Mamta's Kitchen

Paratha Flavured With Carom Seeds

Namkeen Ajwain Paratha

Mamta Gupta

IndianMainVegetarian

Paratha is made of whole meal chapatti flour. It is a richer version of chapatti. Freshly cooked crisp paratha, eaten as the cook is taking it off the griddle, is delicious! When parathas are made for breakfast or a tiffin or packed lunch, a little salt and ajwain/carom seeds are added to the dough. This gives them a lovely flavour. I don’t very often give amount of water for making the chapatti/paratha dough; This is because people in India generally don’t measure water. They just add enough to give them a dough consistency that they prefer.

Both circular and triangular shapes are popular in north Indian homes. Makes 10-12.

Edited February 2023

Ingredients

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

  • 1 tbsp. ghee or butter

  • 1/2 tsp. carom seeds (ajwain).

  • 1/2 tsp. salt

  • Water to make dough

  • Ghee/oil for pan frying

Instructions

  1. Making the dough:

  2. Place flour, carom seeds, salt and ghee/butter in a bowl, saving 2 tablespoon flour for dusting while rolling out parathas later on.

  3. Add enough water, a little at a time as you knead it, and make a soft...ish dough. If you are new at making parathas, it is better to have a slightly firm 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.

  4. Knead till is all comes together. Leave to stand for 10 minutes or so. Knead briefly again. This process can be done quickly in a food processor.

  5. Rolling out parathas:

  6. 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.

  7. Dust one ball with dry flour and roll it out to approximately 7 cm. or 3 inches diameter.

  8. Place 1/8 tsp. (a few drops) of oil in the centre of the circle.

  9. to make a round paratha, pull edges into centre and make a ball again.

  10. To make a triangle paratha, fold into half and then half again. Now you have a triangle ready to roll out.

  11. Turn the heat on to heat the griddle or tava. Lightly oil its surface.

  12. 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. Parathas should not be too thin, approximately 2-3 mm. thick, as very thin ones do not have a 'bite'. This however is your personal choice, some people prefer paper thin parathas.

  13. Triangle paratha is rolled out the same way, maintaining the triangle shape.

  14. Cooking:

  15. Put the paratha on the hot griddle/tava (lightly smoking). Turn it over once, when it changes colour to semi-translucent and you can see a few blisters on the under surface.

  16. Cook the other side the same way and turn over second time.

  17. 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.

  18. 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 ballooning up of the paratha.

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

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

  21. Serve hot with a Pickle of choice and dollop of fresh butter.

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 defrosted properly before re-heating.

  • Experiment with shapes. You can make square parathas or triangular parathas too. For square; at step 8, after putting oil in the centre of the rolled out ball, fold over both edges to meet in the centre, both in vertical and then in horizontal directions. This will give you a square. Now roll it out gently keeping the square shape. For a triangura paratha; at step 8, fold in half once and then half again. Roll out the resulting triangle into a paratha.

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