(I have been reimbursed in no way, monetary or otherwise (except for the product sample) for this post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own)
It surprises and sometimes shocks people when I tell them that I can’t stand the smell or the taste of Indian chai. From looks of utter disbelief to looks of ‘you are weird’ are often thrown at me 😛 I find the smell / taste of the chai almost nauseating. However, I looove green tea especially the green tea blends. As a matter of fact, my daughter too doesn’t like chai and the two of us keep trying different infusions/ blends of tea on regular basis. So when Karma Kettle approached me for doing a product review and also if I could use one of their tea to create a recipe, I was excited by all the possibilities.
Karma Kettle was co-founded by Dhiraj and Priti Arora in 2015. Thanks to their passion for travelling, they brought back with them flavors of those places and created signature aromas to create some amazing tea blends. Dhiraj Arora is a tea specialist from the World Tea Academy, USA and is a certified tea sommelier. The passion for the tea that the co-founders have is reflected by the wide variety of blended tea that the company has to offer to consumers. I can safely say that you will be spoilt for choices. A loose translation of Karma is ‘actions’ and the company’s philosophy is centered around this word albeit focusing on good karma and creating healthy infusions from freshest of tea and purest of herbs, spices and fruits.
A few of their tea blends have really fancy names (which I totally loved) such as Bliss which is a caffeine free chamomile & lemongrass tea and Birdsong that is an infusion of white tea with lavender & cockscombe flower. They also have a wide range of tea gift boxes which will certainly make for a chic and thoughtful gift for tea lovers considering their amazing tea blends. Some of their blends had me so intrigued especially their dessert tea name Maya which is black tea with chocolate and cranberries and also the Paan Tea (paan is a mouth freshner common in India and south east Asian countries) Besides that, they offer some handy merchandise such as tea themed tote bags in different colors and patterns, handy key chain tea infuser and this beautiful Chinese tea infuser. Honestly, going through their website I felt like I was transported to tea heaven.
I shall soon be sharing a recipe using their tea but first a simple cuppa with some sandwiches is what I am going to share for today. I have been making these really easy and scrumptious sandwiches for years now. My mother used to make these often but hers used have only green chutney and paneer in them. I have upgraded her sandwiches by adding some salad leaves, tomatoes and cucumbers, since I like texture in my food so these additions give the sandwiches a nice crunch besides adding some roughage. Also, I apply some herbed garlic butter on the bread before I toast it which makes the sandwiches taste even better.
I served these sandwiches with the Marrakech Green Tea with Spearmint from the Karma Kettle. Besides a beautiful aroma and taste, what I loved the most about this particular tea was a lovely freshness it left on my palate which I have not experienced with others tea brand that I have tried (vis-à-vis mint tea of other brands). I definitely recommend trying their Marrakech tea. You can enjoy the goodness of this tea at any time of the day, not just breakfast 🙂
(Karma Kettle is available in gourmet stores and cafes across India. Their tea is now also available on Amazon USA & India besides Big Basket)
For the sandwiches you will need,
350 – 400 gm Paneer
½ – ¾ C Green Chutney (amount will depend on how sparingly or liberally you apply the chutney)
A few Salad Leaves, washed and pat dried
2 Cucumbers (washed, peeled and sliced)
2 – 3 medium Tomatoes (washed and sliced)
12 slices of Multigrain Bread
Butter to grease the bread
Oil to lightly fry the Paneer
Method
Slice the paneer in six slices of equal thickness. Heat a skillet and spray it with a little oil.
Depending on the size of the skillet, fry two to three slices of paneer till it turns just golden brown. Flip and fry the other side till it turns golden brown.
Remove the slices on a kitchen towel or absorbent sheet to remove excess moisture. Finish off the whole batch of paneer the same way and set aside.
Take two slices of bread and apply butter only on one side of each toast and toast the buttered side on a ridged griddle pan or a regular pan. Toast the slices till the buttered side is nicely toasted (golden brown or brown, depending on how you like it)
Remove the bread from the griddle and place the toasted side down, on a wire rack (to prevent the toasted bread from getting soggy). Apply the chutney evenly on the bread and place the fried paneer over the chutney followed by slices of cucumber & tomato and finally the salad leaves. Place the other slice (toasted side up) over the top of the sandwich. Serve immediately with chutney or tomato sauce and beverage of your choice.
Serves – 6
Note – Since it gets difficult to flip the bread while toasting it with filling therefore I toast the bread before adding the paneer and rest of the filling ingredients. And once the bread is toasted I quickly assemble the sandwich. Makes life easy.
Thanks for your visit and see you soon again with another exciting recipe!
Your sandwich would make a perfect lunch! Plus a great pairing with a cup of hot tea 🙂
Thank you so much Liz. And it did pair really well with these sandwiches.
My mum makes green chutney from vegetables in her garden. Not sure if it’s the same as yours but would definitely go well with you delicious paneer sandwich. Yum!
I think I have to be “cutti” with you for saying that you hate chai… hehe… 😀 But then you have tempted me with that chunky paneer sandwich, that is so filling and delicious!
Hahaha…Can’t afford to lose you my friend 😀
Love this recipe you know 🙂 I am a new visitor to your site and I absolutely love this. And coming to the sandwiches, Heavenly awesome looking 🙂
Thank you so much Priya for your kind words.
You have a lovely space yourself 🙂