Paratha

The dough is folded and rolled with ghee between the folds, which is where the layers come from.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee).

Ingredients

• 400 g atta, or 400 g maida for a flakier bread
• 260 ml water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ajowan seeds
• 100 g ghee, for the layers and the frying

Method

1. THE DOUGH IS FOLDED AND ROLLED WITH GHEE BETWEEN THE FOLDS, WHICH IS WHERE THE LAYERS COME FROM. Its article gives the definition in one line: a wheat dough that is FOLDED AND ROLLED WITH GHEE, forming multiple layers, and shallow fried. No other Indian bread on this site is laminated. Roll the ball out, brush it all over with soft ghee, dust it with a little flour, then fold it -- into thirds like a letter, then into thirds again, or rolled up into a rope and coiled -- and roll it out once more. The ghee keeps each fold from welding to the next, so what cooks is twenty thin sheets rather than one thick one.
2. THE FLOUR IS A CHOICE AND ITS ARTICLE SAYS WHAT IT DOES. Atta for a wholemeal paratha; maida for a more tender, flaky one, which its article states outright. Both are correct and they are noticeably different breads.
3. THE GHEE FOR THE LAYERS MUST BE SOFT, NOT MELTED. Melted ghee soaks into the dough and the layers fuse. Soft enough to spread with the back of a spoon is right.
4. THE DOUGH IS SLIGHTLY STIFFER THAN A CHAPATI'S AND IS RESTED. Two hundred and sixty millilitres to four hundred grams, and twenty minutes covered. A wet dough cannot hold a fold.
5. AJOWAN IS THE SPICE ITS ARTICLE NAMES FOR A PLAIN PARATHA. A teaspoon in the dough. It is sharp and thyme-like and it is what makes a plain paratha taste of something.
6. IT IS SHALLOW FRIED, NOT DRY-GRIDDLED AND NOT DEEP FRIED. Its article says shallow fried. A tablespoon of ghee in the pan per bread, turned two or three times, about four minutes in total, pressing the edges down with a spatula so they colour.
7. IT IS SLAPPED BETWEEN THE HANDS AS IT COMES OFF THE PAN. Two or three claps while it is too hot to hold comfortably. It separates the layers, which otherwise settle back against each other as they cool.
8. STUFFED IS THE OTHER HALF OF THE FAMILY AND POTATO IS THE COMMONEST. Its article says so. A stuffed paratha is not laminated -- the filling goes into a sealed ball which is then rolled -- so it is a different technique under the same name.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes