Power Parathas- Veggie stuffed Spinach Parathas.

We had some guests last night for dinner; one of our family friend’s daughter is getting married. We celebrated her engagement earlier with Chaats.Now for the pre-wedding dinner (this is called ‘Kelvan’ in Marathi) I wanted to make something substantial yet different. Also there were two grandmothers coming, so I had to plan something accordingly.

This was the time I felt the need for a ‘Menu Planner’ website! You feed what you need;

Prewedding dinner+substantial+Something different+2 grandmothers and press Search!

And then automatically you get the planned Menu:

Veggie stuffed spinach parathas

Boondi Raita

Tricolored Penne pasta

Mushroom fried rice

Fruit Salad with Raspberyy Jelly and Custard

(Anytakers for such a website??)  

Yes that’s the spread that I cooked finally. It’s really a spread since it spans cuisines from many countries! Indian to Italian to Chinese. As you can see I did not follow any theme! But they loved it!J

I will post the recipes one–by-one as and when I can. __________________________________________________________ 

Veggie stuffed Spinach parathas recipe

_____________________________________________________ 

(You have to excuse the poor photos. I had to click them before the guests arrived and after slogging in the kitchen for the whole evening I was too tired to take extra efforts!)

For the cover:

1 bunch Spinach/Palak

~  2 ½ cups Wheat Flour

1 tsp green chilly paste

1 tsp cumene powder

1 tsp coriander powder

Salt to taste 

For the stuffing:

3/4^th  cup cauliflower florets

3/4^th  cup finely grated Carrots

3/4^th  cup French beand finely chopped

3 Potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed

½ cup Paneer (cottage cheese) grated

Handful of fresh green coriander leaves finely chopped

2 tsp ginger-green chilly paste

Salt to taste 

Oil/butter for frying the parathas 

†For the cover:

† Clean and Wash the Spinach leaves thoroughly. Keep the stems as much as possible. Blanch the Spinach leaves; Bring about 2 cups of water to a boil. Add a pinch of sugar and little salt. Add the spinach leaves and cook uncovered for ~5-8 minutes. Strain the water (don’t discard the water) and immediately add the cooked spinach to cold water. This helps to retain the green color of the spinach. Alternatively you can blanch the spinach in the Microwave.Puree the blanched spinach.

†In a wide bowl add the wheat flour, spinach puree and all the ingredients for the cover.

†Knead into a soft lovely green dough ball. Add water if necessary.

†Divide the dough into lemon sized balls. Keep aside covered for ½ an hour. 

For the stuffing:

†I used Nupur’s tip for cooking potatoes in the microwave with excellent results! Specially if you want no moisture in the potatoes for parathas follow this simple method: Wash the potatoes and prick them all over with a fork.Microwave on the turn table for 3 minutes. Turn them and microwave for another 2-3 minutes.(The time required may vary) That’s it. Peel and mash the cooked potatoes.

†Cut the cauliflower florets finely or as I did spin them in the Food processor once to have really fine florets!

†I did the same with the French beans.

†In a non stick pan dry cook the cauliflower and beans. Try and remove moisture as far as possible.

†Add the carrots and cook for a few more minutes.

†Cook till the veggies become a little tender.

†Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing.

†Flatten the dough ball into small thin circle.Stuff with as much stuffing as you can.

†Bring together the cover from all the sides to the center, seal tightly and roll out into thin round discs, using wheat flour for dusting.

†Cook on a hot griddle/tava, using a little oil/butter, until both sides are golden brown.

†Repeat with the remaining dough and stuffing.

†Serve hot with Raita, Pickle or Chutney.