Someone once asked me, “What would you do if you had to create a Goan-style sandwich?” I first thought of grilled cheese because of my eternal love for it and then of choriz. Finally, I went ahead and made exactly that. We put choriz in a poee, topped it with cheese, and, voila, our Choriz ‘Grilled Cheese’ Poee was born. I love Amul cheese, but you can use any variety you like.

  • Serves

    2

  • Cook Time

    00 h 20 m

Ingredients

  • 2 poees
  • 4 cheese slices (Amul, Britannia or any cheese that melts easily)
  • 200 gm Goan choriz
  • 750 ml water
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter

Preparation

  1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring 750 ml water to a gentle simmer on medium heat. Cover the pot to speed up the process.
  2. Add choriz and cook gently for 25-30 minutes until the water dries out.
  3. Strain the choriz and discard the fat. (You can reserve the fat for later use: maybe fry an egg in it for breakfast or use it in place of butter in the sandwich.)
  4. Cool the choriz. Undo its casing and collect the meat.
  5. Spin the meat in a mixer to a coarse paste that is the consistency of a spread. Cool and reserve.
  6. To assemble the sandwich, cut the poees in half. Butter each side with half a tablespoon of butter.
  7. Heat a flat non-stick pan on medium flame and toast the poees.
  8. Flip the poees and spread the choriz paste, followed by the cheese slices.
  9. Reduce the flame to low and let the poees toast gently as the cheese becomes gooey.
  10. Place the other piece of poee on top and remove from the pan.
  11. Serve the grilled cheese sandwich just straight up.
Written by

Hussain Shahzad

Hussain Shahzad, the Executive Chef at O Pedro, a Goa-inspired restaurant in Mumbai, is Scroll Food’s Chef of the Month for October. He started his career with the Oberoi Group of Hotels in Mumbai, before moving to New York, where he worked at the iconic Eleven Madison Park. His culinary adventures have taken him around the world and included a brief stint as a personal chef to Roger Federer. Before taking the reins at O Pedro, he was a part of the team at the award-winning The Bombay Canteen. A dynamic and bold chef, Hussain’s food philosophy is to showcase local produce using contemporary culinary techniques.

See more by Hussain Shahzad