Paneer Paratha is delicious and easy to make protein-packed Indian flatbread prepared using whole wheat flour (atta), paneer (Indian cottage cheese), and a few herbs and spices.
Paneer Parathas can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. These parathas are so tasty that they can be served alone or with few other accompaniments like a dollop of butter, pickle, chutney, yogurt, CHOLE (CHANA MASALA), HARIYALI PANEER, etc.
What is Paratha?
Paratha is an unleavened flatbread, popular in Indian cuisine from the Punjab region, prepared mainly using atta (whole wheat flour), salt, and oil. Yeast, baking soda, or baking powder is not used while making parathas.
Do you know the difference between paratha, roti, naan, and kulcha? If interested, you can find it in my aloo paratha post here.
If you want to know exciting variations to parathas, you can again go through my recipe for stuffed potato flatbread.
My favorite paratha flavors include paneer paratha - presented below, traditional ALOO PARATHA, and a fusion AVOCADO PARATHA OR BUTTER FRUIT PARATHA.
What is allowed and not allowed to eat during fasting, upvas, vrat days varies from region to region. I know in my hometown, people don't eat non-vegetarian food (including eggs), onion, garlic, and rice items, any store-bought goodies or snacks.
So recipes like aloo parathas, paneer parathas, chapatis are preferred as they are filling, easy to make, and no onion or garlic is used.
You can also check my extensive list of fasting, upvas, and vrat recipes if interested.
Ingredients for Paneer Paratha
For the dough
2 cups Whole wheat flour (atta)
¾ teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Cooking oil (I use coconut oil)
½ to ¾ cup Water (approx)
For the filling
200g Paneer crumbled (check tips for substitute)
½ cup Mint leaves or Pudina (loosely packed)
½ cup Cilantro or Coriander leaves (loosely packed)
Salt, to taste
¾ teaspoon Tandoori masala or Garam masala powder
How to make Paneer Paratha | Paratha banane ki vidhi
- In a large bowl, add flour, salt, oil, and mix. Now add water little by little as needed and knead to form a soft and smooth dough.
- Cover it and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
- In another bowl, add crumbled paneer, finely chopped mint leaves, coriander leaves, salt to taste, garam masala powder, and mix. Keep this aside.
- Once the dough has rested, divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Keep these dough balls covered all the time till you are ready to use them. Covering the dough balls prevents them from drying out.
- Take each dough ball and flatten it using your hands. Roll it using a rolling pin to a 5-inch diameter circle.
- Add the prepared paneer filling, i.e., around 1 or 2 tbsp, at the center. Bring all the edges together and pinch to seal it. If you have filled excess, it will come out while rolling. So make sure not to overfill.
- Then roll this again evenly into a paratha of around 7 or 8 inches diameter.
How to cook parathas correctly?
- Heat the tava or skillet on medium heat when you start rolling the first dough ball.
- The skillet should be hot, and you should cook parathas on high flame to remain soft and crispy. If cooked on a low flame, it will harden up.
- Place the rolled paratha on the skillet.
- Once you see the bubbles on the top surface, flip and cook on the other side for a minute.
- Apply ghee or oil on the partly cooked or half-cooked side.
- Flip again and cook the partly cooked side again, this time till you see golden brown spots.
- Flip again once or twice and apply ghee or oil on both sides and cook till you see golden brown spots on both sides.
- Repeat this for all the parathas.
Tips to make the best paratha
- Instead of paneer, you can use cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, or feta cheese in the recipe. To make it vegan, substitute paneer with tofu.
- Because my kids love paneer and eat this bread, I have not added green chilies. You can add 1 or 2 finely chopped green chilies to make it spicy.
- Since it has no onion or garlic, South Indians, especially from coastal Karnataka, eat this during fasting, upvas, and vrat days.
- To make Punjabi Dhaba style parathas, add ½ teaspoon ajwain (carom seeds) to the dough and ½ teaspoon anardana (dry pomegranate seeds) to the filling.
Where can I buy paneer?
