Ingredients

• 500 gm. chapatti flour

• 2 tbsp. oil

• 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

• 1 cup fresh methi leaves. You can use 2-3 full tbsp. of dry or 'Kasoori' methi leaves, but fresh taste better.

• Couple of green chillies, stalk removed

• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. carom or ajwain seeds

• Enough water to make dough

• 1/2cup dusting flour for rolling out parathas

• Oil for pan frying

Instructions

1. Making dough:

2. Place onion, methi leaves, chillies and ginger in a food processor and chop finely. You can do this by hand, if you do not have a food processor or chopper.

3. Place flour, ground onions, ginger, methi leaves and carom seeds, 2 tbsp. oil and salt in a bowl.

4. Add enough water, a little at a time, to make a soft to firm...ish dough. If you are new at making parathas, it is better to have firm dough, which is easier to control while rolling out. Experienced Indian cooks prefer a little softer dough, which makes softer parathas.

5. Bring the dough together and leave covered for 10-15 minutes. Do not use food processor for making this dough or it will grind the onions, methi leaves etc. too fine and you will loose the texture.

6. Leave to stand for 10 minutes or so. Knead briefly again, with oiled or wet hands. This is easier to knead on and oiled flat surface.

7. Rolling out parathas:

8. Break dough into 10-12 portions and roll them into balls, using a little dry flour to dust. Keep them covered with a moist cloth.

9. Roll out one ball into a 6-7 inches or 16-18 cm. circle. It should be rolled from centre outwards so that the edges are thinner than the centre. You will need to roll it in dusting flour, on both sides, a couple of times during this process. Parathas should not be too thin, approximately 2-3 mm thick, as very thin ones do not have 'bite'. This again is your personal choice, some people prefer paper thin parathas.

10. Parathas are rolled out one at a time. You roll the next one while previous one is cooking.

11. Flap the paratha between two palms to shake off excessive dusting flour.

12. Cooking:

13. Heat a griddle or tava to medium hot.

14. Put the paratha on the hot tava/griddle. Turn it over when it changes colour to semi-translucent and you can see a few blisters on the under-surface.

15. Cook the other side same way and turn over again.

16. Brush a little oil on both surfaces. This can be done with a small ladle or a soup spoon.

17. Press it gently all over, using a flat spatula. This type of paratha does not usually puff up, because of the 'bits' of onion, ginger etc.

18. Cook until crisp and nicely browned on both sides.

19. Serve hot with a pickle of your choice or as part of an Indian meal.

Notes

• Parathas can be made in advance, stacked on top of each other and wrapped in Aluminium foil. They can be re-heated before serving, either individually on a griddle or in a microwave - place 4-5 parathas spread out on a plate and heat for 2-3 minutes on maximum power.

• They freeze quite well but should be defrosted properly before re-heating.

• You can cut parathas into wedges and serve as a snack.