Vegetable and Cheese Parathas (Stuffed Flatbread)


Parathas have been a traditional Indian breakfast in many north and west-indian households for as long as I can remember, and the versatility of the recipes is what makes it so attractive. Not to mention that they are healthy and filling at the same time. "Stuffed Parathas" are basically nothing but "Stuffed Flatbreads", filled with your choice of boiled and mashed veggies, rolled into a disc and cooked on a "tava" (cast-iron pan), greased with oil or ghee on both sides. Aloo or Paneer parathas are eternal favorites, but I was looking for something more nutritious, so I decided to make these Vegetable and Cheese Parathas, which are stuffed with a lot of mixed veggies and cheese; delicately flavored with indian spices, these parathas serve to be a perfect meal anytime of the day. What's more, you can even cook them and store them for a couple of days so you just need to reheat them before serving!

Ingredients
3 cups wheat flour (chapati atta)
1/4 cup cheddar or ricota cheese - crumbled or shredded
1/2 cup green peas
2 cup cauliflower florets
2 medium-sized potatoes (or 1 large)
1/4 cup onions - chopped finely
1/2 cup coriander - chopped
2 green chillies - chopped
1 tbsp jeera (cumin seeds)
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala (optional for flavor)
salt and lemon juice- to taste
2 tbsp oil
1 to 1 1/2 cup water (approximately) - to knead dough
extra oil or ghee for sauteing the parathas

Method
Knead the dough with water Take the flour and add 2 tbsp oil. Mix well, then keep adding a little water at a time to knead the dough, just as you would for a regular paratha or bread. The emphasis here is to keep the dough soft but not too sticky, leaning more towards tough than soft, say a little harder than cookie dough. Cover and keep it aside for 15-20 mins.

Boil all the vegetables (except onions, green chillies and coriander) together in a pressure cooker or microwave. Take a frying pan, add 2 tsp oil to it, add the cumin seeds, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste, then saute the chopped onions until light pink and cooked. Add all the spices and the boiled vegetables to this and cook for another 2-3mins.

Remove from flame, then mash everything together with your hand or use a masher as it might be hot. Finally add the cheese and chopped coriander to the mixture and again mix everything well till it becomes soft and maleable, without any hard lumps. Now divide it into equal portions to use as filling for the parathas.

Take a small part of the dough. Roll it out into a small circle, then put the filling mixture in the center. Roll over the dough edges over the filling to cover it completely and make into a ball. Then flatten it between your palms, roll in plain flour and use a rolling pin to gently shape it into a thick round paratha. Remember to apply gentle pressure else the paratha would break and the filling would pop out. (Don't worry, its not as hard as it sounds!)

Put a griddle over medium heat and cook the parathas on both sides over the griddle. Apply light oil or butter on each side while on the griddle to make it puffy and soft. Cook till you see small brown spots appear on both sides and the outer layer looks evenly cooked (as shown in the picture)

Once these are a little cool, you can wrap them in an aluminium foil and refrigerate them for a couple of days. Alternately, you can also freeze them and preserve for at least a week. But there's nothing like enjoying fresh hot parathas straight off the griddle with a cup of coffee or tea. You can even serve these delicious Cheese Parathas with any curry for lunch or dinner!

Similar Recipes:
Paneer Parathas
Makkai (Sweet-Corn) Parathas


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39 comments :

sandhya said...

Lovely parathas... when i saw the first pic i was wondering what type of leaf it was :)

Alpa said...

these are perfect for late breakfasts aren't they? so good with some achaar and of course, tea. i've never tried making these with any cheeses, recipe sounds really lovely.

Finla said...

I have never made stuffed parathas only ate them from other people. I will try to make them once.

Kalai said...

These parathas look fantastic! They really are a complete meal, and healthy with all those veggies. Am bookmarking this. Will post my entry soon, Mansi! :)

Anonymous said...

hey mansi

these are very cool parathas..seems healthy as well...shall surely try..thanks for sharing the recipe

regards
raman

Anonymous said...

they look amazing! and I love the idea of adding cheese:)

-Shilpa

Dhivya said...

Those parathas looks fantastic!yummmmmmmm

Mansi said...

glad you'll liked it! personally, I just love parathas and would eat them everyday if someone made them for me:)

Unknown said...

The parathas look perfect..Idea of adding chesse is innovative..will try it next time..

Pooja said...

lovely pic. I just posted one on my other blog for your event :) , check it out .
will send it soon to you .

musical said...

I love cheese paranthas, some cheese adds a special touch to the regular stuffed paranthas :).

glamah16 said...

I love these.

