Cumin paneer salad
- Published: 4 Apr 19
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
Chetna Makan’s vegetarian recipe for her marinated cumin paneer salad can be thrown together in less than half an hour. It makes a wonderful midweek main meal and would be extra wonderful served with warm naan breads. Why not find out how to make your own naan bread at home.
Ingredients
- 100ml natural yogurt
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp salt
- 225g paneer, cut into rectangles
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 200g mixed salad leaves
- Sliced red chilli and pomegranate seeds to garnish
For the dressing
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 25g toasted peanuts
- 1 red chilli, roughly chopped
- ¼ tsp salt
Method
- Mix the yogurt, cumin, turmeric and ½ tsp salt in a bowl. Add the paneer, mix well, then marinate for 10 minutes (see Make Ahead and tip).
- To make the dressing, heat 1 tsp of the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the peanuts, chilli and ¼ tsp salt and cook for a few seconds more.
- Transfer the mixture to a mini food processor, add the remaining oil and 2 tbsp cold water, then whizz to a paste.
- Set the frying pan you used to make the dressing over a medium heat. Heat the sunflower oil, then add the marinated paneer and fry for 1 minute on each side until slightly golden. Transfer to a bowl, cover closely with cling film (to keep the paneer soft) and set aside while you prepare the salad.
- Arrange the salad leaves in a large serving bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss well. Lay the paneer pieces on top, scatter over some sliced red chilli and pomegranate seeds to garnish and serve immediately.
- Recipe from February 2019 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 307kcals
- Fat
- 23.7g (11.4g saturated)
- Protein
- 16.1g
- Carbohydrates
- 6.3g (5.2g sugars)
- Fibre
- 1.8g
- Salt
- 0.35g
delicious. tips
To make this recipe vegan, replace the paneer and yogurt with some grilled cauliflower or roast potatoes.
Marinate the paneer for up to 2 hours, covered, in the fridge.
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Really enjoyed the flavours and the marinated paneer was delicious (also did some chicken in the marinade for my paneer averse daughter which also worked well). Would do this part of it again but agree with other reviewer that the consistency of the dressing wasn’t right when I made it and I would definitely tweak in future.
A nice dish but was rather dry so can be improved on: the dressing wasn’t really a dressing – more a peanut ‘paste’ which didn’t compliment the salad. If I made this again, I’d use the leftover marinade and more yoghurt to make the paste into a proper salad drizzle.