Ingredients

• For the dough

• 300 gm. or approximately 2 cups chapatti flour 50/50 whole wheat and white flour can be used, if chapatti flour is not available

• 1 full cup cooked Mung Dal. This amount is approximate.

• 1/2 tsp. carom seeds (ajwain).

• 1/2-1 tsp. salt (adjust to taste)

• A little water to make dough

• Optional (any or all of these)

• 1 onion, chopped and raw or fried onion

• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, dry roasted and coarsely ground

• 1/2 tsp. Garam Masala

• 1-2 green chillies, very finely chopped

• A little of coriander leaves, chopped

• For Making Parathas

• Dusting flour

• Oil for pan frying

Instructions

1. Making the dough:

2. Place flour, Moong Dal, carom seeds and salt (plus any other optional ingredients) in a bowl. Mix together by hand.

3. Make a soft and pliable dough adding only as much water as you need to get a soft dough. It should not be too sloppy. If you are new at making parathas, it is better to have firm?ish dough, which is easier to control while rolling out. Experienced Indian cooks prefer softer dough, which makes softer parathas, but it is a little more difficult to roll out. You don't need to knead it too much at this stage, just bring the dough together.

4. Leave covered for 15-30 minutes.

5. Knead briefly again, to make it smooth.

6. Rolling out the parathas:

7. Break dough into 10-12 portions (size is your own choice) and roll them into balls, using a little dry flour to dust. Keep covered with a moist cloth.

8. Roll one ball in dry flour and roll it out to approximately 3 inch or 7 cm. diameter.

9. Place 1/8 tsp. (a few drops) of oil in the centre of the circle, pull the edges in and seal it in the centre. Now you have a ball again.

10. Heat a griddle or tava.

11. Roll out the 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 dip it in dusting flour on both sides a couple of time during this process. For my taste, parathas should not be too thin; approximately 2-3 mm. thick, as very thin ones do not have any 'bite'. This again is your personal choice; some people prefer paper thin parathas.

12. Cooking

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

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

15. Brush a little oil on both surfaces, one by one. This can be done with the back of a long handled ladle or a soup spoon.

16. Press paratha gently all over, using a flat spatula, coaxing it to fluff up into a ball. If you see any steam escaping, seal it by pressing it with the spatula. This ensures fluffing up of the paratha.

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

18. Next paratha can be rolled as the previous one is cooking.

19. Serve hot parathas with yoghurt, pickle and a curry of choice. Parathas are often taken a ?packed lunch? by millions of North Indians.

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 minutes on maximum power.

• They freeze quite well too, but should be completely cool. Defrost fully before re-heating.

• If you want to make parathas crisper and flakier, add 2 tbsp. oil to the dough.

• Experiment with shapes. You can make square parathas. At step 9, after putting oil in the centre of the rolled out ball, fold over both edges to meet in the centre, first in one and then in the other direction, to make a square. Now roll it out into a square paratha. For a triangular paratha, fold in half once and then half again. Roll out the resulting triangle into a paratha.