Sana Thongba

A Dish made from Milk, simple and quick to make using very minimal ingredients.

Main Dish

Non-Vegetarian

Milk

Kanglei

Curry

One Pan

Spicy

Sana Thongba

Wednesday, February 16, 2022 By : KH MATHOU

5.0 2 Reviews Add Review

A Dish made from Milk, simple and quick to make using very minimal ingredients.

13 Ingredients
35 Mins
4 People

Sana Thongba is a traditional mild Manipuri dish prepared with paneer and milk. Having milk based gravy and minimal spices, Sana thongba is a perfect dish with rice, roti or paratha.
Actual sana thongpa or paneer thongba dish consists of paneer and any seasonal vegetable like peas, beans, potato. Simmered in milk gravy with basic spices like turmeric powder, cumin seed, ginger garlic paste, and onion. Manipuri vegetarian dishes involves less oil and spices in cooking.
Manipuri food is spicy because they use chili peppers for flavor and spice instead of using any masala. Even if I use minimal spices making this vegan Manipuri paneer curry recipe, the flavors are just magical. You cannot resist licking your fingers afterward. This vegan paneer thongba recipe is the proof of their simple, aromatic yet flavorful cooking style.
In Manipuri language, Meeteilon "Sana" means a milk-based product (paneer) and "Thongba" or "Thongpa" means curry, hence paneer curry. It is very similar to Indian matar paneer (vegan matar paneer) but with fewer ingredients. Sana Thongpa is a very famous Manipuri vegetarian dish served often during festivals like Ushop. The reason this recipe stands out from other paneer recipes is its milk based gravy. So definitely not suitable for those who are lactose intolerant.

Sana Thongba

Preparation Time
15 minutes

Cook Time
20 minutes

Total Time
35 minutes

Servings
4 servings

Ingredients
13 ingredients

Directions
10 steps

Ingredients

Primary

	200g - Sana / Paneer
	1 piece - Onion
	1/2 tsp - Cumeen Seeds
	1 tsp - Turmeric powder
	3-5 - Green Chillies
	1 cup - Milk
	1 tbsp or as required - Cooking oil
	few sprigs - Coriander leaves
	As required - Salt
	2 pieces - Bay leaves
	1 tbsp - Freshly grated ginger or ginger paste
	1 piece - Potato
	1 cup - Peas

Directions

1
Cut the paneer into bite size cubes.
2
Heat the oil on a pan and add the bay leaves, cumin seeds. When the seeds splutter, add the sliced onions and sauté for about few minutes.
3
Now add the cubed paneer and then fry in medium flame until it turns light golden.
4
Add ginger or ginger-garlic paste and chopped green chilies and fry them on low for 30-40 seconds.
5
Now add the potatoes and fry it for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
6
Next add the peas and sauté for few more minutes until the peas becomes slightly soft.
7
Add the turmeric powder, chili powder and salt and mix it gently.
8
Now add about 1 to 1 ½ cups of water and cook covered, until the potatoes are soft and completely cooked.
9
Add the milk. Reduce the flame to simmer and let the curry come to a gentle boil. Do not cook on high heat since the milk would curdle. As soon as the curry comes to a gentle boil turn off the flame right away as otherwise the milk would curdle.
10
Garnish the Sana Thongba with cilantro and serve warm with rice or Indian roti.