Richa said...

love 'em parathas!
will gladly hv them everyday if someone made them for me...lol

Uma said...

Yum yum yum! lovely parathas.

Meera said...

Ur parathas look awesome!!

Johanna GGG said...

these look wonderful - I have never made them but have been looking at recipe for them lately and I hope I will try them soon!

Raks said...

My son will surely like this one! Me too!

EC said...

Parathas look yummy...i have some cheese leftover, will try it out

Jayashree said...

Now I know where to go if I need a good brkfast :-)) Nice parathas....

amna said...

i am making aloo paratha for dinner tonight :) nice one here, Mansi :)

Ramki said...

Hi
Am blogging your paratha as a model recipe in the 1001 Paratha cookbook at http://ramkicooks.blogspot.com/

/Thanks for the recipe

Medhaa said...

lovely parathas Mansi, love the addition of ricotta cheese.

Mansi said...

glad to see so many lovers for the "cheesy" parathas:) hey ramki, thanks for choosing this as a model recipe! I checked out your blog and it looks great:)

hope you guys are cooking a balanced meal this weekend! and then rush it on to me for this event!:)

Unknown said...

very delicious looking parathas mansi

Lisa Turner said...

Another wonderful recipe Mansi! A perfect Sunday breakfast.

Vanamala Hebbar said...

Hey nice parathas....& nice pics

Anonymous said...

Hey Mansi,

Nice one again! I love parathas and it is more yummy adding cheese to it. yum yum yum!
Hopefully my parents are visiting us this year and I am going to cook it for them. I am sure they will love it!

Cynthia said...

This is definitely on my must-make list!

Cham said...

Hi Mansi,
I love parathas, it looks so perfect. I didn't forget ur event, i will post on monday Dear :)

Anonymous said...

I was planning something of the same. Will anyhow come up with something to match up soon manasi. Parathas are looking great.

The Short (dis)Order Cook said...

I never knew parathas were considered breakfast food. I'll take these for breakfast any day.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mansi, parathas look really great! That's a whole meal you've got in there :) Also loved the veggie baskets -- adorable and tasty looking!

Anonymous said...

Hi Mansi - these look great! I've just bought a tawa so I'll have to give stuff paratha a go

Leena said...

Mansi
Can i just mix all the veggies,cheese n dough together? I am awful at making parathas.The filling all pop out n takes way to long.

Mansi said...

Leena - I wouldn't recommend that, because when you mix it with the dough, then try to roll it, it will stick to your rolling pin and make life hell! and even if you succeeded rolling it out, when you try to cook it on the tawa or a non-stick pan, the cheese and cauliflower will stick to the pan and instantly burn...

the only way it could "possibly" work is if you want very mild flavoring, so you use 1/2-3/4th cup of veggie mixture and add that to about 2 cups of dough...that way you'll have more of the regular flour and less veggies and cheese, so they may not stick..but again, I'm not too sure, but you could give it a try...but remember to use 1 part filling with like 3 part dough!

Swati Raman Garg said...

i loveeeeeeeeeeee parathas mansi u know that ... and i love cheese in parathas.. i add it to gobi .... will b making it for brakfast tomorrow...
now iam hopping aound all ur paratha recipes u know... thanks a ton for leaving that comment otherwise i wud have missed so many lovely parathas...

zobars said...

Hi Mansi, I tried making these parathas and the stuffing became too soggy and all of the parathas had stuffing oozing out and I don't know what could have gone wrong. Any ideas on how I can do better next time. thanks, I am going to use this stuffing now to make sandwiches tomorrow morning.

Mansi said...

zobars - these parathas are a bit of a challenge, esp b'coz of the veggies and the water that they hold. So here are a few tips:

1. make sure you remove ALL water from the vegetables after boiling them.

2. Mash them together as fine as you can, b'coz sometimes if you encounter a vegetable piece while rolling out the parathas, it can mess up the pressure and break the paratha

3. try using smaller quantity of filling with a little more dough for the outer shell - this will make it easier to roll them without breaking them, and also try using rice flour to dust the surface every now and then while rolling them out.

4. Add cheese at the very last minute, as cheese can induce the other veggies to exude more water content.

hope these tips help!:)

Murali said...

Mansi, keep those ideas coming !! They're fantastic. Checked your blog after several months ... and glad we did. Our family thanks you for the cheese/veggie parathas ideas ... they were awesome.

The kicker was ... I forgot the cheese and it was still awesome.

I added quick rise yeast but that made it difficult to roll (too soft). So I worked around it by making two thin rotis and layering the stuffing in. Still came out great. thanks again.

Oh by the way, the moong dal paratas were a hit too.