Chhanar paturi or steamed cottage cheese. An easy to make paneer or cottage cheese dish from Bengali cuisine. You can make paturi with fish, eggs or any vegetable following this recipe. Just marinate the mashed paneer wrap with banana leaf and steam and your delicious paneer is ready. Serve this no onion garlic side dish steamed paneer or chhanar paturi with hot steamed rice and lemon wedges.
Now you can ask what is paturi. Literally meaning of paturi is wrapped in leaves. And leaves should be edible. You can use banana leaf or pumpkin leaf etc. Paturi can be made with fishes like hilsa or ilish, bhetki etc, eggs or make niramish paturi with chhana or paneer/cottage cheese, cauliflower, broad beans or any other vegetable following this recipe. You can also shallow fry these paturi instead of steaming. After wrapping with banana leaves shallow fry with mustard oil till leaves becomes brown. Earlier shared broad beans paturi in a different way. I have stuffed the broad beans before steaming. Click on the name for recipe. Stuffed steamed broad beans
And if you want the similar taste without steaming or wrapping with leaves check out my Cauliflower paturi
Sending this post to Facebook group Shhhhh Cooking Secretly challenge. Shhhhh Cooking Secretly a group started by Priya of Priya’s Versatile Recipes, is where every month food bloggers are paired up and give each other 2 secret ingredients to cook with according to the theme chosen. Theme of this month is steamed food suggested by Anu Kollon. Do check out her recipe of Kerala style steamed rice for this theme. This month my partner is Priya Vijaykrishnan. Priya gave me poppy seeds and curd and I gave her hing or asafoetida and ginger. And she made delicious Amiri khaman with these ingredients.
This chhanar paturi or steamed cottage cheese/paneer is very easy to make. Just marinate the mashed paneer, wrap with banana leaves and steam in steamer or pressure cooker. I have used my rice cooker to steam. If you don’t have steamer then you can use pressure cooker or pour sufficient water in a pot place a stand on the middle. Arrange paturi on a plate and place on the stand. Cover and steam till done. Or shallow fry the paturi on a pan with mustard oil. You can double the ingredients if require.
Recipe
Paneer or cottage cheese – 1 cup
Mustard powder – 1 tablespoon
Poppy seeds or khaskhas – 2 tablespoon
Green chilli – 3 – 4 or to taste
Coconut – 1/4 cup, grated or finely chopped
Mustard oil – 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Thick curd or yogurt – 1 tablespoon
Cashew nuts to garnish, optional
Banana leaf – 1
Cotton thread as required
Method
1. Wash the banana leaf from both sides. Wipe with a kitchen towel. Heat a pan and place the banana leaf over it. Heat the leaf from both sides. Leaf shouldn’t be burned. Just heat to make the leaf little soft.
2. Mash the paneer or cottage cheese well to make smooth.
3. Grind the poppy seeds. Add coconut and 1 – 2 green chilli. Use very little water if require to make smooth paste.
4. Mix the paste in mashed paneer. Add salt, mustard oil, curd or yogurt, turmeric powder and mustard powder. Mix well. Mash again to make smooth.
5. Cut the banana leaf into two pieces. I have made two paturi. You can make small sized 4 paturi. Cut the banana leaf accordingly.
6. Grease the banana leaf pieces with mustard oil if you want. I didn’t. Gently shape the paneer mixture into square or rectangular. Place on banana leaf pieces. Place 1 slit green chilli and cashew nuts over it.
7. Wrap the leaf and make like an envelop.Tie with a cotton thread.
8. Boil the water in steamer. Place the envelopes on steamer. Cover and steam for 15 to 20 minutes.
9. Open the envelopes and serve delicious paturi with steamed rice and lemon wedges.
Notes
1. Use green chilli according to your spice tolerance.
2. Instead of steaming you can also shallow fry these paturi in a pan. Fry till the banana leaf becomes brown.
3. Lemon juice can be used instead of curd or yogurt.
4. You can also use 1-2 teaspoon lemon juice in the marination with curd.
If you tried my recipe, you can share your food pictures with me in the social network sites by using hashtag, #batterupwithsujata I would love to see your creations.
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Wow! Such a lovely dish that is completely new to me. I’m always looking for new ways to cook paneer, and this sounds exactly my kind of thing. How do you make the mustard powder? What kind of mustard do you use?
Thanks a lot dear. I have used Weikfield mustard powder. You can easily get it in any super market.
What a beautiful yellow color of steamed paneer and I am sure it will have a lovely taste from the wrapped banana leaf . A new dish to me and i just love the extensive use of chenna in Bengali cuisine both in sweets and savory
Thanks a lot dear!
I love the flavors that have gone into this simple paneer dish. would love to have it with spicy garlic chutney.. Thanks for introducing us to a different and easy and healthy recipe with paneer.
Thank you so much Swaty. Its a side dish. Best accompany with steamed rice. No need of any chutney. Little lemon juice is sufficient.
This is an entriely new dish to me . Savory steamed Paneer ..yumm..can imagine the flavors of mustard , poopy seeds, green chilies in it.
Thanks dear!
Ever since you posted the photo on the group FB page, I’ve been impatiently waiting for the recipe. Have heard of paturi dishes and now I can make a paneer one. Looks so delicious. Wondering since I don’t get banana leaves would it work with arbi leaves?
Thanks a lot Mayuri. Glad you liked the dish. You can use any edible leaves like turmeric pumpkin etc. Banana leaf will give a different taste and flavour. But you can try with arbi leaf and please let me know how it turns out. Planted a small banana tree in my terrace garden only for paturi ☺️
Such a versatile dish that we can use the same recipe for different dishes. I am loving this chhanar paturi, will add so much flavour to the normal paneer
Thanks a lot Renu!
This dish is completely new to me. I am sure the flavor of mustard oil and mustard powder gives a wonderful taste to paneer. Would love to try it.
Thank you so much Anu?
Steamed paneer looks so nice and a healthy one too. I have tried fish in this way.
Thank you so much. Try with paneer too. I am sure you will love the taste.
This is a new dish to me and looks so interesting. Good that it has so many options in making the dish.
Thanks Jayashree!
Chhnar paturi looks very tasty di, i can feel the aroma paneer steamed in banana leaf , the flavors of mustard and the taste of poppy seeds in paneer. Bookmarking to try soon.
Thank you so much Aruna!
Steamed Paneer looks scrumptious. Lovely recipe . What mustard do you use for this? Would love to try this recipe sometime.
Thank you so much Preethi. I have used Weikfield mustard powder.
wow, it looks so delicious and tempting. Never thought that we can steam panner. My kids going to love it.
Thank you so much Pavani!
what a lovely share, Sujata… paneer steamed.. hearing about this for the first time… 🙂 wow …
Thank you Kalyani. Do try, I am sure you will love the taste if you like the flavour and zing of mustard.
Wow I love this steamed paneer. Sounds and I am sure will taste great. The different options of veggies and leaves too makes me want to try out immediately. Thanks for this option as I have something new to try.
Thanks a lot Archana. Glad you liked it. Do try and let me know how it turns out.
Loved the recipe Sujata. By the way, is there any idea what I can wrap this in if I have no access to banana leaf ( as I find it so difficult to get it here)
Thanks Seema. You can also use pumpkin leaves, turmeric leaves or any edible leaves.
This reminds me of fish or paneer pollichathu from kerala though Masalas used is different. Banana leaf makes the dish more flavorful and this looks like delicious treat.
Thank you so much Narmadha. Pollichathu is new for me. I will check the recipe.
Super taste when wrapped with banana leaf. Paturi dish is always appetizing and delicious. I have tried kerala style steamed fish in banana leaf. Pictures are amazing.
Thanks a lot Shobana. Glad you liked it!