Paneer Paratha Recipe – a step by step

I am vacationing in India right now and enjoying some fabulous home cooked food. Every time I visit India, I ask my mother’s friend Veena aunty to teach me her amazing recipes. Veena aunty has such a love for cooking, you can taste the passion in her food. This time she showed me how to make her paneer paratha recipe. Paneer parathas are Indian flat bread stuffed with cottage cheese. You wont be disappointed with this paneer paratha recipe!

Paneer Paratha Recipe (Cottage Cheese Stuffed Flat bread)

makes 6-8 parathas

for the paratha dough

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
1/3 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 cup water (you may not need all of it)

Method

1. Combine the wheat flour, all purpose flour, salt and oil in a large bowl

2. Sprinkle a little water at a time till the dough binds together

3. Knead the dough, sprinkling water, until it forms a soft, elastic ball

4. Make sure the dough isn’t too wet. If it gets too wet or sticky, add more flour

5. Knead the dough till it is smooth and elastic (think pizza dough)

6. Drizzle a few drops of oil over the dough ball, and spread it all over the surface

7. Cover the dough with a damp towel

8. Let it rest for 15 minutes. In the meanwhile, make the paneer filling

for the paneer filling

Ingredients
7 oz paneer, finely grated (about 1 1/2 cups when grated)
1 small onion, minced
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, optional
1 green chili finely chopped or according to taste
salt

Method

1. Combine all paneer filling ingredients in a bowl

2. Taste the filling and adjust salt and seasonings if needed. If you like it spicier, you can add more minced chilis or garam masala at this point

Make the paneer parathas

1. Keep a small bowl of wheat flour near you

2. Remove the dough from the bowl, and knead it a few times

3. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. If you don’t have much experience making parathas, divide the dough into 8 parts, so each paratha is smaller, and therefore easier to make.

4. Take one piece of the divided dough and form it into a ball

5. Dip the dough ball in wheat flour

6. Place it on a clean, flat surface for rolling

7. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a round using a light touch

8. Turn the paratha 1/4ths of a turn each time you roll it. This will keep it round.

9. Sprinkle a little flour as and when needed.

10. When the paratha is thin and even (see picture above), stop rolling, and spread 6 drops of oil

11. Sprinkle a little flour on the oiled side, dust off the excess flour

12. Place 2 tablespoons of the paneer filling in the center

13. Gather the edges of the paratha and bring them up, and pleat them over the filling, to form a parcel. If you feel the parcel can hold more paneer filling, add a little more now

14. Pinch the top to seal the paratha

15. Dip it in flour, flatten it a little, and gently roll it using a rolling pin

16. Roll gently till the paratha is about 1/4 inch thick

17. Heat a tava, or cast iron skillet on medium heat

18. Place the paratha on the skillet. Cook on medium heat till pale brown spots appear on the under side

19. Then flip the paratha and let pale brown spots appear on the other side

20. Then increase heat to medium-high and drizzle about 1/4th teaspoon of vegetable oil (you can use less oil or oil spray)

21. Cook paratha on both sides till the dough is cooked and lightly browned (but not too dark)

Serve paneer parathas with yogurt or my grandmother’s multi colored raita and my apple pickle.

Paratha making tips

- add enough water to the dough so that it is soft (but not sticky)

- sprinkle wateron the flour a little at a time, this way you are more in control of the final result

- a hard dough will make your parathas stiff

- when kneading, aim for a soft, smooth, elastic dough that is not sticky

- it important to cover and rest the paratha dough for atleast 15 minutes before rolling

- when rolling parathas use a gentle touch

- make sure you chop the filling ingredients very fine. For paneer parathas, the paneer must be grated finely, and the onions and cilantro must be minced. For aloo parathas, the potato must be mashed with no lumps. If you leave large pieces in your filling, it will tear the dough when you are rolling out the parathas.

