Keema Paratha: Indian Bread stuffed with Ground Lamb

Ahh, Sunday dinner!! A tradition to be cherished in my house.
Growing up, my mom always made parathas for us (at least twice a week) for breakfast and dinner. Now, in my house, we eat parathas once in a while. I don’t even remember the last time I had parathas, but since Sunday is cheat day, we decided to indulge in keema parathas for dinner. Keema parathas are similar to any other stuffed parathas (potatoes, paneer, eggs). I used ground lamb but you can also make them with ground chicken or ground beef. Don’t get intimidated by looking at the number of steps involved in making these parathas. The filling and the dough can be made two days in advance. If you have the dough and filling ready, it takes less than half hour to prepare them. You can add veggies like peas and cauliflower along with ground meat for more flavor. These parathas sure beats flying back to home (which is not realistic) when the craving hits!

Ingredients
1 Cup Chapati Flour or Whole Wheat Flour, plus more for kneading and dusting
1/3 Cup Water, more if needed
1.5 Teaspoon Vegetable or Canola Oil
1/2 Pound Ground Lamb
1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
2 Fresh Green Chilies, seeded and chopped
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon Coriander Powder
2 Cloves Garlic, finely minced garlic
1/2 Inch Fresh Ginger, grated
1 Teaspoon Tomato Paste
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
1 Tablespoon Cilantro, chopped
1 Teaspoon Butter, optional

Process

1. Add flour in a mixing bowl, with a pinch of salt and 1/2 teaspoon oil. Mix well and then add 1/4 cup of  water and work it into the flour, using your hand.
2. Continue to mix the flour with your hand, adding water as needed, little at a time, until mixture gathers into a non-sticky, kneadable dough.
3. Place the dough on a lightly floured  surface and knead (for about 6-8 minutes) adding more flour as needed to avoid it from sticking to the surface.
4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature for about 20 minutes. At this point, you can refrigerate the dough and take out 30 minutes prior to making the parathas.
5. Heat a teaspoon of oil over Medium-High heat in a skillet, add minced garlic and green chilies and cook for a minute or two until garlic changes color to golden brown.
6. Add onions  and salt to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes until the onion becomes translucent.  Add the lamb to the skillet and  sauté until the meat has lost its color. Add  tomato paste, ginger, coriander powder and ground cumin; cook, stirring frequently, until the meat is cooked and there is no moisture in the pan, about 5 minutes.
7. Stir in the cilantro, lime juice and let the filling cool completely.
8. Set a bowl of flour and lightly flour the work surface and a rolling pin. Divide the dough equally into four parts, toss it in the bowl of flour and then roll it in your hands to make a ball about the size of golf ball.
9. Flatten it into a 2-inch disk, then roll into a thin round, about 4 inches in diameter, dusting with flour as necessary.
10. Add about a tablespoon of filling in the center of the round. Bring edges of dough up over filling to enclose it completely and pinch to seal. Press lightly but firmly to flatten into patty.
11. Dust the patty with flour and roll out on a lightly floured surface to 6-inch round, dusting as necessary with flour; round should be about 1/8 inch thick.
12. Heat a flat skillet over medium-high heat. Pat the paratha between your hands to brush off the excess flour and place on the heated skillet. Cook for about two minutes, flip with a spatula and cook the other side for another 1-2 minutes.
13. Continue cooking the paratha until its lightly puffed and the bottom of the bread has browned; flip and repeat. Do this a few times until both sides of the paratha are golden brown and crisp.
14. Remove the paratha from the pan, spread some butter and serve warm.

Enjoy! 🙂