Paneer is available in the refrigerator section of any Indian or Asian grocery store. You can also check in the International aisle of Walmart, Trader Joe's, Kroger, Payless Supermarket, Meijer, etc. But if you cannot find it, you can make fresh homemade paneer by following my super simple recipe. Actually, parathas taste much better when prepared using fresh homemade paneer.
HOW TO STORE ANY PANEER PARATHAS OR CAN I MAKE PARATHAS AHEAD OF TIME?
If there are any leftovers or you want to make ahead parathas for weekday or weeknight meals and store them for the next couple of days, then stack them by placing butter paper or parchment paper between each cooked paratha. Next, place them in the freezer within Ziploc bags.
Parathas remain fresh for about 8 hours at room temperature.
HOW TO REHEAT FREEZER OR LEFTOVER PARATHAS?
Heat a non-stick tava (or cast iron tava or skillet) on medium flame and drizzle some oil. You can also substitute oil with butter or ghee. Place the leftover parathas and cook on each side for a minute or two or until heated through.
Detailed recipe for How to make Paneer Paratha or Paneer Pudina Parotta Recipe
PANEER PARATHA | HOW TO MAKE PANEER PARATHA
Ingredients
For the dough
- 2 cups Whole wheat flour (atta)
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Cooking oil (I use coconut oil)
- ½ to ¾ cup Water (approx)
For the filling
- 200g Paneer crumbled (check tips for substitute)
- ½ cup Mint leaves or Pudina (loosely packed)
- ½ cup Cilantro or Coriander leaves (loosely packed)
- Salt, to taste
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon Tandoori masala or Garam masala powder
Instructions
STEP I (PREPARE PARATHA DOUGH AND FILLING)
- In a large bowl, add flour, salt, oil, and mix. Now add water little by little as needed and knead to form a soft and smooth dough.
- Cover it and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
- In another bowl, add crumbled paneer, finely chopped mint leaves, coriander leaves, salt to taste, garam masala powder, and mix. Keep this aside.
- Once the dough has rested, divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Keep these dough balls covered all the time till you are ready to use them. Covering the dough balls prevents them from drying out.
- Take each dough ball and flatten it using your hands. Roll it using a rolling pin to a 5-inch diameter circle.
- Add the prepared paneer filling, i.e., around 1 or 2 tbsp, at the center. Bring all the edges together and pinch to seal it. If you have filled excess, it will come out while rolling. So make sure not to overfill.
- Then roll this again evenly into a paratha of around 7 or 8 inches diameter.
STEP II (HOW TO COOK PARATHAS CORRECTLY)
- Heat the tava or skillet on medium heat when you start rolling the first dough ball.
- The skillet should be hot, and you should cook parathas on high flame to remain soft and crispy. If cooked on a low flame, it will harden up. Place the rolled paratha on the skillet.
- Once you see the bubbles on the top surface, flip and cook on the other side for a minute.
- Apply ghee or oil on the partly cooked or half-cooked side.
- Flip again and cook the partly cooked side again, this time till you see golden brown spots.
- Flip again once or twice and apply ghee or oil on both sides and cook till you see golden brown spots on both sides.
- Repeat this for all the parathas.
- Paneer Parathas are ready. Serve hot and enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.
Notes
- Instaed of paneer you can use cottage cheese, ricotta cheese or feta cheese in the recipe. To make it vegan, substitute paneer with tofu.
- Becasue my kids love paneer and eat this bread, I have not added green chilies. You can add 1 or 2 finely chopped green chilies to make it spicy.
- Sinch it has no onion or garlic, rice south Indians specially from coastal karnataka eat this during fasting, upvas and vrat days.
- To make punjabi dhaba style paraths, just add ½ teaspoon ajwain (carom seeds) to dough and ½ teaspoon anardhana (dry pomogrenate seeds) to the filling.
If you like this Paneer Paratha or Parotta
Then don't miss trying out some of the easiest and popular Indian flatbreads and bread recipes from my blog.
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