Mini Cottage Cheese Savoury Tarts

After so many days, I am back with a baking post. I have stopped baking for the past two months and when the electricity bill came yesterday, I was shocked. The bill was nearly 2/3rd of the previous bill. Now I know why my Electricity bills were so high. This pie has been in my drafts  for more than three months. So I didn’t bake it yesterday but I still remember the taste. My daughter usually gobbles only cakes and chocolates and stays away from most of the tarts and other bakes. She herself loved these mini tarts filled with paneer. I had some left over pastry crust in the fridge and used it to make these tarts.

The filling is inspired by our cuisine. It is not an usual pie or tart filling. During my baking days, I usually had a box of crumbled paneer in my fridge. So while thinking of the filling for these tarts, the box of paneer came in handy. The spices are all our usual spices which is available in our kitchen. I have two types of pastry doughs which I always use in my recipes, one for sweet and one for savoury. This time, I tried using the sweet pastry dough with the paneer filling and I was so happy with the results. The pastry is mildly sweet, so buttery and flaky and the filling was so soft and the contrast in the textures worked so nicely.

Sweet Pastry Dough:

Ingredients:

Flour-2 1/2 cups

Salt-1 tsp

Sugar-1/3 cup

Cold Butter-1 cup

Ice Cold Water-1/4 – 1/2 cup

Procedure:

In a bowl mix together flour, salt and sugar.

Cube cold butter and add it to the flour mixture.

With the tips of fingers rub the flour and butter until the butter is broken into pea sized pieces.

Add in 1/4 cup of cold water and mix with a fork. Do not knead.

Now add extra water to bring the dough together.

Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.

For The Filling:

Crumbled Paneer / Cottage Cheese – 2 cups

Red Chilly Powder-1 tsp

Coriander Powder-1 tsp

Roasted Cumin Powder-1/4 tsp

Salt-to taste

Amchur/ Dry Mango Powder- 1/2 tsp

Milk-3-4 tbs

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Remove the pastry dough from fridge and divide it into equal portions. Place one dough portion in a muffin mould and press it to create a slightly thin cup. Trim off excess dough.

Mix all the ingredients given for the filling and fill the pastry dough cups with it.

Bake the tarts until the crust starts browning. It may take 20-30 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow it to cool.

When the tarts are warm to touch, with the help of a small spatula, remove it from the moulds.

Serve it warm or at room temperature.

Mini Cottage Cheese Savoury Tarts

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Ingredients

  

Ingredients

• Flour-2 1/2 cups
• Salt-1 tsp
• Sugar-1/3 cup
• Cold Butter-1 cup
• Ice Cold Water-1/4 – 1/2 cup

For The Filling

• Crumbled Paneer / Cottage Cheese - 2 cups
• Red Chilly Powder-1 tsp
• Coriander Powder-1 tsp
• Roasted Cumin Powder-1/4 tsp
• Salt-to taste
• Amchur/ Dry Mango Powder- 1/2 tsp
• Milk-3-4 tbs

Instructions

 

For The Pastry Crust

• In a bowl mix together flour, salt and sugar.
• Cube cold butter and add it to the flour mixture.
• With the tips of fingers rub the flour and butter until the butter is broken into pea sized pieces.
• Add in 1/4 cup of cold water and mix with a fork. Do not knead.
• Now add extra water to bring the dough together.
• Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.

Arranging The Tarts

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Remove the pastry dough from fridge and divide it into equal portions. Place one dough portion in a muffin mould and press it to create a slightly thin cup. Trim off excess dough.
• Mix all the ingredients given for the filling and fill the pastry dough cups with it.
• Bake the tarts until the crust starts browning. It may take 20-30 minutes.
• Remove from oven and allow it to cool.
• When the tarts are warm to touch, with the help of a small spatula, remove it from the moulds.
• Serve it warm or at room temperature.