Punjabi Pizza or Stuffed Paratha

I have just realised who commands the Daily menu in my kitchen!! It’s my children as I  always worry if they don’t eat their food.  All mums also worry if they are not eating all their vegetables.  I am always trying to think of ways of making a dish interesting for them so that they eat well.   My young son loves Pizzas and went through a phase where he had to either have a pizza every day or something with cheese added to it to make it look like a pizza!!  That’s when I came up with this recipe which is of a stuffed paratha but with some of the pizza ingredients added.   I told my son who was very young at the time that it was a “Punjabi Pizza” and since that day, it’s been called that in our house.  We really enjoy Punjabi Pizza or Stuffed Paratha  dish as a weekend brunch dish.  I hope that you will all agree with me that Punjabi Pizza or Stuffed Paratha  is a real winner with children.  You can add what ever fillings you like and make it as spicy or as bland Punjabi Pizza or Stuffed Paratha as you prefer.

For the parathas:

Method:

For the filling:

1. Boil the potatoes and mash them using a fork

2.  Add in the salt, chilly powder, coriander leaves and half the cheddar cheese.

3. Mix well using a fork and leave the mixture covered.

4.   Slice up all the vegetables you want to use for the filling.

For the dough:

5.   Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl.

6.   Add the salt and garlic to the flour

7.  Add two teaspoons of oil to the flour.

8.  Mix the dough with warm water and let it rest for half an hour.

9.    Divide the dough into small balls – smaller than a ping pong ball.

10.  Take one ball and roll out the dough to the size of a  6-7 inch diameter chapatti

11.  Spread the chutney or tomato sauce on the rolled out chapatti.  Recipe for the chutney is here

12.  Spread the cheese and potato mixture on top of the chutney or sauce.

13.  Spread the toppings like you would for a pizza.  I used peppers, tomatoes and onions.

14.  Spread some cheddar cheese and any herbs like oregano on the toppings just like you would for a pizza. Whilst putting all the toppings on the chappati, don’t press too hard on it as the dough is quite delicate.

15.   Cover all the toppings with a similar sized chapatti.  Now you see why I don’t know what to call this dish? Pizza or paratha?? But what’s in a name?

16.  Warm a griddle or a frying pan.  Add some oil to the pan and gently heat the paratha on a medium flame.

17.  You want to make sure that the filling cooks without burning the outer later,  You also don’t want the cheese to cook too fast or it will melt and ooze out of the paratha.

18.  Flip the paratha over and allow the second side to cook.

19.  The pizza/paratha is ready to be served.  I’ll be very interested in your views on what I should call this dish!!

20.  Some serving suggestions: