Name: Paalaadai Katti Varuthadhu avec Port Wine Reduction and Channa Dal Fritters recipe by Sindhu Murali at BetterButter
Prep time: 120 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: Paneer Tawa Fry:; Paneer / Cottage Cheese - 250 grams (crumbled); Dried curry leaves - a bunch; Mustard seeds - 1/4 Tsp; Urad dal - 1/4 tsp; Oil - 1/2 tsp + some for shallow frying; Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp; Potato - 1 (small sized, boiled); Salt - to taste; Port Wine Reduction:; Port Wine - 2 cups; Onion - 1 medium (chopped); Bay leaf - 1; Pepper powder - 1 tsp; Dried Red Chilli - 2 nos; Butter - 2 tbsp; Cinnamon - 1/2' stick; Channa Dal Fritters:; Channa Dal - 1/2 cup (soaked for 2 hours); Green Chillies - 2 (deseeded & chopped finely); Ginger - 1/2 tsp (finely chopped); Garlic - 1/2 tsp (finely chopped); Salt to taste; Oil - for deep frying

ABOUT Paalaadai Katti Varuthadhu avec Port Wine Reduction and Channa Dal Fritters RECIPE

The dish belongs to Pondicherry Cuisine. A unique marriage of South Indian and French Flavours. Le Pondi Cheese is a famous cheese from Pondicherry. It is made with curry leaves. I took this concept and adapted it with Cottage Cheese or Paneer. Port wine reduction was sweet in flavour while the channa dal fritters were the crunch factor.

Ingredients Serving: 2

Paneer Tawa Fry:
Paneer / Cottage Cheese - 250 grams (crumbled)
Dried curry leaves - a bunch
Mustard seeds - 1/4 Tsp
Urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1/2 tsp + some for shallow frying
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Potato - 1 (small sized, boiled)
Salt - to taste
Port Wine Reduction:
Port Wine - 2 cups
Onion - 1 medium (chopped)
Bay leaf - 1
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Dried Red Chilli - 2 nos
Butter - 2 tbsp
Cinnamon - 1/2' stick
Channa Dal Fritters:
Channa Dal - 1/2 cup (soaked for 2 hours)
Green Chillies - 2 (deseeded & chopped finely)
Ginger - 1/2 tsp (finely chopped)
Garlic - 1/2 tsp (finely chopped)
Salt to taste
Oil - for deep frying

Instructions

Paneer Tawa Fry: Crumble the paneer, add crushed or powdered curry leaves, boiled potato, salt, chilli powder. Make a tadka of mustard seeds and urad dal in oil and add it to the paneer mixture. Knead this mixture well and make small tikkis.
Shallow fry these tikkis in a griddle and keep aside.
Port Wine Reduction: Heat butter in a pan. To the melted butter add cinnamon, bay leaf & onions. Stir until the onions turn soft. Lower the flame and add the port wine slowly to the mixture.
Let the wine reduce to half. This takes somewhere between 20 - 30 minutes. Once done, strain the liquid and let it cool.
Channa Dal Fritters: Coarsely grind the soaked channa dal. To this, add salt, chopped chilies, ginger, garlic and mix. Make small balls and deep fry them. (I used the appam pan to fry them)
Assemble and serve them hot with sweet reduction of the port wine.

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