Paneer Paratha – Stuffed Bread

Here’s another great way to use paneer – Paneer Paratha. This Indian unleavened and pan-fried bread is stuffed with spiced homemade cheese (paneer). It’s delicious and satisfying. Paneer Parathas served with yogurt or pickle can be a complete meal.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the dough:
Chapati Flour – 1 1/2 cups
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Oil – 1 Tbsp
Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Kasoori Methi) – 1 Tbsp
Warm Water – 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp

For the stuffing:
Paneer – 14 oz, grated
Salt – to taste
Chaat Masala – 1/2 tsp
Roasted Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Green Chilies – to taste, finely chopped
Cilantro/Coriander – 5 sprigs, finely chopped
Oil – for pan frying

Method:

1. Mix Flour, Salt, Oil and Fenugreek Leaves until Oil is incorporated into the dry flour.
2. Add warm water and form a firm dough.
3. Coat the dough lightly with few drops of oil, cover and set aside for 15 minutes.
4. To the grated Paneer, add Salt, Chaat Masala, Roasted Cumin Powder, Red Chili Powder, Green Chilies and Cilantro/Coriander. Mix well.
5. Divide dough and paneer mixture into 8 portions.
6. Using a little dry flour, roll out one dough ball into a small disc.
7. Place one portion of the paneer mixture on the disc and pull up sides of the disc around the paneer.
8. Pinch the dough at the top to seal the ball.
9. Flatten the stuffed dough and dip into dry flour to coat all sides.
10. Roll out into a larger disc – continuing to dip into dry flour to prevent sticking.
11. Place paratha on a hot tava/skillet and cook until bubbles start to appear on the top.
12. Flip the paratha over and cook for 30 secs.
13. Drizzle a little Oil on the paratha and spread to coat evenly.
14. Flip the paratha over and press gently with a spatula.
15. Lightly drizzle Oil on this side and spread to coat evenly.
16. Flip paratha over and again press gently.
17. Cook paratha until the appearance of raw dough is gone.
18. Remove paratha from the tava and place in a covered/insulated container. Continue with remaining parathas.
19. Serve hot with yogurt/curd, raita or pickle.

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0 thoughts on “Paneer Paratha – Stuffed Bread

    1. Hi Anitha,

      The rotating stone is called a “lazy susan”. You can find it as stores like Bed Bath & Beyond, if you are in the US.

  1. I have since made these a number of times. One time I had about 3/4 cup of left over boiled quinoa, and added it to the paneer mixture. Turned out great.

    I have started adding a small amount of boiled quinoa to my chapatti/roti dough. Great way to add some fibre and protein.

    1. Hi Lana,

      Wow! Never thought of adding cooked quinoa to chapati dough. I think I am going to try that out. Thanks for sharing!

  2. Hello ladies, I’ve been trying to make parathas recently, as I love Indian food and they look fun to make. My problem is that the stuffing comes out of the sides and the center is just dough, no matter how softly I roll them. How do you make it look so easy? The nearest Indian grocery store is like 30 – 45 min away, so I just used all purpose flour. Do you think this could be the reason? Or maybe the filling is too moist?

    1. Hi Nathan,

      It could be a number of things (including the filling being too moist). When rolling the dough out initially (before stuffing), try to keep the middle section thicker than the edges. This way, when you stuff the filling and seal it, the middle will have some thickness and tear less. Also, if you knead the dough more, more gluten is formed and it will tear less.

  3. Hi Hetal and Anuja,
    I made this paratha today and it came out really good.
    Thank you for all the great recipes that you put up here.
    You both are doing a great job!!

  4. Hello Anuja and Hethal,

    Thanks for the wonderful recipe. My kids loved it! I have a question on the food processor. It seems like the one you used turned out dough with just the right softness. Could you please let me know the brand used in this video?

    Thanks in Advance

    1. Hi Lakshmi,

      The food processor is a Black and Decker. Unfortunately, it was purchased a very long time back so not sure if it is still available. We’re sure there are better models available now.

  5. Hi,
    Whenever I make stuffed parathas the inside part sometimes does not cook well. So is it possible to oven bake them? If so at what temperature and for how many minutes ? Please help!!

    1. Hi Preetha,

      Many times, the ingredients that are filled into parathas are already cooked. Other times, as in gobi paratha or mooli paratha, they are minced or shredded finely. This allows them to cook very quickly. Maybe your stove heat is a little too high and the dough covering gets overcooked before the inside has time to cook. We have never tried to bake parathas in the oven but would imagine that they would get dry, especially because there will be no occasion to smear some oil as they cook.

  6. Could you please post a video on how to make flaky multi-layered plain parathas? Like the ones we see in the frozen section of supermarkets…they have maaany layers n it is flaky (am not talking about kerala parathas)
    Thanks a looot for all your recipies!!!
    You guys are amazing!!!

  7. I made paneer a few days back but unfortunately, it is breaking when I add it to curries. Can I use that paneer for this recipe(by grating it)?

