
Halloween Forgotten Graveyard Cake »

Comments

  1. Sisley White says

    October 19, 2019 at 1:57 pm

    These look delicious! I want to try making these ASAP

    Reply
    • manjirichitnis says

      October 22, 2019 at 2:52 pm

      I loved them, great for a Diwali party platter ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  2. Choclette says

    October 23, 2019 at 3:11 pm

    Wow Manjiri these parcels of deliciousness do sound like they pack a punch. they’d be perfect for bonfire night as well as Diwali. Not sure if I’ve missed it or not, but Happy Diwali.

    Reply
    • manjirichitnis says

      October 23, 2019 at 10:29 pm

      Oh yes, they would work well for Bonfire Night too! Tomorrow is the first day of Diwali ๐Ÿ™‚ Thank you ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  3. Kavita Favelle says

    October 23, 2019 at 3:12 pm

    These look so delicious and such a great idea for vegetarian starters!

    Reply
    • manjirichitnis says

      October 23, 2019 at 10:28 pm

      Thank you, they are a crowd fav, can’t wait to serve these again this Diwali weekened ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Food,travel and lifestyle writer. Photographer.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

  • Baking
  • Breads
  • C.K.P recipes
  • Cakes
  • Chutneys
  • Cocktails
  • Curry – Meat, Seafood
  • Curry – Vegetarian
  • Desserts
  • Events
  • Featured Food and Drink
  • Featured Lifestyle
  • Featured Travel Adventures
  • Food
  • Healthy
  • Home
  • India
  • Indian
  • Kitchen
  • Lifestyle
  • London and rest of U.K
  • Meat
  • Miscellaneous
  • Product Reviews
  • Quick and Easy
  • Recipe Index
  • Rest of the World
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Salads
  • seafood
  • Sides
  • Smoothies
  • Soups
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

Featured Blogger on Great British Chefs

GBC_blogger-badge_150x300px    

Need a New Power Blender?

13076814_10154185434898293_7387808474266473605_n

Travelsfortaste is Featured on Expats Blog

England expat blogs
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Squaremeal.co.uk - Restaurant Reviews

About me

Writer and Photographer. Food,Travel & Lifestyle, Blogger and Digital Marketer. Read Moreโ€ฆ

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon, Fortnum & Mason – Afternoon Tea Review
  • Brown’s Brasserie and Bar celebrates 50th Anniversary with Covent Garden Grand re-opening
  • Hampton Court Palace Food Festival – Review
  • Brigit’s Bakery Afternoon Tea, Covent Garden, London – Review
  • Maplin Photo Walk around Central London

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT