Paneer Kathi Rolls

Schools started last week and so did the heavy rains. I am trying to adjust to the new routine of waking up early and making two lunch boxes and then running to the bus stop to see off my little one.

In all this, I have not found anytime to create new yummy dishes and blog about them. That is till the weekend, my husband was talking about Kathi Rolls and his days in Mumbai and wondered if I could make them. So I turned to my head chef ( Mr. Google ) and asked his advice. There are quite a number of recipe out there but what drew me to Kavita's recipe is that she mentioned that her Kathi Roll tasted quite like the ones at the Kathi Roll Company in Manhattan.

I have adapted this recipe a little bit. It makes amazing soft rolls filled with succulent pieces of marinated paneer and slivers of onions. These taste really good when warm, so you can make all the rotis ahead of time, but only half-cook them ( ie toast them very lightly on both sides ). Then when it is time to serve, fully cook the rotis and assemble the rest of the ingredients and serve. Thanks to Kavita for sharing such a wonderful recipe.

 

Makes 6-7 rolls

Ingredients

For the Paneer Sabzi

400 gm / approximately 1 pound paneer, cut into 2 inch x 1/2 inch thick fingers
1 large red onion, sliced
1 medium sized bell pepper, cut into similar sized strips
1 tsp cayenne / lal mirchi powder
salt, to taste
2 tbsp oil

For the marinade

1 cup thick yogurt, tie it in a muslin cloth and hang it to drain out excess moisture
1 tbsp kashmiri red chili powder / deggi mirch powder
1 tbsp chaat masala
1 tsp crushed kasturi methi
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp lemon/lime juice
salt, to taste

For the Roti

2 cups all purpose flour / maida ( you can also use half whole wheat and half all purpose flour )
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp oil

For assembly

1 red onion, sliced ( sprinkle some lime juice and salt over this ) or you can even use pickled onions ( pickled in vinegar and sugar solution, here is a good recipe for that )

mint chutney or coriander chutney  ( available at any Indian grocery store )


Method

For the marinade

• Mix all the marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss the paneer pieces in it. Set aside for an hour.

For the Sabzi filling

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan. When hot add the ginger and garlic, saute for a couple of seconds and then add the onions. Saute them for a minute or until they turn pink.
• Next goes in the capsicum. Let this all saute for another minute or two and then next goes in the paneer with the marinade, cayenne and salt. On medium low heat, let it all cook, uncovered, for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. 

For the Roti

• Make the rotis by rolling out a small ping pong sized ball of atta, to a 3 inch circle. Smear some oil all over the circle and fold it in half and then fold it over once again. You will get a rough shaped triangle. Adding some more flour, roll it out either into a circle or a rectangle. Lightly toast this on a hot tawa / girdle with a little oil, till cooked on both sides. Set aside either in a warm casserole or wrapped in a foil ( to keep it warm ). Repeat the same with the rest of the dough balls.

For Assembly

• Take one warm roti and smear some mint or coriander chutney on it. Place some paneer sabzi  in the center as shown in the above picture. Sprinkle some onions on it and roll it up into a roll. Serve with it is still warm.