Recipe - Paneer Paratha

As we navigate life amidst the Corona Virus pandemic, I have been trying to adjust to working from home and it hasn't been easy - discipline wise. While I love the flexibility it offers, I am not very good at being disciplined and following a fixed routine. 

Breakfasts have been simple affairs like eggs and toast and with barely 3o minutes to dish up some lunch and get back to my work, I've been resorting to one dish items like instapot one pot meals, pastas etc. For a change, I made a quick paneer paratha that didn't need too much prep. The ingredients that make this paratha super delicious are the finely chopped chillies and the generous use of chat masala in it. the prep takes about 15 min and rolling the parathas another 15 min. So you have a fresh and delicious meal ready in about 30-40 min. Pair the parathas with some chutney or some pickle and raita. 

The recipe has 5 key ingredients excluding the pantry staples. The recipe can be easily customized to individual preference but I highly recommend trying this version and I promise you will love it. I have shared some shots of the steps involved and there's a short video on my Instagram profile too. 

Ingredients:

This recipes makes 4 parathas. To make more, just double the recipe

For the stuffing/filling:

500gms of Paneer - grated

4-5 green chillies - finely chopped*

1 table spoon chat masala

1 table spoon coriander powder

1 bunch of coriander leaves - finely chopped

A pinch of salt**

For the Paratha:

3 cups of wheat flour

1 cup water and a little more

A pinch of salt

Oil to cook

To start off, knead the wheat flour with water and salt into a smooth dough. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes while we prepare the filling. 

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients for the filling gently and do a taste test. If needed, you can add more salt/spice as needed. Once the dough has rested for 15 minutes, divide the dough into 4 equal parts and start rolling each part of the dough using a rolling pin. Roll into a small circle and make sure it is not rolled too thin. Add a big helping of the filling into the dough (as shown in the above pic). Then, gently lift the dough along the sides and wrap the filling with it. it should form a uniform round of dough as shown in the below picture. 

Now start rolling the pin along the stuffed dough making sure that there are no cracks in them. Once the paratha has been rolled to a large enough (make sure it is not too thin), heat a pan and cook the paratha on both sides, brushing it with oil on both sides. Repeat for the remaining 3 balls of dough. Serve fresh and hot parathas with a sweet - sour chutney or pickle and a yogurt raita.

Notes:

* If you don't enjoy too much spice, you could remove the seeds in the chillies but I recommend you add the right amount of chillies. The paneer balances out the spice and the notes of chilli amidst the cheesy paneer is what makes this dish delicious. 

** The chat masala has some salt in it and hence a pinch of salt is usually sufficient. Make sure you do a taste test before adding more salt. 

 If you try this recipe, do leave a comment below and you will make me one happy girl! :)