Wrapped in Paneer

After five months of waiting, mommy is finally here! She landed a day before Mother’s Day and although I don’t really believe in compartmentalizing my love for mothers into one single day, it felt good to have her here right on time. Anyway, after showing her around this part of the town for a few days and taking turns at the kitchen, it was my turn to cook her up something interesting for a change. It was Friday after all!

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with making wraps for dinner. I know I haven’t shown any proof for that claim but these wrap situations always happen on Thursdays. Since K and I have been attending birthing classes on that day, I discovered that a wrap or a burrito is the most convenient snack to grab and go when you have exactly ten minutes to take a shower, get changed and get going. But it was a Friday, we were done with those classes and I wanted to make something different for mommy. I mean, how many ways are really there to make brown rice in, right?

I found these low-carb, whole grain tortillas in the store a few weeks ago and have been buying them regularly since my low-carb diet began. To cut the long, winding story short, I made Paneer Kathi Rolls for dinner. This dish is a great way to stretch a slab of precious Paneer and if you have ever been to Oxford Bookstore in Madras and dropped into their Cha Bar, the beautiful cafe dedicated to Chai and snacks, you would have probably tasted their Paneer Kathi rolls and fallen in love with it. If not, no big deal because as delicious as these rolls are in the cafe, it is pretty easy to make ’em at home.

Paneer Kathi Rolls

Ingredients:
Five Low-carb whole wheat tortilla rolls

One cup cubed Paneer

One big purple onion

Two Tomatoes

For the marinade:

Three Tbsps thick Greek yogurt

One Tbsp gram flour (or substitute with AP flour)

One tsp cayenne pepper powde

One tsp turmeric powder

One tsp Chat masala

One tsp Garam Masala

One tsp ginger-garlic paste

A generous pinch Kasoori Methi aka dried fenugreek leaves (optional but this is an amazing seasoning to have in your pantry if you are an Indian foodie. It freezes well too)

Salt

Two Tbsp vegetable (or canola) oil

Two cups of raw cabbage

One cup mint-cilantro-yogurt chutney (recipe follows)

Method:
Mix all the marinade ingredients. Add the Paneer cubes and let it rest for half hour. Meanwhile, thinly slice the onion, and wash, de-seed and dice the tomatoes. Heat the oil in a pan. When hot, add the onion and cook it on medium until translucent. Add the tomatoes and the marinated Paneer (and the remaining marinade) to the pan and let it cook until the mixture dries up and the tomatoes are mushy. To save the integrity of the Paneer, resist tossing it too much. When the stuffing is dry, switch off the heat. Finely slice the cabbage now. The beauty of this dish is the uncooked cabbage that acts as a bed of lettuce.

Heat the tortillas. spread them lightly with cabbage. Spread the Paneer mixture in the middle. Top it with the chutney and roll the tortilla as you would a burrito. Take a bite and tell me if it ain’t wonderful!

Mint-Cilantro-Yogurt Chutney:

Ingredients:
One cup mint leaves

One cup cilantro leaves

One cup thick yogurt

Half a lime

One shallot

One small piece ginger

One Thai chili pepper

Salt to taste

Method:
Whisk everything together in a blender. Add water if it is too thick. The Chutney should be of a thick consistency but not so thick that it refuses to let go of the spoon. You could call it an Indian Tzatziki if you wish to.

Serving Size: One roll for a snack, two rolls for a meal

Total Carbs: 20g each (with two Tbsp chutney in each roll)