Broccoli and Cheese Paratha / Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Flat Bread

Broccoli is not a familiar vegetable among south Indians though it is cultivated more in India (source: wikipedia, in the year 2011). Fortunately, I happened to know this veggie, purple cabbage and Brussels sprouts through my dad. He worked as a supervisor on weekends after his weekdays teacher job in an estate in ooty for couple of years. During those days, he leaves on Friday evenings and come back home on Monday mornings. During the harvesting time of the vegetables, he used to bring some to home.

Amma makes many dishes out of it and Broccoli clear soup is my favorite among them. After he left that job, we stopped making broccoli based dishes as we don’t get any of them in our local market there at my native. But I buy this vegetable at time and make simple stir fry and soup. But my husband hats it and when I say it is ‘broccoli stir-fry’ he would run a kilo meter away :-), just opposite to me. So I try some good alternates to make him eat it. And this paratha is such a small try to make my family members to develop the taste of it, tried similar to my gobi paratha.

Basic Information:

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Makes: 6-7 parathas

Ingredients:

For Dough:

Atta / Wheat Flour – 1 cup + 1/4 cup for dusting

Milk – 1/4 cup

Oil – 1 teaspoon

Salt – to taste

Water – as required

For Stuffing:

Broccoli – 1 small size (yielded 1 cup when grated, tight packing)

Grated Processed Cheese – 3/4 cup – 1 cup (I used Amul)

Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon

Amchoor Powder / Dry Mango Powder – a big pinch (Optional)

Salt – to taste

Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon

Oil – 2 teaspoons

Method:

For Making Dough:

1) Take wheat flour in a wide mixing bowl.

2) Add milk, oil and salt. Mix well.

3) Add the water slowly and make soft and stiff dough. You may required only less than 1/2 cup or 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of water depends upon the flour type.

4) Knead well for 5 minutes. Set aside by covering it by kitchen towel or using a plate.

For Making the Stuffing:

1) Cut the broccoli into florets.

2) Add to the hot boiling water just for 1/2 minute. Quickly drain the water and make sure there is no water left with broccoli.

3) Grate the broccoli using grater. You can also use pulse option in the mixer to make the job easier.

4) Heat the oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and let it splutters.

5) Add broccoli followed by red chilli powder, dry mango powder and salt. Saute till the raw smell of spices goes off or till the grated broccoli cooked well. This steps make the broccoli to bind well while rolling parathas. I just sauteed it for 4 minutes.

6) Allow the sauteed broccoli to cool down to room temperature.

7) Meanwhile, make a crumble of cheese or simply grate it.

8) When sauteed broccoli comes to room temperature, add the grated cheese. Mix well.

For Rolling Paratha:

1) Divide the dough into equal number of balls.

2) According to the dough balls, divide the stuffing into equal sized balls. Make sure the stuffing is slightly bigger than the dough balls.

3) Roll the dough ball into a small circular disc of 4-5 inch diameter.

4) Place the stuffing to the center of it and gather edges to seal it. Pinch off the excess dough if any during the sealing process.

5) Pat it, with the help of flour, roll again to a 7-8 inch circular paratha. Repeat this step for the remaining dough and stuffing.

6) Heat the skillet / tawa/ dosa pan. When it is hot, smear the surface with oil and place the paratha.

7) After few minutes, turn to other side.

8) When both the sides are cooked, transfer to a plate. Repeat the step for other parathas.

9) Serve hot with raita and pickle.

Notes:

1) Sauteing the broccoli is optional. but if you saute it, it binds well while rolling.

2) You can increase the cheese quantity as per your choice. Use unsalted cheese for this recipe.