BUTTER PARATHA

A recipe for you kids which is rich in taste, rich in calories. These will melt away in your mouth. When you see the name of the recipe you may think I have used butter while frying the chapati, of course yes.....but I have used butter right from making the dough. Peek into the procedure once. Paratha is often made with maida, but here I have used whole wheat flour.

INGREDIENTS

Wheat flour               2 cups
Salt                            to taste
Milk                           as required
Butter                       3 Tsp and also for frying
1 boiled peeled and mashed potato

PROCEDURE

Mash the boiled potato, add the wheat flour, salt, 3 Tsp butter( at room temperature).
Mix all of the ingredients very well.
Add Milk little by little and make a dough.
Let the dough rest for 4-5 hours.
Take a small amount of the dough and roll it into a thin roti. Apply butter and fold it into half. It should be like the half moon.
Again apply some more butter to the upper layer and fold it into another half.
Now your folding should be like a triangle.
Gently roll this triangle into a large paratha by using dry flour.
Fry the paratha on both sides with butter.
Serve hot.

PANEER MINT PARATHA

One of the rich and tummy filling paratha recipes is paneer paratha. Made with grated paneer, mint and ghee this will not let you leave your dining table by eating one. You can have it as is with out any side dishes. Now a days you get low fat paneer available in market, so you can have as many as you want. Alternatively you can make chhana with low fat milk in your home and this makes the paratha very tasty.

INGREDIENTS

Wheat flour                  2 cups

Oil                                2 Tsp

Salt                               to taste

Water                           as required

Ghee                            for frying

For the filling

Paneer                          1 cup grated

Green chilies                2 very finely chopped

Coriander                     1 Tsp chopped

Jeera                             1 Tsp

Ginger                          1 tsp minced

Mint leaves                   2 Tsp finely chopped

PROCEDURE

Make a dough using wheat flour, salt, oil and water.

Let the dough rest for 4-5 hours.

Mix all of the filling ingredients. All the ingredients should be very finely chopped.

Take a large lemon sized dough and roll it into a small patty.

Place 2-3 tsp of filling in the patty and cover the filling with the patty from all sides.

Again roll the dough ball into a large paratha by using dry wheat flour. Gently roll the paratha. Do not use  pressure while rolling, otherwise the filling may come out.

Now fry the paratha on a tawa with ghee or butter.

Seve hot with any curry or simply curd. 

PURI

The very name itself is mouthwatering. These puffed, soft, round ball shaped breakfast is all-time favorite for everyone. Kids love them a lot. Making big fat round and puffed puri is a hard for some people. Its not that hard as they think. Some simple techniques while mixing the dough make the puri puff. Follow my procedure and you will never go wrong.

INGREDIENTS

• Wheat flour/ atta                  2 cups
• Maida                                  1/2 cup
• Oil                                       2 Tsp
• Salt                                      to taste
• Oil                                       for deep frying

PROCEDURE

• Combine the flours, salt, 2 Tsp. of oil and mix well.
• Now add water little by little and make a very stiff dough.
• Unlike the chapati dough which is soft, puri dough should be stiff.
• Let it rest for 1 hour.
• Heat oil in a pan. The oil should be really hot.
• Take a small amount of dough and roll it into a round disc. 
• Use dry flour for easy rolling.
• The puri should little thicker than the regular roti.
• Gently drop the puri into the oil.
• Slightly press the puri into the oil with the ladle.
• The puri will now start to puff.
• Turn to the second side.
• Fry till you see golden brown color on both sides.
• Enjoy with curry or kurma

TIPS

• Mix the dough with palak puree to make healthy puri.
• If the dough is very soft the puris will absorb more oil.
• Don't rest the dough more than an hour.

ROTI(BASIC INDIAN BREAD)

Roti- basic Indian bread. This is the staple food all over North India and many South Asian countries. Unlike the chapathi these rotis contain less oil and sometimes no oil. So these are even more healthier than the chapathi or rice. Replace you rice in the meal with 3-4 roti and for sure it is a best diet to reduce weight. Here I give a simple recipe for soft rotis.
INGREDIENTS

• Wheat flour                            2 cups
• Oil                                             2 Tsp.
• Salt                                           to taste
• Water                                       to make the dough

PROCEDURE
Add oil into the wheat flour and mix well. Now add warm water little by little and make a soft dough.
Rest the dough for 5-6 hours.
Resting time plays and important role in getting soft rotis
Just before making the roti knead the dough for a couple of minutes.
Take a lemon sized dough and roll it into a thin disc.
Now heat the tawa to medium hot. Place the roti on the tawa and let cook for few seconds.
Flip onto the next side and again cook for another few seconds.
Now gently press the roti all over with a flat spatula. While pressing you will see the roti puffing up.
Flip the second side and again follow the same procedure.
Smear some oil or butter on the hot roti and serve hot with any curry.
TIPS

• Resting time of the dough should be more to get soft roti.
• I generally refrigerate the dough over night and this way I get very soft rotis.
• Make a large amount of dough , smear oil all over it and refrigerate it in a air tight container. You can use the dough for 2-3 days. 