- when stuffing parathas, you need to use about equal amounts of dough and filling. So if you are using a lime size ball of dough, use about a lime sized mound of filling. However, if you are new to paratha making, lesser amounts of filling may be easier to deal with it, but you will compromise on taste.

- the more you practice making parathas, the better you will get!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Comments

comments

54 thoughts on “Paneer Paratha Recipe – a step by step

  1. i agree… u need to knead it often for the perfect soft paratha ;) my rolling platform goes all over whenever making parathas.. the stuffing displaces like a jerk reaction to my rolling pin . lol. not giving up, trying still :) the dough and stuffing quantity that u mention, may help !

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  2. Lovely! i am on a paneer making spree at home that is, and usually mix potato and paneer in a paratha so my son can eat it easily, but i love the clean flavor of only paneer and will make mine this way!
    Sala, I just wanted to know, is there a reason why u used oil and sprinkled flour on the rolled dough before stuffing?

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    Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:

    it helps it puff up and makes distinct layers between the dough and the filling. you can skip this step if you like.

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  3. I love this post! I’ve wanted to try making parathas for such a long time but I’m always nervous to try so I love the step by step pictures. The pictures are so nice, it’s great to see someone else’s hands in there actually making them. Thank you for the tutorial :D

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  4. Where can I get paneer or what other kind of cheese could I use? These look wonderful!

    [Reply]

    Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:

    paneer is easily available at indian stores.

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    jasleen kaur Reply:

    Jane, you can make paneer really easily at home, all you need is milk, vinegar (or lemon juice) and cloth to strain it.
    http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Paneer-%28Indian-Cheese%29

    the leftover whey can be used in place of water when you make the parotha dough, it makes it extra soft. :)

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  5. The curse of being gujarati – no one could ever teach me how to do a stuffed paratha. Thanks so much – I am indebted to you for this post! I LOVE a stuffed paratha. I love the step by step with Veena auntie. I like to see the newspapers under that paatlo (rolling platform)…takes me back home. Your paneer looks like fresh snow – which sounds good right now! It’s 106 here in dallas!

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  6. The most fool-proof recipe I ever came across. Just made and my tummy says thanks :)
    And, those hands with bangles was what made me try this ASAP.

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  7. I love the step-by-step instructions, the pictorials and the tips! I made aloo parathas for the first time today and wish I had seen this before, as I was wondering about tips to get perfectly round parathas as well as how to make them nice and soft. Now I know and am totally motivated to try again…with paneer this time! Thanks, Veena Aunty!

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  8. I tried this recipe last week for dinner, it turned out great !, I added some fresh mint in addition to the the cilantro, it was delicious. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. made these for breakfast this morning, but added a bit of chopped tomato as well. very yummy, my husband said they’re as good as his mom’s. that’s the best complement you can get from a punjabi! :)

    [Reply]

    Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:

    aaaw, thanks. glad you and your husband liked it.

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  10. I love the care that you took by providing step-by-step photographs of your Paneer Paratha recipe. I’ve rarely seen such a detailed recipe photographed so beautifully on a food blog. Your blog is art, including its whimsical name. I’m adding a link to your blog under my blog’s “Recommended Links” column. Keep writing, photographing and, of course, cooking.
    Alaiyo Kiasi

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  11. Wow, great Job!!! This looks like a lot of love and hard work went into making these. Well I guess its not work if its fun, but wow! Great job! I really enjoyed this post!! and i love anything in a little food purse or pouch! So fun to eat!

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  12. thank you so much for your recipe,
    I just visit india. I like paratha very much.
    This is my first time to cook India food. You are a great teacher.
    Thank you

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  13. Hi, thanks for the recipe. I have come acroos another recipe which stated that you need to make two small round chapati, add the paneer on one, cover with another, roll it and then cook it on tawa. please advise which is better.

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  14. This atta recipe is just genius. I’ve gone beyond just the paneer stuffing and made every paratha imaginable. I stuffed the parathas with cauliflower today and it was just spectacular…especially on a night that we managed to finish 2 bottles of wine :) Many many thanks from my husband and me!

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