Broccoli Paratha is a delicious flatbread recipe with a scrumptious filling of chopped broccoli, mint leaves and crumbled paneer.
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Broccoli Paratha
Broccoli Paratha is a lovely paratha recipe with a filling of blanched broccoli, crumbled paneer and finely chopped mint leaves.
This is a recipe that just popped into my head when I was walking around a supermarket produce section. The combination of broccoli and mint just inspired something in me.
This broccoli stuffed paratha recipe is just like any other paratha for which you need an atta dough and the filling prepped to make them hot and serve it with butter or a chutney of your choice.
If you are a fan of stuffed paratha recipes, here is a recipe for Peas Paratha that you should check out.
Ingredients for Broccoli Paratha
Ingredients for the dough
Atta – two cups of whole wheat flour will make 6-7 paratha depending on the size you choose.
Salt – just a pinch for seasoning
Water – 1 cup of normal room temperature water.
Ingredients for the filling
Broccoli – one medium-sized broccoli. (250-400g)
Paneer – I have used 100 grams from a usual 200g block that you get. You can increase the quantity if you wish.
Mint leaves – I bought one bunch, washed them and plucked the mint leaves. But I used only one handful of the leaves. You can increase the quantity based on your taste preference.
Green chillies or dried red chillies – For this recipe, i used finely chopped green chillies. You may also substitute it with dried red chilli flakes for some heat in the paratha filling.
Besan/ Chickpea flour/ Kadala Maavu – Since broccoli is a watery vegetable, you need besan to absorb the moisture from it. You will need to adjust this the quantity according to how much moisture you have in the broccoli once blanched and chopped. I used two teaspoons of besan for this recipe.
Salt and Pepper – You can start with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and go from there to adjust the seasoning according to your taste.
How to make Broccoli Paratha
Preparing the dough for the paratha
There are two prep steps involved in making this paratha. The first is to knead the dough. The second step is to prepare the filling.
To prepare the dough, add two cups of atta to a large bowl and sprinkle some salt on the flour. Use your fingers so that the salt is evenly mixed.
Add water little by little and start kneading the dough. For two cups of atta you will need one cup of water. Sometimes it depends on the wheat flour as well, adjust accordingly.
Your dough is ready when you see that there are no pockets of flour or cracks in the ball of dough – it should be a smooth ball. This process should take you five minutes. Make sure to take the time to knead the dough well – when you mix the water and atta thoroughly, your parathas will also puff up well and cook evenly.
Once the dough has come together, cover the vessel with a lid and keep it aside.
Preparing the filling for the broccoli paratha
Boil water in a large container or you can just turn on the kettle with a litre of water. Once the hot water is ready, turn off the flame. Take the entire head of broccoli and dunk it with the stalk side up. Be sure to dunk all the florets in the hot water. This process will ensure that you remove any sediment and kill any small creepy crawlies nestling in between florets.
Leave it aside for 15 minutes for the florets to blanch. Take the broccoli out of the hot water and let all the water drain out. The more water you remove, the less besan you will need to add later.
Pluck the florets and, with a knife, chop it up into fine pieces. They should be small and not large chunks. If there are chunks, you will find it difficult to roll out the parathas later.
You can also use a food processor to help you with cutting it into a fine texture.
While you are waiting for the broccoli to blanch, add the paneer to warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes. This will soften up the paneer and help easily crumble it into the paratha filling.
Wash the mint leaves and chop them fine and keep aside. Chop up the green chillies and keep them aside too.
If you want to make the process easy, you can just add the blanched broccoli and mint leaves in a food processor, too. Pulse the ingredients together for a few times. Do not add the paneer to this, it will become a complete mush.
To a large bowl, add the finely chopped broccoli, mint leaves, green chillies and crumble the soft paneer with your hands and fingers. Add salt and pepper and mix all the ingredients well.
You will notice there is some moisture in the paratha filling, so to remove this, add 2 teaspoons of besan flour. This will help absorb the water. Mix thoroughly. Take a handful of the broccoli paratha mixture and squeeze it. If you see any water oozing out, you need to add more besan until all the moisture gets absorbed.
