Missa Paratha 2 (Wheat And Bengal Gram Flour Mix)
Missa Paratha - 2
Abha Gupta
Missa paratha, made of Bengal gram flour and wheat flour in varying proportions. It can also have a little Barley flour sometimes.
It is delicious served with pickles, fresh butter and a yoghurt drink like Meethi Lassi or Namkeen Lassi/Mattha/Chaach or Namkeen Lassi / Mattha/Chaach. It makes you very thirsty, so be prepared to drink a lot of water after eating! Don't be put off by a long number of steps, they are just to explain how to make parathas.
Bengal Gram is also known as Yellow Gram.
Makes 15-16
Ingredients
2 cups chapatti or roti flour
1 cup whole Bengal Grams or Kala Chana
1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, finely grated
2-3 green chillies finely chopped
A handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 level tsp. kalonji/kalaunji/nigella (nigella sativa)
1 level tsp. ajwain or carom seeds
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Water to make dough
Oil for pan frying
Instructions
Wash and soak Bengal gram overnight.
Grind/puree to a paste.
Add all ingredients in a bowl and make a dough of soft to firm consistency. You may need to add a little extra water than given in the recipe. The dough has to be soft enough to roll out and not too hard to make it difficult to roll. Remember that very firm dough will make harder parathas.
Place dusting flour in an old dinner plate or similar.
Divide dough into golf ball size portions and make balls. Keep them covered with a moist cloth. Rest of the process can be done with one ball at a time, rolling out the next paratha while the previous one is cooking.
Flatten one ball with your palm,roll it out to a small circle.
Spread a drop of oil in the centre and spread it over the surface.
Fold it in half. Spread some more oil on the folded surfac and fold it again, making it into a triangle. This helps the parathas to have layers and fluff up during cooking.
Roll the small triangle out into a 6-7 inch or 16-18 cm diameter triangle. You will need to dust it with flour on both sides from time to time, during the rolling out process. This is done by dipping it into a plate of flour on both sides.
Heat a tava or a griddle to medium hot.
Place the rolled out paratha on the tava/griddle.
When it changes colour to a slightly darker shade and a few blisters appear on the under-surface, turn it over. After a minute or less, similar brown blisters will appear on the second side. Now turn it over again (3rd time).
Brush with oil on both sides using a spoon or a small ladle. Turn it over back and forth until both sides are cooked. It should be crisp-ish on both sides. You may have to use a spatula to turn it over or the escaping steam might burn your fingers. This procedure sounds very complicated but is really very easy, once you have understood the process.
Serve hot with any fresh any vegetable bhaji, pickles and yoghurt/dahi.
Notes
Parathas can be made in advance and warmed in a microwave or on a griddle just before serving.
The same dough can be used to make pooris.
Kalonji can be spelled as Kalowunji on some packets.
Helthy option:
Reduce the amount of oil during frying and use a non-stick pan.