OATS CHAPATI

Chapathi- Indian bread is the staple food for many. With the growing number of health concerns with rice many are switching to chapathi as the main diet. No doubt chapathi is low in calories, rich in fiber. The goodness of the chapathi can be enjoyed only with the whole wheat flour(husk or barn included) and not the refined flour that every one uses. Well, we rarely find the whole wheat flour, especially in India. Oats form the best alternative- oats do not undergo any refining process and hence retains the goodness and nutrition of whole grains. More over they contain more soluble fiber and lowers cholesterol, increases the digestion process. Some people face the constipation problem with the normal wheat chapathi. Oats chapathi is a best alterative for such persons. Also if you are on a diet control plan, including oats in most of your diet recipes can bring you quicker results.
Many of you might have heard of oats chapathi and many of you might have been using a couple of spoon of oats powder while making the chapathi. But today I give a recipe which has more of the oats powder and less of wheat flour. My recipe turned out a hit and believe me, no one can identify that the chapathies are made with oats flour. I have used olive oil for making the chapathi, this not only increases the taste, but also helps in getting smooth chapathies.  
INGREDIENTS

• Oats powder           1 cup
• Wheat flour             3/4 cup
• Salt                           to taste
• Water                       to make the dough
• Oil                             for dough, for frying chapathi

PROCEDURE
If you are having the oats as is, make the powder in a mixie.
Now combine both the flours, salt. Add a couple of teaspoons of  oil and mix well. Now using water little at a time make a soft dough. Add one more spoon of oil to the dough and knead it well for 5 minutes.
Rest the dough for at least 2- 3 hours.
Take a small amount of the dough and roll it into a circle.
Smear some oil onto it and fold it into half and again fold it into half so that a triangle is formed.
Now roll the triangle into 1/4 inch thick chapathi.
Fry the chapathi on a tawa with some oil.
For detailed recipe of chapathi click here
TIPS

• Resting the dough for more time yield softer chapathi.
• You can skip oil while making the dough, but use oil while rolling the chapathi. This makes the chapathi puff-up while frying.
• You can also make the regular roti or pulka with the same dough.
• Use the refined wheat flour in this recipe. This way you can get much softer chapathi.

VEGETABLE PARATHA

A healthy and delicious recipe which is a favorite to many is, Vegetable paratha. Filled with many veggies these parathas are very healthy for growing children. There are many ways of doing these yummy parathas, here I give my simple way of making these.
INGREDIENTS

• Wheat flour                     2 cups
• Water                              enough to make dough
• Potato                             1 large
• Carrot                              1 large
• Green peas                      1/4 cup
• Coriander                         4 sprigs
• Cabbage                          very finely shredded 3 Tsp
• Green chilies                   1 finely chopped
• Salt                                  to taste
• Jeera powder                 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder           1/4 tsp
• Ginger                             grated 1/4 tsp
• Garlic                               finely chopped 2 cloves 
• Oil                                   for frying the parathas

PROCEDURE
Boil the potato, carrot, green peas. When they are fully done mash them to a paste.
Now add the remaining ingredients one after another. Cabbage, coriander, chilies, jeera powder, coriander powder, ginger, garlic, salt. Mix well.
Now add the wheat flour. Mix well. If you need excess water use water and make a soft yet firm dough.
Rest dough for 10 minutes. Now add 2 Tsp of oil and  knead the dough for 10 minutes. Leave the dough to rest for 1 hour. Now the dough is ready for making the parathas.
Take small portion of the dough and roll it into 5 inch round.
Fry the paratha on a tawa with oil or butter. Keep the flame medium while frying.
Serve with a cup of curd and curry.
TIPS

• Cabbage should be finely shredded, otherwise the parathas would tear while rolling. You can blanch cabbage if you like.
• Use other veggies of your choice to enhance the taste.
• Resting of the dough is important to get soft parathas.

