Make Chetna Makan's tomato and paneer loaf

Chetna Makan's book The Cardamom Trail weaves together Indian flavours with Western-style baking. Here's The Great British Bake Off contestant's recipe for a savoury loaf

Chetna Makan's The Cardamom Trail tomato and paneer loaf. Photography by Nassima Rothacker

Published: Wednesday 30th November 2016

Serves 6-8

Preparation time 10 mins

Cooking time 45 mins

"This is one of those quick breads, rather like a savoury cake, says Chetna Makan, author of Indian-influenced baking book The Cardamom Trail. "Indians love the combination of cheese and tomato just as much as the Brits and Italians.

"A hint of bitter kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) goes well with the mild, creamy paneer and the sweet fresh tomato. I couldn’t resist including some green chilli and coriander," she adds. 

Serve the loaf warm or cold with coriander and mint chutney or red pepper and almond chutney.

Ingredients

  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
  • 1 tomato, finely chopped
  • 2 large eggs
  • 100ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
  • 100ml natural yogurt
  • 100g paneer, grated
  • 1 green chilli, finely chopped
  • Handful of fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped

Method

The Cardamom Trail by Chetna Makan

The Cardamom Trail by Chetna Makan

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350ºF), Gas Mark 4. Grease a 900g (2lb) loaf tin.
  2. Put the flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and kasuri methi in a large bowl.
  3. In a jug, combine the tomato, eggs, oil, yogurt, paneer, chilli and chopped coriander and mix well.
  4. Pour the contents of the jug into the dry ingredients and quickly stir the mixture into a batter.
  5. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 40–45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.
  6. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then serve. Well-wrapped in kitchen foil or in an airtight container, this bread will keep for up to two days.

The Cardamom Trail: Chetna Bakes with Flavours of the East by Chetna Makan, published by Mitchell Beazley, £20, octopusbooks.co.uk. Photography by Nassima Rothacker

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