Grilled Cheese Sandwich

The ideas for new recipes can come from a lot of places. But I believe the best ones are those influenced by our own memories and experiences. This recipe is inspired by the most wonderful period of my life; my COLLEGE days. It is simply a SANDWICH. Not just any sandwich mind you but a GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH. It is a little tangy, a touch spicy and I promise you every bite is going to leave you wanting more..

I was a shy and socially awkward kid growing up. I stayed that way up until college when I finally came out of my shell and became a lot more confident. Which is why I often say that my college days helped mould me into the man I am today. I met a lot of great people during that time and those friendships have lasted till today; about 7 years after we graduated. Also I learned to trust my abilities a lot more and I finally found the courage to actually stand up in front of a group of people and express myself.

When you have such a terrific group of people around you life is going to become a lot more fun and those days were no different. One such memory is of me and a bunch of friends hanging out at the sandwich shops outside the train station before catching the train home. The day just would not feel complete without us having what we called the SADA SANDWICH (simple sandwich) made of potatoes, tomatoes with a chutney on the side.

That humble sandwich was the reason for us friends to spend some time together without a care for anything in this world. However I did not know that years later it would become a recipe in my own food blog. Ohh my how the world can change in just a few short years. (LAUGHS!!!)

I kept things similar to the recipe I remembered from my college days with only a few tiny tweaks. The filling is a very simple and easy to make potato filling with a little bit of paneer (cottage cheese) and some peas.

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and sauté for a few minutes till the onions are transluscent. Mix in the grated paneer along with the dry spice powders: roasted cumin powder, amchur powder, turmeric, red chili powder, and chat masala. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes. Add cooked potato and peas and mix well. Season with salt and garnish with cilantro. I did not want big chunks of potato in the sandwich which is why I mashed them up with a potato masher.

Avocado is an ingredient that I was exposed to after I came here to the US and is something I have grown to adore over the years. So one of the twists in this recipe was to replace the chutney with guacamole. I was too lazy to chop up the ingredients for a guacamole so I made it up with just 3 ingredients; avocado, lemon juice, chaat masala and salt. (CHUCKLES!!!)

The final twist in this recipe came as a result of a facebook post. Sometimes I surprise even myself with crazy things like this. One of my friends from Nashville updated his status saying he was going to a food truck event over there. The picture he took was of my favorite food truck which made the best grilled cheese I have ever eaten. It just so happened that I had a bag of cheese lying around in the fridge. The end result is that I turned my sandwich into a grilled cheese sandwich using my cast iron grill pan.

To assemble the sandwich spread the guacamole on one side of the bread and layer the potato filling on top. Then place the tomato slices and finally top with huge helpings of your favorite cheese. Cover with the second piece of bread and cook on a grill pan till it is nice and crispy. DIG IN!!!!

The sad part was I had to eat this sandwich without the company of my best friends. But I overcame my sadness by taking pictures of the food and sending them to my friends (LAUGHS!!!!)

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Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Rahul

A wonderfully simple Grilled Cheese Sandwich with a spicy, tangy Potato, Pea and Cottage Cheese filling.

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

  

Filling

• 2 Potatoes boiled, peeled and cubed
• ¾ cup Paneer Shredded
• ½ Large Onion cubed
• ¼ cup Frozen Green Peas
• 2 Garlic Cloves minced
• ½ tsp Roasted Cumin Seed Powder
• 1½ tsp Dry Mango Powder
• ¼ tsp Turmeric
• 1½ tsp Red Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Chat Masala
• Oil
• Salt to taste
• Cilantro

Guacamole

• 2 Avocados
• 3 tsp Lemon Juice
• ½ tsp Chat Masala
• Salt

Assembly

• Bread
• Tomato Slices
• Choice of shredded cheese

Instructions

 

• Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and sauté for few minutes till the onions are transluscent.
• Add the grated paneer along with the dry spice powders: roasted cumin powder, amchur powder, turmeric, red chili powder, chat masala and stir well. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes.
• Add cooked potato and peas and mix well. Season with salt and garnish with cilantro.
• Mash it with potato masher.

Guacamole

• In a bowl add avocado, lemon juice chat masala and salt and mix

Assembly

• Spread guacamole on one side of the bread and layer potato and pea mixture evenly. Add the tomato slices, shredded cheese and the second piece of bread.
• Cook on a grill pan till crispy on the outside and the cheese melts inside.
• Dig IN!!!

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