Now that the filling and the dough are ready, now it’s time to roll out the parathas.
Rolling the parathas
Pinch out a small portion of the dough and roll it until it’s about 5 inches in diameter. Take a generous helping of the broccoli stuffing and roll it into a ball; place it in the middle of the dough.
Close the stuffing by bringing the sides of the dough together. Pinch off the excess dough.
Sprinkle some atta on the surface and coat the prepared dough on both sides with atta. Roll the paratha as thin as you can. At this stage, if you have too many broccoli chunks, it might get tough to roll and you might notice that the atta dough will tear. Let it be and make sure you cut up the thicker chunks of broccoli in the stuffing.
Once the parathas are rolled out, place a tawa on medium to high heat. Once the tawa is hot, place the paratha and cook on both sides until you see brown spots. Lower the flame, apply some ghee to one side and flip it to the other side and apply some more ghee.
Press the paratha to the tawa and you will notice at this stage that the paratha will puff up. Once you see that both sides are cooked, take the paratha off the tawa and serve it hot with curd and a pickle/chutney of your choice.
Cook all the rolled out parathas and you have a delicious meal on your plate!
Shelf life and storage
The broccoli stuffing can be prepared and kept in the fridge for up to a day. But it is best to consume it on the same day.
Parathas, in general, don’t taste good when stored in the fridge, so it’s best avoided.
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Recipe for Broccoli Paratha
Broccoli Paratha with Mint and Paneer
Ingredients
For the Broccoli filling
- 1 Broccoli medium sized
- 100 g Paneer
- Mint Leaves a handful
- ½ tsp Red Chilli flakes
- Salt and Pepper
- Ghee for frying
For the dough
- 2 cups Wheat Flour
- 1 cup Water
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
Broccoli filling for the paratha
- Take a large bowl of hot water and dunk the entire head of broccoli into the hot water. Leave it in the hot water for a minimum of 15 minutes. In another bowl of warm water add the 100 g of paneer inside to allow it to soften up.
- Once the broccoli has blanched, remove as much water as possible from it. Let it drain on a surface for a couple of minutes. Cut up the broccoli into really fine pieces and put them in a bowl.
- To the same bowl, crumble the paneer into small pieces with the use of your fingers and hands.
- Add the chopped green chillies, chopped mint leaves, salt and pepper too. Mix all the ingredients well.
- To remove any moisture in the paratha filling, add 2 tsps of besan/chickpea flour. Mix well, adjust the seasoning according to your taste. The Broccoli paratha filling is ready.
Making the dough for the Paratha
- Take a large plate or a bowl and add two cups of wheat flour to it. Sprinkle the salt into the bowl of flour and mix with your hands.
- Now, add water to the dough little by little and starting kneading the dough. Make a smooth and soft dough without any pockets flour in it.This process roughly takes 5-10 minutes.
- You know it is ready for resting when you do not see any cracks in the dough.
- Cover the container or plate with another lid or a moist muslin cloth. Let it rest for a minimum of 15 minutes.
Cooking the Broccoli Paratha
- Take the rested dough and divide them into equal sized balls.
- Pick one dough ball and dip it in wheat flour. Sprinkle some wheat flour on the surface and start rolling out the dough.
- When the dough is about 5 inches wide, take a small portion of the broccoli stuffing and place it in the centre.
- Close the stuffing by bringing the sides of the dough together and pinch off excess dough.
- Dip the stuffed dough in some more wheat flour on both sides. Roll it out as thin as you can. If you see any moisture seeping through, just sprinkle a little wheat flour to absorb the moisture. If you have difficulty because of thick broccoli stalks, remove those large chunk and roll it as much as you can.
- Place an iron tawa on medium to high flame. Once the tawa is hot, place the rolled out paratha.Let the paratha cook on one side until you see a few brown spots. Flip to the other side and allow for brown spots to appear.
- At this stage, lower the flame and apply some ghee on top of the paratha. Flip the paratha and apply ghee to the other side as well.
If you are looking for more Paratha Recipes, please click here.
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