CRISPY PANEER cheese BITES RECIPE – Golden air fried Indian cottage cheese balls | Kid friendly recipe | Veg snack recipe

Crispy paneer cheese bites or crispy air fried paneer and cheese balls are your perfect party starters. They are crispy and without the guilt of deep frying. You can enjoy these as a tea time snack or give them in your kid’s snack box. This crispy paneer cheese bites recipe is completely vegan.

This is a Top Post on Indiblogger 20-Sep-2017

Hello friends, how are you all doing? We have been coping up with a viral for long, yes all three of us were a coughing, sneezing mess. But putting that aside we have celebrated Grandparent’s Day and a 100 Day Celebration Day in my son’s school. It’s been 100 days since my little one has joined the playschool. Yes, time flies. And for this celebration, they had a potluck party. How cute is that!

I am always thinking what snack I can give my kid which is not oily or fried and is healthy – and of course something that he won’t refuse. Preparing food for a fussy and picky eater like mine is a challenge in itself. My little one likes everything crispy and loved the chicken popcorn that I had offered him earlier. It was deep-fried, but for his potluck party, I didn’t want to give something fried. That’s why I thought why not air fry something that all kids will love – cottage cheese and cheese balls! This crispy paneer cheese bites recipe doesn’t require anything exotic – paneer, cheese some herbs and seasoning, that’s it.

It’s seriously funny how fast you can do these little snack items. If you do the prep ahead at night and want to simply air fry them in the morning before the kid goes to school it will take you simply 10 minutes, seriously! Since I didn’t know the diet preference of all the kids in the school I have tried to keep this crispy paneer cheese bites recipe completely vegan.

How to Make Crispy paneer cheese bites recipe

This is a pretty easy recipe. Today I am sharing a step by step recipe post so it will be easier for you to follow.

I am using 200g paneer and 2 processed cheddar cheese cubes for this recipe. You can use any cheese that your kid likes. In a bowl add grated cheese, grated paneer, salt, pepper, dried oregano and dried basil leaves. Mash them together to form a soft dough. 

Pro-Tip: Add a teaspoon of oil while making this dough because the air-fryer can make things very dry.

Divide this dough into small bite-sized balls.

Add two tablespoons of all-purpose flour to 4 tablespoons of water to make a thin batter. Since this is a completely vegan recipe I am substituting the egg dip with this flour batter. In case you are okay with an egg you can break an egg into a bowl and beat it lightly.

Take some breadcrumb on a plate and add a pinch of salt. Make an assembly line with the cottage cheese balls, flour batter, and breadcrumbs.

Dip the cottage cheese and cheese balls in the flour batter and roll them in breadcrumbs.

Pro-Tip – If you decide to deep fry the cheese balls then repeat the step of dipping the balls in flour batter and rolling in breadcrumb. Breadcrumbs tend to loosen up in hot oil.

Since we are air frying these cheese balls you can roll them in breadcrumb once, But check that they are evenly coated.

Place these breaded cottage cheese balls in a pre-heated air-fryer and air fry them for 10-12 minutes. I take out the fryer basket and give it a good shake when it’s past five minutes. This ensures every part is evenly air-fried.

Crispy paneer cheese bites recipe

Note:

1. If you making this crispy paneer cheese bites recipe in the oven you might want to add a boiled mashed potato in the dough. Otherwise while baking the balls will flatten out.
2. If you are deep frying them, bread the balls twice else breadcrumbs tend to loosen up in hot oil.