Paneer paratta

I get fresh paneer from a vendor near my home. It's so fresh and has a crumbly texture to it, quite similar to home-made paneer and very unlike the perfect squares of packaged processed paneer that you get on store shelves. I was sure to put it to good use.  Hubby dear said paneer paratta .

So, paneer paratta it was.

 
This paratta tastes great by itself. It does not need any heavy gravies to accompany it. The best side-dish would be a light raita or pickles. An easy high protein meal, but paneer has high fat content too :(

 Ingredients for paratta dough: (makes 10)

• Whole wheat flour - 3 cups
• Olive oil - 2 tspns
• Salt - 1tspn
• Water - as needed

For filling :

• Grated or crumbled paneer - 200 gms
• Onion - 1 medium (finely chopped)
• Green chilies - 3-4 (finely chopped)
• Coriander leaves (finely chopped) -  5 tbspns
• Garam masala - 1 tspn
• Salt - to taste

Directions for making dough: 

• Mix salt and flour.
• To the flour, add oil and enough water . Knead to a soft, pliable dough.(Knead for about 5-8 mins)
• Make a ball of the dough, cover and keep aside for 15-20 mins.
• Divide the dough into 10 equal sized balls.

For the filling: 

• Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Keep aside.

Directions for making the stuffed parattas:

• Flatten and roll out each ball of dough to about 2 inch diameter.
• Place a tbsp of the filling in the centre. 
• Cover the filling by gathering the edges and making it into a pouch. 
• Press and roll out ,using little flour, into a small round parathas. (these 4 steps are portrayed in my collage)
• Cook the parattas on a hot tava, using little olive oil. Cook on both sides, till brown spots appear.
• Serve hot.

Thepla/ Methi Roti

Hi folks,
I'm glad to be back. Hope all of you are well. Seems like a long time. I had a great trip Since many of you asked for my tour snaps, will post a few sometime next week. I will not harp too much on my travel because my blog is just a food blog and not a travel one:)

So back to food blogging.

This recipe comes to you right from the place of it's birth- Gujarat. My sister-in-law, Vidya, lives in Gujarat. She, being born, brought-up and settled there, is great at preparing Gujrati cuisine. This one is unmistakably scrumptious and I think that it's the authentic preparation too.

I love the vesatality of rotis. You can make them plain, or stuffed , mix them with spice, fry them etc etc. When I check out many blogs, I see different varieties of rotis and it always amazes me at the innumerbale varieties in which one can make them. WOW!

I know that Gujratis always add sugar to most of their dishes. Might sound funny to south Indians, but it's all a matter of taste. For theplas, the dough is made by adding yogurt instead of water. I have mentioned a quick tip in the end of the recipe to freeze the theplas and to facilitate making them later.
This recipe is being sent to the 15 minute cooking event conducted by Mahima.

Ingredients:( makes 10 theplas)

• Atta (whole wheat flour) - 1-3/4 cups
• Bajra flour( pearl millet flour) - 1/2 cup
• Besan ( chick pea flour) - 1/2 cup
• Yogurt - 1/2 cup( or as required)
• Oil - as required
• Fresh methi leaves (fenugreek leaves) - 1 bunch ( separate the leaves from the stalk and discard the stalks)
• Garam masala - 1 tspn
• Turmeric - 1/4 tspn
• Chilli powder - 1 tbspn
• Salt - to taste
• Cumin seeds - 1 tspn
• Cumin powder - 1 tspn
• Ginger- garlic paste - 2 tspns
• Sugar - 1 tspn( optional)

Directions:

• Mix all the ingredients and make a dough. Knead well. Add more yogurt if necessary.( The dough will be sticky ) So after kneading the dough, add a tspn of oil and spread it around the dough and cover and set aside for 20-30 mins.
• Divide the dough into 10 equal portions .( The dough will be very soft and kind of sticky
• Using more oil, roll out the dough into rotis. Theplas are thick rotis , so don't roll them out too thin.( since the dough is very soft you don't have to apply pressure while rolling out the thepla.)
• Cook them on tava( crepe pan) similar to making chapatis.Serve with raita and pickle.

Quick Tip:
This recipe is a great one to make ahead of time and freeze. The instructions to freeze theplas is provided below. I, usually, make double the dough and freeze the uncooked theplas. So, next time you want a quick thepla, just take it from the freezer and cook it.

Instructions: Roll out the theplas with the help of oil and place each one of them between sheets of parchment paper. Use of parchment paper prevents the rotis from sticking to each other. Put them in ziploc bag and freeze them. They stay for upto a week.

Luv 'n' luc'
Smitha