Paneer stuffed Parantha with Cabbage

Today I took My first Swimming Lesson !!

Is that the headline of today, off course it should be. I am so so happy and delighted since that moment. For a gal who has always been so afraid of water and specially pools ( I  know, that’s naïve ! )it was a very fulfilling experience to go into the pool first time in my life. I wanted to learn swimming for quite long, actually since the College time, but never got chance to actually go for it. As I saw my friends packing up small gym bags going for their Swim Hour, I felt so despairingly blue. Scarcity of time and hydrophobia never allowed me to go ahead with my desire of floating like a fish.

But hey, the time has changed and I have gained a lot of confidence  in my relationship with water. I am hoping to be able to swim in open water very soon, since I have always loved that feeling. Enough of ranting… The recipe today has no relation with this but since I love swimming ( now) and I love Paneer, hence the ranting .. giggles !! :D:D

I have tasted many different versions of Paneer Parantha, but like this one the best. Reason being, this recipe calls for minimum spices and have an extra health quotient with the addition of cabbage with the paneer .. Yes, grated cabbage is mixed with paneer and very   few spices ( no red chili powder ) which bring the very authentic taste of Paneer on the platter. It also provides an opportunity to those who don’t like the taste of raw onions in their Paranthas ( like my Mum ), since cabbage gives that crunch to the otherwise soft stuffing.  In spices I have only used black pepper and a pinch of garam masala, which blends together for that mildly flavoured taste. Also, the addition of coriander leaves, again enhances the overall experience.

Do try this exclusive Comfort Food  for that dissolving experience.

Ingredients:
1 cup crushed Paneer ( cottage cheese , I prefer mixing it with hands rather than grating it which produces finer texture and I don’t like it )
½ cup very finely shredded cabbage ( don’t use purple cabbage in this, wont turn out good )
1 large onion, chopped very fine ( optional)
½ cup chopped Coriander leaves
2-3 green chillies, very finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 tsp Black pepper
½ tsp Garam Masala

For the dough:
2 cups whole wheat Flour
Water for kneading
Oil if required
Salt if required

Oil for cooking

Method:
Knead the dough and keep it away for some time around 20-30 min, this increases the pliability of the dough and helps making softer paranthas. If you are adding oil to the dough while kneading, this will result in better texture, although I don’t use that.
Prepare the stuffing by mixing all the ingredients well, do not forget to check the seasoning as it should be a bit salty if you are not adding salt at all to the dough. Otherwise it will taste bland.

Divide it into equal dough balls. Roll the dough ball with rolling pin and help the stuffing inside, roll it back and cook on hot griddle applying a little oil on both sides till brown spots starts appearing.
Serve hot with any Chutney of your choice and Raita. We had it with Peanut Chutney and Spinach Raita ..

NOTES:
Squeeze paneer well before mixing for the stuffing, else it will release liquid while being roll into Parantha ans that will stick to the pin.
Mixing onion is optional but I like the crunch of raw onion in stuffed paranthas.

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