Paneer Palak Paratha / Cottage cheese Spinach stuffed bread

Stuffed paratha with butter is certainly a comfort food for most of us. My family loves to have it for dinner. Here is a simple Paneer Palak stuffed paratha recipe for you to try. Want to make it healthy??? Just don't add that butter on paratha...

Ingredients:

For paratha:

1. Wheat Flour - 3 cups
2. Salt to taste
3. Water - 1 + 3 tbs
4. Butter - 1 tsp/paratha
5. Flour for rolling the dough

For stuffing:

1. Paneer/Cottage cheese, crumbs - 1/2 cup
2. Spinach leaves - 2 cups
3. Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
4. Green chilli, sliced - 1
5. Ginger, chopped - 1/4 tsp
6. Onion, chopped - 1/4 cup
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Chaat masala - 1/2 tsp
9. Salt to taste
10. Oil - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Knead flour with salt and water till it reaches the right consistency as any bread dough. I have using stand mixer for this and water quantity mentioned is according to that
2. Keep the dough wrapped in a warm wet kitchen towel
3. Heat oil in a pan and splutter cumin seeds
4. Add ginger, onion and green chilli and saute it
5. Add salt, turmeric powder and chaat masala to it and give a stir
6. Add chopped spinach leaves and cook till the leaves are wilted
7. Add paneer crumbs to the above a mix well and cook for 2 more minutes and mix well to remove any big pieces
8. Heat a tawa or griddle to make paratha
9. Divide the dough into balls of about a lemon size
10. Roll each ball to form thin round shape of about 8 inch size like chapathi
11. Spread 1-2 tbs of stuffing on the above
12. Roll another ball to the same size
13. Cover the stuffing with second chapathi
14. Roll it again starting from the center to the sides to remove any air pockets
15. Place the stuffed paratha on hot tawa and add a tsp of butter on it
16. When one side is cooked, flip paratha to cook the other side, 1-2 minutes on each side under medium flame should be enough
17. Repeat the same with all parathas

Serve parathas with Tangy Paneer or simple yogurt raitha!

I am linking this post to FeistaFriday cohosted by Johanne@French Gardener Dishes and Liz@spades, spatulas & spoons

Naan

Recipe#26 from Mrs.K.M.Mathews recipe series

Ingredients:

1. All purpose Flour/ Maida - 2 cups
2. Butter/Dalda - 2 tsp
3. Instant dry yeast - 1 tsp
4. Sugar - 1 tsp
5. Water - 1/2 cup
6. Egg yolk - 1
7. Salt to taste
8. Black sesame seeds - 1 tbs (optional)

Method:

1. Mix flour and butter to form crumb texture, somewhat like puttu podi
2. Mix warm water, sugar and yeast and keep it aside for 15 minutes till the yeast froth comes to the top in the yeast mixture bowl
3. Knead yeast mix, egg yolk and salt with the flour to form soft dough
4. Apply some oil in a big bowl and keep the dough for rising in it for about 4 hrs. Cover the bowl with a damp towel during this time
5. After the dough is doubled in 4 hrs, punch it to remove the air and make lemon sized balls
6. Roll the balls in sesame seeds and roll it to form naan shape (oval shape with one side wide and other side thin)
7. Keep it for 10-15 minutes
8. Cook the naan on a hot griddle in high flame on both sides till cooked
9. Repeat the same with all Naan

Note:

• Naan is very soft compared to the hotel Naan. Not rubbery at all. It gets hard if it is kept open for the next day, hence if you plan to store for next day, cover it properly with foil wrap and then in any airtight box
• I have omitted the sesame seeds part
• I have used stand mixer for kneading the dough

Banana French Toast

Here I am after a short break from blogging due to relocation. In the coming days, you should see some recipes with minimum ingredients being used as I am yet to unpack my kitchen items. Here goes our breakfast recipe for French toast with banana.

Ingredients:

1. Banana, chopped -1.5 cups
2. Egg - 2 big
3. Bread slices, white or brown - 4
4. Cinnamon , powder - a pinch
5. Sugar - 2 tbs ( Optional)
6. Milk - 2/3 cups
7. Butter/ oil - 4 tsp

Method:

1. Mix eggs, sugar, cinnamon and milk well in flat bottomed bowl with enough diameter to fit a bread slice
2. Add chopped banana and give a stir 
3. Heat a pan and add a tsp of oil
4. Dip a bread slice in the mix so that there is a coating of egg mixture on both sides of bread slice
5. Place the bread slice on hot pan and spoon on it banana pieces from the egg mixture.(the bananas will not stick to bread slice when you just dip the bread in the mixture, that is why it is good to spoon some of the banana pieces on bread slice when one side of the bread slice is being roasted)
6. Once the it is almost cooked (you don't see liguidy egg mixture once cooked), and you can flip the bread slice (now the top side of the bread should be slightly browned) and brown the banana side of the bread too.
7. Once roasted on both sides, move it to a serving plate.
8. Repeat from step 4 to 7 for the rest of 3 slices of bread by adding 1 tsp of oil into hot pan.

