Yum!..... Parathas

Hot Paratha anyone?!

Wow, what a manic week its been! Did you miss me?

Work, kids and 'trying' to get things organised for Christmas always seems to get in the way when I'm also trying to keep this blog up to date and when you do have a spare 5 minutes all you want to do is sit on the sofa with a cosy blanket and have a cup of tea (you might have guessed that I do love my tea!).

I've not managed to be in the kitchen much this week, so the kids having been having pasta, pizza and soup!  although, I did make these amazing parathas.  I do like eating these on a cold day with a cup of masala tea.

You may be wondering where parathas originate from and why they could be triangle, square or round!

A paratha is an unleavened flatbread that (as you can guess!) comes from India and its a popular meal or an accompaniment to a meal.  

Parathas can either be plain or they can be filled with some really tasty fillings, I usually do these with spicy mashed potato (recipe will be added) or carrots and cabbage or paneer (Indian cheese).

Stuffed parathas are usually eaten on their own with date and tamarind chutney and a plain paratha can be eaten with a sweet mango pickle or yogurt or can be eaten with a vegetable curry (dry or with a tomato sauce).

A paratha can be round, but I've always been bought up to make them triangle, this has helped me to be able to differentiate to my kids the difference between paratha, chapattis and bhakri (which is similar but not pan fried with ghee).  Regardless of the shape of the paratha, they are always made in the same way, with lots of layers so you get a crispy and flaky and delicious tasting paratha.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Recipe
350g Chapatti flour
75ml Sunflower oil
1/2 tsp Salt
Hot water
1 cup of flour for dusting and putting into parathas
75ml Ghee (clarified butter)

Method
Combine to flour and oil until you get a sandy texture and then add the hot water a little at a time until a firm dough is formed, cover with cling film or a tea towel for 5 minutes to rest the dough.

Split the dough into 10 balls.

Start to roll our a medium circle and spread warm ghee and sprinkle some flour on top, fold and spread more ghee and sprinkle more flour and fold again, until you have a triangle.  Press down on the dough and start to roll, ensuring the shape is kept until you get a triangle which is approximately 7 inches long or 5mm width.

 

Next its time to cook them, these can be done on a non-stick frying pan, although every Indian household will have the proper cast iron tawa or a skillet, which is slightly concave and this is what we would use to cook parathas and chapattis. 

These should be cooked on a medium heat, wait for the pan to get to warm and place the paratha on the pan, wait a few seconds, spread ghee on top and turn, spread ghee on the other side, turn occasionally until golden brown, you can press down on the paratha using a spatula, if you need to.

 

Repeat the process until you have made all 10.  You need to roll out the next paratha while one is cooking.  Its a skill that takes some time to perfect, so initially you could roll them all out and stack them on greaseproof paper and then cook them one after another.

We eat these hot and straight from the pan..... so I couldn't get a picture of the whole lot... 

I hope you enjoy these as much as me and the family enjoy them!