Crunchy paneer popcorn is a quick snack that is made similar to the chicken popcorn. Paneer is batter coated and then rolled in bread crumbs. Then deep fried till crunchy.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Snack
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cup paneer (cubed or Indian cottage cheese (½ by 1 inch size))
  • ¼ cup plain flour (/ maida or rice flour or besan (heaped cup))
  • 1 ½ tsp ginger garlic paste
  • Salt as needed
  • ½ to ¾ tsp red chilli powder ((reduce for toddlers))
  • ¼ to ½ tsp pepper (crushed)
  • ¾ tsp garam masala (or any spice powder like allspice)
  • ¾ tsp dried herbs ((optional) or coriander leaves chopped.)
  • ½ cup bread crumbs
  • Salt as needed
  • ¼ tsp red chili powder

Method

Preparation for paneer popcorn

  1. Cut paneer to one by half inch cubes. Keep these aside.
  2. Add red chili powder, salt and bread crumbs to a wide bowl. Mix everything well and set aside.
  3. Add flour, salt, ginger garlic paste, pepper, herbs, red chili powder and garam masala to a mixing bowl.
  4. Add water little by little and make a thick batter. Too thick batter will make them hard so it has to be moderately thick.

How to make paneer popcorn

  1. Add the paneer cubes to this and coat them well with the batter.
  2. Roll each of these batter coated paneer cubes in bread crumbs.
  3. Gently press down the crumbs to the paneer.
  4. Refrigerate for about 15 mins.
  5. Heat oil in a kadai. When the oil is hot enough, add the bread coated paneer cubes in the hot oil.
  6. Regulate the flame to medium and fry stirring until golden.
  7. Drain them when golden and crunchy. To fry the next batch, discard the bread crumbs that settle at the bottom of the kadai. Then add the next batch.
  8. Serve paneer popcorn with red chilli sauce or schezwan sauce.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.