Cheese Parathas

Cheese parathas teeter dangerously close to the limit of "healthy" but when you crave cheese, far wiser to club it with wheat flour bolstered with fenugreek leaves and carom seeds than ordinary white bread, right?

You Need:

For the paratha:

• Atta – 2 cups
• Fenugreek leaves* – 1 cup
• Carom seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Salt – a pinch
• Water – to knead
• Olive oil – for cooking

*If you don’t have fresh fenugreek leaves on hand, substitute with 2 tablespoons of kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves).

For the cheese stuffing:

• Cheese slices – 1 per paratha (I used Amul cheese slices)
• Red chili flakes
• Onions – 1 (optional)

How To Make Cheese Parathas:

Prepare the paratha dough

If using fresh fenugreek leaves, destem, wash and chop the leaves.

Sprinkle the fenugreek leaves and carom seeds over the dry atta with a pinch of salt.

Mix well without adding any water at first. The fenugreek will give off some water and moisten the flour. Then add water a little at a time continuously to the flour and work it with your fingers and palms, till it forms a pliant dough. Let the dough stand covered for 15 minutes.

Prepare the stuffing

If using onions, chop the onions finely. Keep red chili flakes handy.

Cut each cheese slice into 8-10 pieces.

Stuff it

We are going to make cheese parathas the onion-tomato paratha way i.e. slipping in the cheese between two atta sheets.

Take a ball of dough about 1-inch in diameter. Flatten it slightly between your palms, use a little dry flour to roll it into a thin disk of 6-inch diameter.

Be careful not to leave even a tiny tear in the rolled out atta. With any other kind of paratha, a little crack would not matter but with cheese stuffed inside, this is critical!

The stuffing will melt when the paratha is heated. Melted cheese must not spill out before the paratha is cooked fully.

Repeat with another similar ball of dough.

Now spread out the cheese pieces over the rolled out atta near the centre, leaving at least an inch of the outside edge empty. (The cheese melts and fills the empty space when the paratha is cooked.) Sprinkle red chili flakes and some finely chopped onions (if using) over the cheese.

Take the atta sheet rolled out earlier and place it over the layered atta sheet, sealing the edges.

While sealing the edges, leave some space around the rim inside the paratha. The cheese melts and fills up this space when the paratha is cooked.

Seal the edges firmly, there must be no cracks.

Cook it

Heat a wide non-stick pan and put the cheese-filled paratha on it. Cook it on medium-high heat. You might see the paratha starting to puff up as steam builds inside -  press gently with a spatula and ease the cheese into spreading evenly inside.

Pay extra attention to the edges, pressing the parathas on the rim with the spatula.

When brown spots begin to form on the lower edge of the paratha, turn it around and spread a little oil. Repeat the same on the other side.

A little cheese might start to ooze out when the paratha is nearly done – it’s all right at this stage!

Take the paratha off the fire. And we are ready to eat!

Serve cheese parathas immediately with ketchup or tomato chutney/salsa.

Notes:

Try other stuffed paratha recipes: mooli paratha, gur ka paratha, sattu paratha.

Looking for more recipes that use cheese? Check out easy cheesy zucchini, corn with spinach and cheese, adzuki bean salad with feta cheese.