    1. You can definitely use your paneer for this recipe. Just a trick for future paneer…add a tbsp of all purpose flour to your paneer (from 1 gallon milk) and knead it like dough before setting it and cutting it into cubes. It will help it to bind and not fall apart in your curries.

      1. Hello Hetal,

        That was a great tip to keep paneer from falling apart. Even I face the same problem whenever I make it at home. I am always unable to get it in solid cube form. Now I will try all purpose flour.

        You are really creating sooo many happy families by improving cooking skills of all viewers. There can be no better service to society than this.

        Show me the curry – “Adding a pinch of happiness to all families”

        Enjoy.

  8. Hello Hetal & Anuja,

    I tried this receipe today with my friends and it tuned out to be awesome. Kasoori methi gives a nice subtle flavor to this paratha. but the paneer stuffing was too good and I have some left and am gonna use for my grilled sandwich.

    Thanks ladies once again….you are of great help.

    Thanks & god bless
    – Urvi

    P.S Am voting without fail for you ladies to be selected on FN.

  9. Hi Hetal & Anuja,

    I tried making paneer paratha with home-made paneer. But I had problems rolling out parathas which might be due to water content in paneer. Any suggestions on how to overcome this. I would highly appreciate your response.

    Thanks,
    Bhavika

    1. Hi Bhavika,
      If the paneer is too watery, here are a couple of options:
      – just saute it on the stove and dry it out
      – take a paper towel and blot out the water
      🙂

  10. Hi Great Ladies,

    Very nice recipe! I sometimes make Daal Parathas with left over Yellow Daal (i.e. Tuar ki daal). Can I use the Kasuri methi powder in the dough as well? Or in other stuffed paratha dough for that matter, like muli or gobhi paratha?

    Happy cooking and teaching!

    PD

    1. Hi PD,

      Yes, you can add kasuri methi leaves to the flour while kneading the dough. Use it sparingly because the flavor is very strong. It works best if you let the dough rest for at least 15-20 minutes to give the dry methi time to reconstitute.

  11. Hi Hetal & Anuja,

    I dont use an insulated container for storing rotis/parathas. Suppose I use it and keep stacking some rotis, do the bottom ones get moist? Normally it happens to me when I keep hot rotis on a plate one on top of another.The bottom ones will be moist and too soft. Is there a way to avoid this and keep them dry? thanks in advance

    1. Hi Priya,

      We keep a folded paper towel at the bottom of our insulated container and one at the top to absorb any moisture. If you don’t, it can get a bit soggy. However, the chapati remain hot and soft all the way to the end of the meal.

  12. I had made these last night and it came out great,overall. Only one problem was they were a little hard and rubbery since I ate them after 2 hours of making them. Was thsi the reason?

    1. Hi Neha,
      Could be any of the reasons stated below:
      – not enough oil with pan-frying
      – did you store them in an insulated/airtight container?
      – sometimes when it is not rolled evenly, they don’t cook evenly 🙁

      1. Thanks Anuja for the reply.

        I did not store in air tight containers. May be that was a problem.
        But,I thought that,paneer parathas just get ‘hard’ when cold..
        Thanks for your tips. I shall try once and post here 🙂

  13. hi ladies,

    i really love all the recipes on your site. Tried this recipe today. Usually making paratha used to be a chore, this recipe made it fun and quick.

    Keep up the good work 🙂

    1. You can marinate the paneer in some tandoori marinade and then cook them on the stove top, oven or grill.
      Look at the paneer tikkas recipe and then use the same method on the stove top like the reshmi kebab recipe.

  14. This is an absolutely delicious paranthas! I tried them when I was visiting India and now I was able to recreate them at home.
    I used finally grated firm tofu instead of paneer for the healthier alternative and it turned out so good!
    Thank you very much!
    *And thank you very much for the basic chappati recipe (as used in this recipe as well) as being non-indian I spent about 1 year trying to find a perfect consistency (man it’s a tough job I tell you). And this recipe never fails me.

  15. Hi Federica,

    Different parts of India and different families have different names for chapati or roti.

    Usually, flat bread which is made on a tava using oil is called paratha. Flat bread made on the tava without oil is called chapati or roti. Flat bread made on the tava but blown up on the open flame is called phulka (or rotli).

    There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding this topic so I’m sure there is someone out there who will disagree with what I have just told you. 🙂

  16. Hi Hetal and Anuja,
    I have a question: is there any difference between chapati and roti?
    Thanks in advance for your answer
    Federica

  17. Hi Ann Maria,

    There are many recipes to make chat masala – however, the store bought ones are pretty good – so it might not be worth the time to make your own.

  18. I made this last night and it came out great! Thanks for the recipe. Like someone mentioned already, I would love a methi paratha recipe!

  19. hi,

    awesome receipe ! My family enjoyed eating this.I had also tried Muli Paratha.

    Can you tell me how to make Methi paratha ?

    Thanks.

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