Another flatbread or tortilla staple like roti, parathas can be served plain or stuffed with things like potatoes (aloo), paneer or grated veggies. Some popular stuffings include cauliflower and radish.
Main dish for: 3 people. Prep Time: 20 minutes. Cook Time: 30 minutes. Note: pay attention to whether recipe asks for seeds, powder, or leaves – it matters.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp ajwain (carom) seeds
- salt to taste
- 4 small potatoes, grated and boiled
- 1/2 teaspoon jeera (cumin) powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dhaniya powder (coriander)
- 1/2 teaspoon kala namak (pink salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon amchur power (dried mango)
- 1-2 tbsp fresh dhaniya leaves, finely chopped
- ghee
- extra all-purpose flour to cover paratha
The Process:
1. Put the all-purpose flour to a spacious salad bowl. Add the vegetable oil and ajwain seeds.
2. The flour and oil will form clumps first. Eventually keep combining and smoothening this out and make a roll out of it.
3. Let it rest for a bit, cover with a wet paper towel. In the meantime, grate the boiled potatoes into a plate or bowl.
4. Add spices (jeera powder, dhaniya powder, kala namak, garam masala, red chili powder, amchur powder, dhaniya leaves) in the grated potatoes and mix in well.
5. Take a piece of dough from the dough ball and flatten it out. Don’t make it too thick otherwise it won’t cook well. Don’t make it too thin otherwise the aloo (potatoes) will go through the thin dough layer. Have the extra flour handy in case the dough gets sticky.
6. Cover the potato ball filling with the flattened dough.
7. Envelope it in, and close it sort of like a flattened soup dumpling. Then roll it out a bit while maintaining that the potato filling is inside the dough.
8. Very carefully flatten it out even more, to the shape of a roti or tortilla.
9. Place this paratha onto a heated pan with a bit of ghee or oil. Let it cook a bit and then flip to the other side.The paratha should become more opaque before flipping to the other side.
10. Let it rise up in a round shape, that’s how you usually know you’ve made a successful paratha! It’s okay if it doesn’t rise up too, but it just won’t taste the same haha:)
11. Make sure to have the paratha brown well before considering it done. Just don’t burn it! A delicate art of balance indeed.
If you serve other types of parathas, like with veggies or paneer, be mindful of the water content.
