Paneer & Peas Paratha

This paratha is a quick fix dinner. There's not much of chopping or cooking (for paratha stuffing) involved and takes around 45 mins from start to finish. I like parathas but avoid making them for dinner as the amount of fat that makes a paratha taste good is a turn off. Last night was an exception. I wasn't in the mood to make phulkas & a sabji. Moreoever, with the cyclone hovering around the coast, we had light showers in the evening and the mind craved for some hot parathas. To feel less guilty about the whole fat content issue, I avoided adding oil to the dough and used a pastry brush to brush oil over the paratha. Oh, I skipped the butter too whilst indulging in the hot parathas :D. 

Must I add, this dinner was a perfect end to a day of making homemade granola and date walnut muffins. :)

For the dough:
2 cups wheat flour
Salt to taste
1 1/2 cup water approximately

Mix the flour and salt. Add water and knead to a soft pliable dough. Cover and keep aside for sometime.

For the stuffing : 

1/2 cup grated paneer

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup coriander leaves

1 tsp masala powder (recipe below)

1/2 tsp coriander powder

Pinch of Asafoetida

Pinch of Salt

Boil the frozen peas for about 6-7 mins till soft and mash well. Mix all the above ingredients for the stuffing.

For the masala powder:

Dry roast 2 tbsps of jeera with 1-2 red chillies and grind to coarse powder. I usually keep this powder handy to use for raitas, parathas or gravies/sabjis.

To make the parathas:

Roll some dough (diameter of a palm) into small disks using a roller pin. Place 2 tsp of stuffing at the centre, pull the edges up and cover it from all the sides. Flatten it a little and then roll again into a thick, flat paratha.

Heat a tava and transfer the rolled dough it it. Cook partially on one side and turn it over. Cook partially on the other side and flip over the paratha. Drizzle some oil over the paratha  (or you can use a pastry brush) and fry till it's cooked on both sides. 

Serve hot with raita and pickle.