These Chinese style paneer kathi rolls are incredibly easy to make! Here’s how to jazz up your working lunch, with tips on how to make the perfect paneer filling and how to assemble the roll!
At My Food Story, our days are packed more often than not. Whether it’s our Schezwan Fried Rice made with leftover rice or a quick Dal Fry to go with Rotis, we’re always looking for exciting but easy working lunches. Here’s a great option that we all love so much - Paneer Kathi Rolls!
These paneer kathi rolls or paneer frankies will not eat into your work hours, so go ahead and schedule that midday meeting. You can prepare the components in the morning and just put it all together when you’re ready to eat. Also they’re sooo simple to make! The filling gets done quickly and assembling the roll takes less than 5 minutes.
The Chinese Chilli Paneer Filling
The paneer filling for this kathi roll is super simple. I’m talking ready-in-15 minutes kinda thing. Need any more convincing? This filling has all the classic Indo Chinese ingredients - minced ginger and garlic, green chillies, onions and capsicum, soy sauce and vinegar, and of course - paneer. We’ve used a wok to quickly stir-fry the ingredients together. The veggies are crunchy, the filling is tangy and spicy, and the paneer is soft and takes up all those flavours. Make this stir-fry in a wok for the best flavours.
Try making soft, tender paneer at home with my recipe - Homemade Paneer
The Flaky Parathas
Since it’s a working lunch, I usually like to buy frozen malabar parathas, heat them on the pan with butter and use them for these rolls. You can also make simple rotis for the roll which is a much healthier option. The softer the rotis, the better. But I’d always choose malabar parathas over anything else. Those crispy layers work so well with the paneer filling and give these rolls that authentic Calcutta style kathi roll feeling!
Crispy Noodles Topping
In the true spirit of Indo Chinese grub, we’ve added crispy noodles inside the roll for that crunch factor. We used cooked noodles and just shallow-fried them in oil. The noodles should take on a nice golden brown colour - be careful not to burn them! The noodles will nicely crisp up and add texture to the rolls. You can watch the video to see how it’s done.
I also have a tutorial to make your own crispy fried noodles at home if you are making a big batch
Assembling the Kathi Roll
Once you have all the elements ready, you can assemble the roll in 5 easy steps:
- Place a cooked roti/malabar paratha on your workstation
- Put 2 spoons of pickled onions and spread them out evenly
- Next, put 2 servings of the paneer filling
- Sprinkle crispy noodles on top of the filling
- Start from one side and tuck the filling inside the roti as you roll towards the other end. Cut it into 2 or 3 parts - easy to eat!
You can also drizzle some spicy ketchup or hot and sweet sauce on top of the filling for an extra hit of heat. And that’s it! No more hunger pangs on work days!
Serve the roll with tomato ketchup or chilli sauce, and a glass of juice to wash it all down! This is one of the easiest working lunches to prepare on a busy day, and if you have some paneer remaining, you can munch on it later as a snack! Have more ideas for working lunch? Let me know in the comments below!
More Paneer Dishes:
How to make Paneer Kathi Roll Recipe Video
Chinese Style Paneer Kathi Roll
Ingredients
Pickled Onions
- 1 Medium Onion chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Vinegar
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
Paneer Filling
- 2 Tablespoons Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic finely chopped
- ½ Tablespoon Ginger finely chopped
- 1 Medium Onion sliced
- 1 Green Chilli finely chopped
- 1 Capsicum sliced
- 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 Teaspoon Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Ketchup
- 2 Teaspoons Chilli Sauce
- 200 Grams Paneer diced
Other Ingredients
- 4 Malabar Parathas cooked
Instructions
Pickled Onions
- Combine onion, vinegar and salt in a bowl and keep aside.
Paneer Filling
- Add oil to pan or kadai on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add garlic and ginger and sauté till fragrant. Add onion and green chilli and sauté till onions are translucent. Add capsicum and sauté for a minute.
- Add soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup and chilli sauce. Stir to combine. Add paneer and stir to combine. Sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the paneer is soft and tender. Ensure the sauce coats the paneer and vegetables. Add a teaspoon of water if it is sticking to the pan.
Assemble
- Spread some of the pickled onion on a hot paratha in the middle. Add some of the prepared paneer filling on top of it. Sprinkle some fried noodles. Roll tightly from one end securing the filling inside. Serve hot along with some ketchup or mint chutney.
Maria says
Which vinegar do we use ? Is synthetic healthy to use ?
Richa says
Synthetic vinegar is what I generally use
theflowerspoint says
Very nice recipe
indiandesitadka.com says
Indian food in Calgary
Anchal says
Turned out to be great