A healthy flavorful paratha, an Indian flatbread, with spinach puree and paneer masala stuffing.
Palak Paneer or spinach paneer paratha is a super delicious, healthy Indian flatbread recipe. The paratha is made with wheat flour mixed in palak / spinach puree and is generously filled with paneer/cottage cheese masala.
This is ideally served with pickle and curd / yogurt for breakfast or for a full course lunch and dinner.
Its vibrant green color with white paneer stuffing is visually pleasing and will stir up our appetite.
How to Make Palak Paneer Paratha:
The very first step is making the palak puree for the dough. There are quite a few ways in which we can incorporate spinach in wheat flour. One method is to blanch the palak and add this to a blender along with a small piece of ginger and green chili to make a puree.
In this recipe, the fresh palak leaves and green chili is added into a blender/mixer grinder jar and grind to a fine paste. Mix this puree with wheat flour and salt. Add enough water to knead it to a soft dough. Cover the dough and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Instead of using a palak puree, you can finely chop the palak/spinach and add it directly to the flour and then knead the dough.
For the Paneer masala stuffing, grate paneer into a bowl and add chopped green chili, ginger, red onion, cilantro leaves, salt, black pepper powder, cumin powder, garam masala, chaat masala(optional). Mix everything well and set aside.
Homemade panner is soft and easy to grate, or even we can crumble it with our hands. I have used store bought paneer for this recipe. So I kept it out from the fridge for sometime. When it comes to room temperature the paneer will become soft and it will be easier to grate.
Knead the dough slightly and pinch a ball size or lemon size dough from it and smoothen it in your palm. Dust and roll the ball to a 4 inch round circle.
Place 2 tablespoons full of paneer stuffing into the flattened disc. Fold the edges of the dough by pushing the stuffing inside with your fingers and by bringing the edges higher over the stuffing. Seal the edges and smooth the dough into a ball. Slightly dust the ball and gently roll it to 5 – 6 inch round paratha.
Roll the paratha evenly without putting pressure in one side. This prevents the paratha from tearing and helps to evenly distributes the stuffing.
Also remember to dust less flour while rolling the parathas. Too much flour will make the parathas hard and dry.
Heat a pan or griddle on medium heat and fry the parathas for 2 to 3 minutes on both sides. Brush both sides with ghee or butter and serve hot with pickle, curd or raita.
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Watch The Recipe Video of Palak Paneer Paratha :
Palak Paneer Paratha
Equipment
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 Medium Mixing bowl
- 1 Roti Tawa or Griddle
- 1 Rolling Pin and Board
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 2 cups Palak / Spinach tightly packed
- 1 Green chili
- 3 cups Wheat Flour
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup Water + ¼ cup as required
For Paneer Stuffing:
- 2 cups Paneer grated
- 1 Green chili chopped
- 2 tsp Ginger minced
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 medium Red Onion finely chopped
- 1-2 tbsp Cilantro /Coriander Leaves chopped
- 1 tsp Black Pepper powder
- 1 ½ tsp Cumin Powder
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp Chaat Masala optional
Instructions
Making the Dough:
- Rinse the palak / spinach in running water and sieve the excess water.
- Add 1 green chili and the palak leaves in a medium mixer jar and grind to a fine paste without adding any water. (If using a chutney jar, grind the palak in small batches.)
- Take wheat flour into a mixing bowl. Add enough salt and palak paste into it. Pour 1/2 cup of water and mix everything until combine.
- Add 1/2 more cup of water and knead it into a dough by sprinkling water as needed. Knead the dough for 5 more minutes until it becomes soft.
- Cover the bowl with a lid and rest the dough for 10 minutes.
Making the Paneer Stuffing :
- Grate paneer into a bowl (approximately 2 cups of grated paneer). ( Refer Note : 1 )
- Add the chopped green chili, ginger, red onion, cilantro leaves, salt, and the spices – black pepper powder, cumin powder, garam masala, chaat masala(optional) – into the paneer and mix well. Set this aside.
Making the Paratha:
- Knead the dough slightly and pinch a ball size dough from it and smoothen it in your palm.
- Sprinkle a little flour on the rolling area. Lightly dust the dough ball with flour and flatten it on the rolling pin to a 3-4 inch round disc. ( Refer Note : 2 )
- Place 2 tablespoons full of paneer stuffing into the flattened disc. Fold the edges of the dough by pushing the stuffing inside with your fingers and by bringing the edges higher over the stuffing. (Refer the video).
- Make sure the edges are sealed and no stuffing is visible. Join the two ends of the dough together securing it tightly by making it into a ball. (Refer the video).
- Dip the stuffed ball in flour and flatten it gently. Lightly dust the rolling area and place the paratha with the sealed side down. Gently roll the paratha evenly by rotating it clock-wise after every 3-4 rolls. Sprinkle flour as needed and make sure it does not tear or get stuck. ( Refer Note : 3 )
- Roll the paneer paratha slightly thick and place them in a hot pan or griddle. Cook it for a minute or two on medium heat. Then flip it to the other side and cook for a minute. ( Refer Note : 4 )
- Brush oil or ghee to the paratha and flip again to the other side. Drizzle some ghee or oil on this side as well. Press down slightly for the edges to cook properly.
- Cook both sides for few minutes until golden or light brown spots appear. Place the paratha in a plate and top it with some butter (optional).
- Serve the Palak paneer paratha hot with pickle, raita, and curd/ yogurt.
Video
Notes
- If using store bought paneer, keep it outside from the fridge to come to room temperature. This will make the paneer soft and easy to grate.
- Avoid using too much flour while dusting the dough balls, as it turns the parathas dry and hard.
- Roll the parathas evenly without putting pressure in one side. This prevents the parathas from tearing and helps to evenly distributes the stuffing.
- Always remember to cook on medium high heat to get an evenly cooked parathas.
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