MALABAR PARATHA

Malabar paratha, the very name itself makes the mouth water. Any dish from the Malabar region is a delicacy. The delectable gently cooked, mild flavored malabar recipes are a pride to South Indian cooking. The malabar cuisine is famous for the non vegetarian recipes. When it comes to the vegetarian dishes the Malabar parathas takes the top position. These layered flakey flat bread just melts away in your mouth. I call these the king of all the parathas. I have been eating these from my childhood, but never I knew the way these are made. After coming to USA I became a fan of the Pillsbury frozen malabar parathas. I searched all the sites to get the perfect recipe, but failed. There was one blog which gave a full lengthy, but exact  restaurant version of the recipe. It is not possible for a normal housewife like me doing that version. At last I found a simple way in making the parathas. The parathas turned good, but I could not get the exact melting kind of parathas that we get in restaurants. Well I am totally satisfied with my try.     
INGREDIENTS

• Maida (all purpose flour)             2 cups
• Salt                                             to taste
• Sugar                                          1 tsp
• Milk                                            3 Tsp
• Cold Water                                 to make the dough
• Oil                                              1/4 cup( for dough)
• Oil                                              4 Tsp(for frying parathas)

PROCEDURE
The main key for attaining perfect soft parathas lies in making the dough. Mixing dough for these parathas is an art by itself. First sift the flour and transfer it into a large mixing bowl. Now add 3 table spoons of oil and salt,sugar and mix them well. The flour should become crumbling. Now add the milk and mix well. Make the dough by adding water little by little. Make a very stiff dough, stiffer than the chapathi dough. Now by adding a table spoon of oil at a time knead the dough well. The kneading part is very important for attaining smooth parathas. The stiff dough should become a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 to 15 minutes. Now smear oil on the dough and let the dough rest for 15 minutes by covering with a cloth. The dough should look oily. After 15 minutes again knead the dough with some more oil. Now let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Your dough is now ready to make the parathas. Divide the dough into equal portions. Cover the dough with cloth and take each portion at a time before rolling. 
 






Take a portion of dough and roll it on a smooth surface As the dough is oily you can easily roll it without it sticking to the surface. If needed apply some oil to the rolling pin to roll it easily. Don’t use flour in rolling.  Make it into a very thin chapathi. Don’t worry about the shape. The chapathi should be as thin as possible. See the above figure and that is how your chapathi should be. Now comes the important step. Smear some oil  on the chapathi.Gently lift the chapathi from one side and fold the dough alternately, one fold to the above and one fold below. The folds should be just like the saree folds or the fan folds. Now it should look just like the one which is in above figure.









Again roll it as a spring. Now it should look just like the above. Now smear some oil on to these rolls and flatten into a round paratha. This should be of 4 cms thick. For this final step if you know how to  flatten the paratha with hands, do it that way. This way you can get spiral layered flakey paratha.  Do not apply excessive pressure while doing the final step. On a hot tava gently fry the paratha on both the sides with some oil to golden brown. Now the delicious parathas are ready to be served with and any curry of your choice.TIPS

• I used oil for the whole process, you can use butter for a different taste.
• Use some green onions while mixing the dough to enhance the taste.
• A hand full of finely chopped vegetables of your choice can also be used while making the dough.(onions, leafy greens, cauliflower, cabbage etc).

CHANNA BATURA

Channa batura is a most popular North Indian dish liked by everyone.  This is a specialty  with deep fried puffy bread  made with maida and served with chickpeas in a onion tomato gravy known as channa masala. A single batura of larger size or 2 baturas  of medium size makes your tummy full. Unlike the puris these are more softer and thicker.Here I give the batura recipe and for curry goto CHANNA MASALA recipe.
INGREDIENTS

• Maida                2 cups
• Water                enough to make dough
• Suji                   1 tsp
• Curd                  2 Tsp
• Salt                    to taste
• Sugar                  1/2 tsp
• Oil                      2 Tsp
• Oil                      for deep frying
• Yeast                 1 Tsp

        or it can be replaced with

• Baking soda       a pinch
• Baking powder  2 pinches

PROCEDURE
If you are using yeast add a little luke warm water and sugar in the yeast and set aside for 10 minutes. When it ferments add this mixture to the maida. Add the remaining ingredients expect oil and make a soft dough just like the puri dough. Now add the oil and knead for two minutes and rest the dough for 1 hour by covering it with a damp cloth.
If the baking powder and soda are used Combine all the ingredients and make a dough and let it rest for at least 5 hours by covering it with a damp cloth.
After the resting time is over knead the dough once again and take a small portion of the dough. Dust a clean surface with maida and roll the dough into a round  with thickness slightly more than that of puri. Heat oil in a pan and when it is heated gently slide the batura into the oil. The batura puffs up and fry it till a golden color is reached and the batura is cooked completely. The color attained should be slightly more golden than that is seen on a puri. Serve hot with channa masala. 
TIPS

• The resting time plays a important roll in getting smooth baturas.

CHAPATHI

Chapathi to me is a triangle shaped Indian bread as  served in many of the South Indian restaurants. This layered bread is confused for roti which is round in  shape and no oil is used while rolling the dough. Chapathi rolling is an art and it is simple. The trick lies in making the dough. The dough should neither be too hard nor too soft. Here I give a simple version of chapathi.

INGREDIENTS

• Whole wheat flour               2 cups
• Extra Flour                          for rolling                      
• Salt                                     to taste 
• Water                                 for mixing
• Oil                                      2 Tsp
• Oil                                      for frying the chapathi  
  

                                                                                                                         

PROCEDURE 

Take the flour in a large bowl and add salt and slowly mix the flour by pouring the water little by little. Mix the flour  and water until a soft dough is formed . Add two table spoons of oil and again knead the dough. Knead the dough for five minutes. The dough should not stick to the hands or to the bowl. The more you knead the dough the more soft are the chapathies. Rest the dough for an hour or above.
Now on a flat dry surface sprinkle a little of the flour and knead the dough for a minute. Divide the dough into equal proportions. Make a round large lemon sized ball. Sprinkle little flour on the surface and place the dough on it. Start rolling the dough. The rolling pin should not be held too hard. Roll the dough very gently into a circle of 5inches dia. Now smear some oil on the round and fold it into half, like a half-moon. Again fold this half moon into half so  that a triangle is formed. Now roll the chapathi  evenly into a triangle of 2cm thick. The rolling  should be done gently and evenly.
Heat the tava and place the chapathi on it. Cook on one side for half minute and flip on the second side. Cook for another half minute and smear some oil on one side. Now flip this oiled side onto the tava. Now you will see the chapathi fluffing . Similarly add oil on the second side and fry both sides till chapathi is completely cooked and brown spots appear on it.  Move each edge to middle of the tava and cook so that all the edges are evenly cooked. Serve hot with curry and raita.
TIPS

• The more the dough is rested the more easy is the rolling.
• If making chapathi in the evening make the dough in the morning.
• Milk can also be used in making the dough.                                                                                                                                                                                                       

ALOO PARATHA

  

Paratha actually mean layers of cooked flour. Paratha is the most popular Indian cuisine made with wheat flour or some times all purpose flour(maida). Although there are a different stuffed parathas such as aloo, gobi, muli, dal, channa, paneer, mattar , methi ,palak, etc ,aloo paratha stands on the top. There is no Punjabi restaurant that doesn't have aloo paratha in the menu. The road side dabhas serves the best parathas with large varieties of sabzis. For now I present my version of aloo paratha.

INGREDIENTS
FOR THE DOUGH

• Wheat flour             3 cups
• Salt                          to taste
• Oil                            2 Tsp
• Ajwain                     1 tsp
• Water                      to knead the dough

FOR THE STUFFING
METHOD 1

• Boiled potatoes             3 large
• Jeera                              1tsp 
• Onions                            1 large
• Cilantro chopped            1Tsp
• Salt                                 to taste
• Green chillies                  1Tsp  finely chopped            
• Amchur powder              1/2 tsp
• Garam masala powder     1/2 tsp
• Ginger                             1/2 inch finely chopped
• Oil                                   1 Tsp

METHOD 2

• Boiled and mashed potatoes         3 large
• Onions                                            1large
• Cilantro                                          1Tsp
• Salt                                                 to taste
• Red chilly powder                           1 tsp
• Jeera powder                                  1 tsp
• Amchur powder                              1/2 tsp
• Garam masala                                  1/2 tsp

PROCEDURE
Mix all the dry ingredients of the dough. Slowly add water and make firm yet softer dough. Knead the dough for 5 min by adding oil little by little. The more you knead the dough the more softer the parathas will be.Cover the dough and set aside for 20 min.

For the stuffing mash the boiled potatoes. Heat oil in a pan add the jeera. When jeera changes color, add finely chopped onions, green chilies, ginger, salt. When onions turns soft add the mashed potatoes. Now add all the remaining  ingredients, amchur, garam masala, chopped cilantro and mix well .The mixture should be dry and free of water otherwise it would be difficult to roll.

In the second method of preparing the stuffing is made by adding the mashed potatoes, chopped onions, cilantro, amchur, redchilly  powder, jeera powder , salt , garam masala. The onions should be cut very fine in this method otherwise the paratha could tear while rolling.

Take a portion of the dough and roll it by dusting in the dry wheat flour. Make a circle of approximately 4". While rolling see that the edges are thin and the centre is thick.Keep a portion of the stuffing in the centre and pull the edges to the centre and press in the centre to make a ball. Again slowly roll the paratha by dusting with the dry flour and make a 8" round. Place the paratha on a hot tava(not smoking hot) , cook for 2min and turn around and again cook for another 2 mins. Liberally spread oil on both the sides of the paratha . Slowly press the paratha with a wooden spoon or ladle to fluff it up and also to make it crisp. Cook until nicely browned on both sides and serve the paratha with butter , fresh curd, pickles of choice and onions smeared with lemon juice and salt.