Cheesy Pockets

Cheesy pockets are crispy from outside and full of melting cheese inside, kids love them and adults too 🙂 These are small square pockets made with simple maida dough, stuffed with cheese and vegetables and then fried or baked till golden and crisp.

My daughter always asks for something cheesy in evening snack or in her lunch box, so I make these cheesy pockets for her and they finish in minutes. When you bite the pocket, cheese comes out stretchy and hot, that is the best part of it.

Filling can be changed as per your choice, add sweet corn, capsicum, onion, paneer or whatever vegetables kids like. Pockets can be deep fried, baked in oven or made in air fryer, I have shared all the methods below.

Let’s see what we need to make cheesy pockets at home.

Ingredients for Cheesy Pockets

For dough

All purpose flour/maida 2 cups
Baking powder 1/2 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Sugar 1/2 tsp
Oil 3 tbsp
Water approx 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (to knead dough)

For filling

Mozzarella cheese 1 cup, grated
Processed cheese 2 cubes, grated
Sweet corn 1/4 cup, boiled
Capsicum 1/4 cup, finely chopped
Onion 1 small, finely chopped
Carrot 2 tbsp, grated (optional)
Pizza sauce or tomato ketchup 1 tbsp (optional)
Oregano 1/2 tsp
Chilli flakes 1/2 tsp
Black pepper powder a pinch
Salt a pinch (cheese is already salty so add less)

For frying or baking

Oil for deep frying, or
Milk 2 tbsp + butter 1 tbsp for brushing (if baking)

Method to Make Cheesy Pockets

Dough

In a big bowl add maida, baking powder, salt, sugar and oil. Rub oil in flour with fingers for 1-2 minutes, flour should hold shape when pressed in fist.
Add water little by little and knead a smooth and soft dough, not too soft not too hard, like roti dough.
Cover the dough with wet cloth and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Filling

In a bowl add mozzarella, processed cheese, sweet corn, capsicum, onion, carrot, pizza sauce, oregano, chilli flakes, pepper and salt.
Mix everything well. Filling should be dry, so make sure boiled corn and chopped vegetables don’t have any water in them.
Keep filling in fridge till dough is ready, cold filling is easy to fill and cheese won’t melt quickly while making pockets.

Making pockets

After 20 minutes knead dough again for 1 minute and divide in 2 equal parts.
Dust the surface with some flour and roll one part in big rectangle shape, approx 2-3 mm thick. Do not roll too thin otherwise pocket will break while frying.
Cut rolled dough in rectangles of approx 3×4 inch with knife or pizza cutter.
Put 1 and 1/2 tbsp filling in center of one rectangle, leave half inch border on all sides.
Apply little water on borders with finger, place another rectangle on top and press edges with fingers to seal.
Press edges with fork all around, it seals the pocket properly and gives nice design also.
Make all pockets same way with remaining dough and filling. Cover them with cloth so they won’t get dry.

Deep fry method

Heat oil in kadai on medium flame. To check oil, put small piece of dough in oil, if it comes up slowly oil is ready.
Slide 2-3 pockets in oil and fry on medium flame for 2-3 minutes each side till they become golden and crispy. If oil is too hot pockets will get brown from outside but remain raw inside.
Take out on absorbent paper to remove excess oil.

Oven/air fryer method

Preheat oven at 200 degree Celsius for 10 minutes.
Place pockets on greased baking tray, make 1-2 small holes on top with fork and brush with milk and melted butter.
Bake for 15-18 minutes till they become golden brown on top.
In air fryer, brush pockets with oil and air fry at 180 degree Celsius for 10-12 minutes, flip them after 6 minutes.

Serve hot cheesy pockets with tomato ketchup or green chutney. Eat them fresh and hot, when they cool down cheese becomes firm.

Notes

Don’t overfill the pockets, cheese melts and comes out while frying if pocket is too full.
If you don’t want to make dough, use bread slices. Cut sides of bread, roll it flat with rolling pin, put filling on half slice, fold and seal edges with fork and shallow fry on tawa with butter.
Pockets can be made 2-3 hours before and kept in fridge covered, fry or bake them when you want to serve.

If your kids love cheese, check out cheese pan pizza and veg bread pizza on vegflavors.