#barotta

Eggless Parotta | Malabar Style Parotta

For this week’s blogging marathon the theme is Regional Cuisine. I picked Madurai and Virudhunagar and now you know why I did the review of that book :-) So I chose Madurai/Virudhunagar for this Regional Cuisine and you will be seeing three street side food from Madurai, as we say Thallu Vandi Style recipes and here is the first one Parotta. We all know Madurai is know for Malli (jasmine flower),…

South-Indian Paratha

Paratha or Parotta is an unleavened flat bread that is cooked throughout India. It is made in various shapes and sizes and often the term refers to a wide range of flat breads. South Indian parathas are typically never filled with anything and cooked till it is crispy on the surface but still soft and fluffy inside.

We have made parathas for years at home but I have always marveled at the awesomeness of the parathas sold in the street stalls in India, as they always seem that much crispier and fluffier. So after lots of YouTube videos and trial and error, here is my awesome South Indian Paratha recipe (yep we have eaten a lot of parathas at home in the last while courtesy of all the experiments). The recipe below is careful in considering the amount of oil being added in relation to taste. Below is the combination that produces the most amazing results while still keeping oil quantities in check. Typically paratha is made without considering the health benefits, but if you are planning to make it as often as I plan to, it makes sense to keep a check on the oil. Plus I couldn’t even differentiate these from the ones made with more oil, so frankly it makes no sense to add more. I would also suggest you follow the real method listed below and not the easy method, it is super fun and you get a good arm workout while you are at it! Don’t let the steps and details scare you away, it sounds a lot more complicated than it is! So skip arm day at the gym and get to it then! Happy Eating :D!

Ingredients : (Yields 12) 4 cups all-purpose flour* 1 tsp salt 1 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups warm water 3 - 4 tbsp oil 1.5 tbsp oil to cook paratha

Mix flour, salt, sugar and baking soda in a large bowl Add water and knead well (Make sure you add enough water, the dough will start off stickier in the beginning, do not add more flour, just keep kneading. Dough made with too little water content produce hard parathas. I usually knead for around 5 to 7 minutes.) In a small bowl portion out 3 tablespoons of oil (you may need an additional tablespoon of oil depending on how much you use) Clean off some counter space and apply a thin layer of oil from the portioned out oil

Pinch the dough and produce 12 equal sized balls and place on the oiled counter. (Roll the dough into a cylinder and pinch the dough balls by bottlenecking using your thumb and index finger from the end. Do not just rip pieces of dough and form balls - click here to see an image of how it is done.)

Apply a bit of oil on each ball and let it rest for 60 minutes or more (the absolute minimum would be 45 minutes, the dough needs to rest for the gluten to relax, which will allow you to stretch it out thin)

After the dough has rested, press the dough out till it is 1/2 inches thick.

Dip your fingers in the oil and rub a thin layer on the stretched out dough. (you have to get in there with your hands, so if you don’t like to get your hands dirty, you probably can’t make paratha)

Now you can take two methods to spread the dough, the easy method or the real method. The easy method doesn’t give the exactly the same super soft results but it is still quite good.

• The Easy Method:

Using a rolling pin roll out the dough very thin till it is sheer

• The Real Method:

Place both hands about 5 inches apart along the circumference of the pressed out dough

The dough should be resting on the right thumb and be held gently in place by the other fingers on top. The left hand is reversed, the dough is held like you would hold a piece of paper, the fingers curled at the bottom and the thumb firmly on top (this will be reversed if you are left handed)

Lift the dough and hit it against the counter while simultaneously stretching it with your left hand. (The right hand holds dough in place hand and the left hand does all the stretching- check the video at the beginning of this post for process).

Now rotate along the circumference about 5 inches to the right and repeat. Keep repeating till the dough has stretched out super thin (the dough should be very thin and sheer)* Once the dough is stretched out thin, starting from one end pleat the dough together (it doesn’t have to be perfect, you are sort of scrunching it together) Starting from the corner of the pleated strip of dough fold inwards till it forms a spiral (looks like a cinnamon roll) Leave aside to rest for 20 minutes or more

Once the dough spirals have had time to rest, using a rolling pin gently roll it out without pressing too hard.

Heat a tava** (preferably cast iron) on medium to medium high heat.

Once the pan is hot but not smoking put a few drops of oil and then place the paratha on the tava with the side that was facing the counter now facing the tava. (it is super important to not have the temperature too low or too high. Too low and you will have dry parathas, too high and you will have burnt parathas)

Cook for about a minute and then drizzle a few drops of oil on the side facing up and flip the paratha and cook for another minute. Flip back cook for 30 seconds, flip again and cook for 30 seconds and the paratha should feel crisp and have some nice browning. (if it is brown but not fully cooked on the inside your heat is most probably too high)

Remove from heat and place on the counter

While still warm you have to place your hands as if you were getting ready to clap on either side of the paratha on the counter. Then clap your hands in a quick motion with the paratha squeezed in the middle. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat.

Now hold the paratha with your left hand on its side with the circumference touching the counter and hit it with your right hand squeezing it towards the counter.

Rotate 90 degrees and do the same. (as you do this you will notice the paratha will increase in volume and each pleat will separate into a layer making it soft and fluffy. This has to be done when it is warm for it to properly separate into layers)

Repeat the rolling out and cooking process for all the parathas

Voila all done. Parathas can be eaten with a variety of accompaniments such as korma, paneer gravies (such as this Ginger Paneer Masala), meat curries, butter chicken, vegetables, etc (they are also quite delicious just by itself or with some butter and sugar…mmm!)

*Traditionally Maida is used to make paratha, which is similar to cake flour in protein content. I personally use All-purpose flour because it is usually much easier to find and produces extremely similar results.