Irachi Pathiri Sandwich

Irachi Pathiri is a Malabar special Muslim dish. It is usually made with meat/chicken masala stuffed in flour poori, deep fried and again shallow fried with egg mixture on it. I have tried to avoid the deep frying part by using bread instead flour dough. It is definitely worth a try!

Ingredients:

1. White bread slices, big- 8
2. Minced chicken  - 150gm
3. Onion , chopped - 1 medium
4. Green chilli, chopped - 1
5. Ginger - chopped - 1/2 tsp
6. Garlic, chopped - 1 tsp
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Chilli powder - 1/2-1 tsp
9. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil - 1 tsp + 3 tbs
12. Sugar - 1 tsp
13. Cardamom  powder - a pinch
14. Egg - 2
15. Milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Heat a tsp of oil in a non stick pan
2. Saute ginger, garlic, green chilli and onion in the oil
3. When onion is translucent and lightly browned, add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and saute for 1 more minute
4. Add minced chicken and salt and mix well and fry till chicken is cooked very well
5. Remove chicken mixture from flame.
6. Trim off the hard sides of the bread slices
7. Spoon the chicken masala to the centre of 1 bread slice , wet the sides of the bread slice ends on all four sides with water
8. Take another slice of bread and wet the sides with water and top the bread slice with chicken masala like as sandwich
9. Stick all four sides by squeezing the wet edges of both slices together. Take care not cut the bread slices
10. Repeat the same rest of the 6 slices too. So now you have 4 sets of sandwiches.
11. To make the egg custard mixture, mix egg, sugar, cardamom, milk and a pinch of salt in a flat bottomed bowl and keep aside.
12. Heat a flat pan with 2 tbs of oil to roast the sandwich
13. Dip both sides of sandwich in the egg custard mixture. There should be an egg custard coating on both sides of sandwich
14. Roast the sandwich in the hot pan covered.
15. Turn the sandwich once the bottom side has browned a bit (take care not to burn it) and cook the other side till browned
16. Move the roasted sandwich to a kitchen tissue to soak up extra oil
17. Repeat steps from 13 to 16 for all four sets. Cut it diagonally and serve warm!

Easy bread pudding with jam

Ingredients:

1. Milk - 1.5 cups
2. Egg - 3
3. Vanilla extract - 1tsp
4. Sugar - 3/4 cups
5. White bread - 4 slices
6. Strawberry jam(any flavoured jam) - 2 tbs
7. Brown sugar(optional) - 1-2 tbs
8. Cinnamon powder(optional) - 1tsp

Directions

1. Mix ingredients from 1 to 4 well
2. Sandwich bread slices with jam in between them
3. Cut the bread jam sandwich into small square pieces 
4. Arrange the bread pieces in a baking bowl
5. Pour over the milk mixture and let it soak for 1hr.
6. Mix brown sugar with cinnamon powder and sprinkle over the pudding mixture(optional)
7. Keep the bowl in a baking tray with a glass of water poured in the tray
8. Bake it in a preheated over at 175 Degree Celsius, for 20-25 min, until custard is set.
9. After cooling, keep the closed pudding bowl in fridge and enjoy it.

Note:
Bread pudding tasted better after keeping it in fridge for a whole day.
You can cut off the sides of bread before spreading the jam if you don't like it. I didn't remove it.

Raisin bread with cinnamon swirls

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup  flour

2 tsp

3/4 tsp sal

1 tsp instant yeast

1 1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 tbsp canola oil

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp 

3/4 cup raisins - rinsed and drained

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

Procedure

1. Stir together the flour, sugar, salt, yeast and cinnamon in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. Add the egg, oil, buttermilk, and water. Stir together with a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment until the ingredients come together and form a ball. Adjust with flour or water if the dough seems too sticky or too dry and stiff.
2. Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter and begin kneading. The dough should be soft and pliable, and not sticky. Add flour as you knead ,if necessary, to achieve this texture. Knead by hand for approximately 10 minutes.Add in the raisins by hand to ensure even distribution. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
3. Keep it until the dough doubles in size. This only took about 1 hour for me.
4. Pat the dough into a 5 inch wide by 8 inch long rectangle about 1/3 inch thick. Sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon sugar over the dough. Then working from the short side of the dough, roll up the length of the dough one section at a time.The loaf will spread out as you roll it up, eventually extending to a full 8-9 inches long. Seal the ends by pressing the dough. Rock the loaf around to even it out and push the ends in so that they are not tapered. Keep the surface of the loaf even across the top. Place the loaf in a lightly oiled 8 1/2 - 4 1/2 inch pan, mist the top with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel.
5. Keep for 60 - 90 minutes or until the dough expands to top of the pan and is nearly doubled in size.
6. Preheat oven to 170 Celcius.Place loaf pan on a rack in the middle of the oven. Bake the loaf for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for another 20-30 minutes. The finished bread should register at 190F in the center and be golden brown on the top. It should make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom.
7. Immediately remove from the pan.
8. Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving.