Paneer Masala Dosa| Dosa With Cottage Cheese Stuffing

Bored of eating the same ol’ dosa with chutney/sambar, or masala dosa? Paneer Masala Dosa is another version of dosa that you could try out.

With a protein-rich, delicious cottage cheese stuffing, Paneer Masala Dosa makes for a great snack or even a lunch/dinner option. This is quite a filling dosa that doesn’t require any accompaniment to it. If you have dosa batter on hand, making these is a breeze, too!

I tried out Paneer Masala Dosa for the first-ever time at Murugan Idli Shop in Madras, a few years ago, and fell in love with it. A few attempts at making my own version at home later, I was rewarded with success – a beautiful, delectable dosa that was much loved by everyone in the family. Do try it out too, and let me know how you liked it!

Here is how to make Paneer Masala Dosa.

Ingredients (makes 8-10 dosas):

For the filling:

1. 100 grams paneer aka cottage cheese
2. 4-5 cloves of garlic
3. A 1-inch piece of ginger
4. 1 small tomato
5. 1 medium-sized onion
6. 1/2 tablespoon oil
7. 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
8. 2 pinches of asafoetida
9. Salt to taste
10. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
11. Red chilli powder to taste
12. 1 tablespoon garam masala
13. 1 tablespoon amchoor powder
14. 1 tablespoon sugar
15. 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander

For the dosas:

1. 8-10 ladles of dosa batter
2. 8-10 teaspoons of oil, to make the dosas

Method:

We will first prepare the filling for the Paneer Masala Dosa.

1. Crumble the paneer, using your hands. Keep aside.
2. Peel the ginger and chop finely. Chop the garlic finely. Grind the ginger and garlic to a paste in a small mixer jar, using a little water. Keep aside.
3. Chop the onion finely. Keep aside.
4. Chop the tomato finely. Keep aside.
5. Heat 1/2 tablespoon oil in a pan. Add in the cumin seeds and asafoetida. Allow them to stay in for a couple of seconds.
6. Add the chopped onion to the pan. Saute on medium heat till the onions begin to brown.
7. Now, add the chopped tomato to the pan, along with a little water and salt, and ginger-garlic paste. Cook on medium flame till the tomatoes turn mushy.
8. When the tomatoes are cooked, add in the crumbled paneer, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, sugar, amchoor powder and garam masala. Mix well. Cook on medium heat for a minute. You may add a little water at this stage, if you feel the mixture is too dry. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Switch off gas when the filling is done cooking. Do not overcook the filling, as this might cause the paneer to get hard and rubbery.
9. Mix in the finely chopped coriander into the paneer filling. Set the filling aside.

Now, we will make the Paneer Masala Dosas.

1. Heat a thick dosa pan on high heat. When the pan is nice and hot, turn down the flame to medium.
2. Place a ladle of the dosa batter in the centre of the pan. Spread it out to form a medium-sized dosa.
3. Spread a teaspoon of oil around the dosa. Let the dosa cook till it gets brown on the bottom.
4. Flip over the dosa, and let it cook on the other side for about a minute.
5. Transfer the dosa to a serving plate, and place inside it a little of the paneer filling we prepared earlier. Close the dosa. Serve immediately.
6. Prepare all the Paneer Masala Dosa in a similar manner.

Notes:

1. I have used home-made dosa batter here. You can use store-bought batter as well.

2. I have used paneer from ID to make these Paneer Masala Dosa. You may use home-made paneer instead, too.

3. Adjust the quantity of salt, red chilli powder, sugar, garam masala and amchoor powder that you use in the filling, depending upon personal taste preferences.

4. Be careful while adding salt to the filling, as the paneer will have some amount of salt in it too.

5. I have used store-bought amchoor powder (from Everest) and garam masala (from Ciba Taaza) to make the paneer filling.

6. You can use chana masala instead of garam masala in the filling, too. It adds a lovely, different touch to the filling.

7. You may skip the sugar in the filling, if you so prefer, but I would not recommend that. The sugar does not make the filling sweet, but rather rounds off the other flavours brilliantly and brings out their taste more effectively.

Did you like this recipe? Do tell me, in your comments!

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This post is for the Healthy WELLthy Cuisines Facebook group that I am part of. The members of this group cook for a particular theme every fortnight. This fortnight, all of us are cooking different types of dosas.

Check out what the other members have prepared for the theme!:

Pavbhaji Dosa by Sasmita| Ragi Dosa by Shalu| Healthy Brown Rice & Quinoa Dosa by Vanitha| Sweet Cucumber Dosa by Seema| Jowar Dosa by Jayashree| Spicy Tomato Dosa by Rosy

I’m also sharing this post with Fiesta Friday #249. The co-hosts this week are Diann @ Of Goats and Greens and Jenny @ Apply To Face Blog.