Palak Paneer Cutlets

Today’s recipe, Palak Paneer Cutlets, is one of my most preferred recipes for a house party. These delicious cutlets are easy to make and are guaranteed to please your guests. An additional point in favour is that they can be prepared in advance. All you need to do is heat them just before serving and they taste as good as when you first fried them!

In this article, apart from the recipe, I have shared all the tips and tricks about early preparation and serving at a party and also information about ingredient sourcing in German. So, read the article fully.

If you are interested in other snack recipes, please check my Evening Snacks Page, where I have already shared many recipes.

Now, let’s start with the recipe for Palak Paneer Cutlets.

Equipment Needed:

Big Mixing Bowl for combining all the cutlet ingredients
Small Bowl for making the cornstarch slurry
Pressure cooker to boil the potatoes
Saucepan and strainer to blanch the spinach
Knives and Cutting Board
Kadhai (Pan for deep frying the cutlets)
Mixer Grinder to make a paste of spinach and peas

Read about all the equipment I use in my kitchen in my article: Setting Up My Indian Kitchen in Germany.

Ingredients for Palak Paneer Cutlets:

8-10 Small-Medium Sized Potatoes, boiled and peeled
1 Cup Bread Crumbs
300 gm Fresh Spinach Leaves, chopped
250 gm Paneer, grated
2 tbsp Finely Chopped Green Chillies
2 tsp Finely Chopped Ginger
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Aamchur Powder (Dry Mango Powder)
1 tbsp Coriander Powder
½ Cup Frozen Green Peas
2 tbsp Kasuri Methi
3 tbsp Corn Starch

Additionally

5 tbsp Corn Starch
1½ Cups Water
2 Cups Powdered Cornflakes
Oil for frying

Method to make Palak Paneer Cutlets:

Step 1: Blanch the spinach and peas i.e. cook them in hot water for 2-3 minutes. Then, transfer them to a strainer to release all the water.

Once they are cooled and all the water is released, grind them into a paste.

Step 2: In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients: potatoes, paneer, bread crumbs, cornstarch, spinach & peas paste, salt, amchur powder, coriander powder, kasuri methi, chopped green chillies and ginger.

With the help of the masher, mash and mix everything.

Step 3: Now, divide this into small equal portions. Round and flatten them. Wet your hands so it becomes easy to handle the mixture. With this quantity, you can make around 45 cutlets.

Heat oil in a frying pan. While the oil heats, prepare a slurry by mixing cornstarch with water. Also, keep powdered cornflakes on a plate.

Step 4: When the oil turns hot, one by one, take the cutlets and dip them in the cornstarch slurry. Immediately coat them with powdered cornflakes and drop them in hot oil.

Fry till they turn golden brown.

Serve hot.

I like serving these cutlets with a fresh salad and mint coriander chutney. It tastes perfect!

Tips for serving Palak Paneer Cutlets at a Party:

If you don’t want to keep all the work for one day, you can do steps 1 and 2 one day before the party. Cover the mixture and store in the fridge. Do Steps 3 and 4 the following day at the time of serving.
If you don’t want to engage in the kitchen when the guests arrive, do all the steps, i.e. prepare the cutlets fully and place them on a baking tray.

When the guests arrive, preheat the oven to 200 degrees C for 10 minutes. Then, place the tray in the oven and bake (with the fan on) for about 10 minutes.

Alternatively, you can heat them in the air fryer at 180 deg C for 10 minutes.

Some Notes about Ingredient Sourcing in Germany:

Potatoes: Use Vorwiegend Festkochende Kartoffeln for this recipe. Read my article Different Types of Potatoes in German Supermarkets- Explained to learn more.

Boil them in a pressure cooker. Once fully cooked, peel them and let them cool to room temperature before using them in the recipe.

Bread Crumbs: You can make this home by grinding slices of 2-3 days old bread in the mixer. Alternatively, you can buy Semmelbrösel at a local supermarket.

Spinach Leaves: Spinach is called Spinat in German. You can buy the fresh ones from the vegetable section or Blatt Spinat from the Freezer section.

Paneer: You can get this at Indian shops. Alternatively, you can make it at home.

Green Chillies, Amchur Powder, Coriander Powder and Kasuri Methi: These are available in Indian shops.

Ginger: Ginger is called Ingwer in German. You can buy it from the vegetable section of supermarkets.

Salt: Salt is called Salz in German. Read my article 10 Types of Salts in German Supermarkets-Explained to learn more.

Frozen Green Peas: They are called grüne Erbsen. You can get them in the freezer section of supermarkets.

Corn Starch: This is called Speisestärke. It is available in supermarkets.

Powdered Cornflakes: Buy unsweetened cornflakes (available in DM/Alnatura etc) and grind them at home.

Oil: Use frying oil, called Bratöl in German. Read my article Different Types of Oils in German Supermarkets-Explained to learn more.

Here is the recipe in printable format: