Bongtaste : Chanar Paturie or Paneer Paturie( Indian cottage cheese is marinated in mustard paste wrapped in banana leaf)

Paturi is a traditional Bengali dish,the word "paaturi" comes from the Bengali word "paata" or leaf.
Generally we Bengali make fish paturi using Iilish or hilsa ,Bhetki or Baramundi and chingri or prawn. In those recipes,fish is marinated in mustard paste wrapped in banana leaf or pumpkin leaf and cooked through slow cooking. But today I am going to share vegetarian version of paturi which is' Chanar Paturi 'or Paneer Paturi.

In this recipe I used kasundi or Bengali mustard sauce, if you do not have Bengali mustard sauce then you can use English mustard also.In that case you will have to mix little bit amchur or dry mango powder with English mustard sauce.This recipe tastes well with Homemade chena or paneer, here you need mashed paneer, store bought paneer is little bit hard . If you can't manage homemade paneer or chena then you can make with store bought paneer, but you have to mash it well.

First we will learn how to make chena or paneer at home
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Ingredients
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Milk- 1litre
Lemon Juice-1 full lemon or Vinegar -2 teaspoons (if required add more lemon juice or vinegar )

Method
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Take a heavy bottomed vessel, add milk.
Bring it to boil and keep stirring to avoid burning of milk.
Once the milk comes to boil, simmer the gas, start adding the lemon juice or vinegar and keep stirring( if required,add more lemon juice) cook for few seconds until the milk solids gets separates from the whey. Switch off the heat.
Pour this curdled milk to the already lined muslin cloth over a strainer,squeeze out all the whey water then rinse chena or paneer or cottage cheese under the tap water as much as possible. If you do not rinse the chena or paneer properly,you will get the smell of lemon while having paturies
Now hang the cloth covered chena or paneer with tap for 30 minutes. Then remove it from tap and place a heavy weight on chena for another 30 minutes. It will help to squeeze more water from chena or paneer .
After that, remove the cheesecloth from the chenna or paneer and keep in a bowl.
The chena or paneer should not have too much moisture nor be too dry

How to make Chena or Paneer Paturi
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Preparation Time-10 Minutes
Cooking Time -20 Minutes
Servings -4 pieces
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Ingredients
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Chena or Paneer - made with 1 litre of milk
Bengali mustard sauce or Kasundi-2 tablespoons (or English mustard mixed with a pinch of dry mango powder)
Coconut Paste-2 teaspoons
Grated coconut - 1tablespoons
Green chili paste-1 teaspoon
Green chili-4 ( whole )/number of paturi you are making
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Banana leaf-1big (cut into 10"× 8" rectangle shape)
Mustard oil - 1+1 teaspoons
Simple stitching thread or toothpick-Few

Method
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Add the chena into a bowl.

Add turmeric powder,salt, mustard sauce or kasundi,green chili paste, coconut paste,one teaspoon mustard oil and chopped coriander leaves.Mix and knead them all together to make a fine mixture.

Warm the banana leaves over an open flame for 30 seconds, make sure it does not get burnt.

Put banana leave pieces glossy side up over a big plate, rub little mustard oil on it.

Divide the chena or paneer mixture into equal size medium ball.

Place one ball of chena or paneer on the greased part of banana leaf and flat this with your hand(make a rectangle shape). Then place one green chili on top of it.

Fold the banana leaf to make it a square parcel and tie with thread or close it with toothpick that the parcels will not open while cooking. Repeat the process for with all remaining chena or paneer.

Now take a non-stick pan and grease some oil to it and place the banana leaf wrapped chena or paneer on it (you can place 4 - 5 pieces at a time ,according to the size of your pan,you can place) ,close the pan with an air tight lid and cook on medium heat for 4-5 minutes each side or until the banana leaves are light brown.

When one batch is done , remove them and place in an air tight container to keep the paturies hot. Again repeat the same process to cook the rest paturies.