Paneer Cigar Roll (non fried)

Paneer Cigar Roll (non fried)

The last time I made paneer cigar rolls was for my son’s birthday celebration last year. It was loved by everyone and was a hit. After that though, I somehow never got to make it again, probably because I have just not had the time and energy for it. Not to say it is energy consuming but because it involves deep frying. This time though I tried my hands on baking it. I felt that if home made dough was used for the pastry then the results may not be very satisfactory so chose filo pastry. For those who do not have access to filo pastry, make a dough with about a cup of all purpose flour (maida) with required water and couple of spoons of oil. Roll the dough as thin as possible and that is almost as good as filo pastry substitute. You can see from the pictures that they look more like the huge cigar rolls than the sleek cigarettes, am sure you can do a better job of rolling them, I had far too many things going on including a crying baby. Paneer is Indian cottage cheese. You could use other cheese like cheddar or mozzarella too. As these will melt, so not add it to the pepper on the stove, mix it after the pepper has cooled down a bit. I made my own dip by mixing hot an d sweet sauce, soya sauce, garlic infused olive oil and sugar. The below mentioned quantity makes about 9 rolls.

100g paneer, grated

1 large red pepper, finely chopped

3-4 spring onions, green and white part finely chopped

½ teaspoon coriander powder

½ teaspoon cumin powder

Turmeric powder

½ teaspoon chilly powder

Salt to taste

6-8 sheets of filo pastry

Cooking oil

Heat some oil and sauté the spring onions for couple of minutes

Add the peppers and add required salt and cook just until if begins to soften

Add the paneer, turmeric powder and spice powders and sauté for couple of minutes

Take two sheets of filo pastry and brush with little oil and cut into three equal parts across its length

On one end, put some of the prepared paneer stuffing and start rolling. Seal the ends with wet fingers and with seam side below, place on lined baking tray. Repeat until all filling is used

Brush few drops of oil on all of the rolls and bake at 170degC for about 15-20 minutes until golden