Butter chicken parata puffs

 

I actually posted this last year but  I seem to have mistakenly deleted it. Last year I had a tough time trying to buy some puff pastry which arrived at the shops later than usual. Plus it's not easily available on some islands where as frozen Paratha seem to be more readily available.

After coming up with the idea of using Paratha as a pastry filled with butter chicken filling, I baked them until crispy and flaky. They tasted delicious when served with cucumber raita. You can use leftover butter chicken as a filling as well, just chop the chicken pieces and reduce the sauce so it is just coating the chicken. 

Recipe: Butter Chicken Paratha Puffs

Ingredients

• 500g boneless skinless chicken, cut into small cubes.

For the marinade,

• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste ( I used store-bought paste for convenience)
• 1/2  tsp ground chilli powder
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp plain yoghurt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the sauce, 

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 inch ginger 
• 2 fat cloves of garlic
• 2 green chillies
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground chilli powder
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp oil
• handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp butter

• 7 frozen parathas, thawed and kept in the fridge until needed
• 1 small egg beaten 
• Yogurt sauce to serve ( see below recipe for ingredients)

Method

1. Prepare the marinade by mixing all the marinating ingredients in one bowl. Add the chicken pieces and mix well. Leave to marinate for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.
2. Heat a large non-stick frying pan with 3 tbsp oil and add the chicken pieces. Don't overcrowd the pan so might have to do this in two batches. Remove to a plate.
3. Grind the ginger, garlic and chillies with a tablespoon of water to a rough paste.
4. In the same pan, add a tablespoon of oil and butter and fry the onions until translucent.  Add the ground paste, and cook for a minute to remove any raw smell. Add the spices tomato paste and 1/2 tsp of salt. Add 1/3 cup of water and stir and gently scrape the bottom to remove any bits stuck at the bottom. Let it simmer for 1 minute.
5. Return the chicken into the pan and stir to coat with the sauce. Let the sauce reduce almost completely.

                                            

6. Taste, and adjust salt and a pinch of sugar. Stir in coriander leaves. Set aside to cool completely.
7. To assemble the puffs, take the parathas out from the fridge, these are uncooked ones by the way. 

8. Cut the paratha in half place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of one side of each half and fold the other side to seal. Use a fork to seal it well. Repeat with the rest. 

                                                     

 9. Arrange all the parathas in a baking tray, lined with baking paper and place in the fridge again for 20 minutes to chill. 
10. Preheat oven to about 200 degrees C.
11. Remove the paratha puffs from the fridge brush with beaten egg and pop into the oven, middle shelf, for 15- 20 minutes until golden brown.
12. Remove and serve warm with yoghurt sauce. 

For the yoghurt sauce, mix about 1/2 cup plain yoghurt with 1/2 a small green cucumber ( grated and water squeezed out from it), 1 small clove of garlic, grated. Season with a little salt and 1/4 tsp of sugar. If you like you can stir in some finely sliced mint into this as well or coriander leaves. Squeeze in a little lime juice and mix well. Chill until it's time to serve with the Parathas.