The weekend paratha

By RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA

Right, I decided, I’m making parathas for breakfast.

Of course, the other choice was to sleep in (an unheard-of luxury), but call me a sucker for punishment … or someone who has lost the ability to sleep in even when there is a window of opportunity.

“Parathas for breakfast!” I declared chirpily…

… to a lukewarm reaction from the audience.

“Put some vegemite on mine,” said Beta blandly, without taking his eyes off the computer screen. It was as if camouflaging the ‘exotic’ paratha with some of his ‘native’ food would make it more palatable.

Beti was, like, you know, whatever… I should have slept in.

An hour later I had them all - Beta, Beti and Hub-of-the-House - lined up on the breakfast bar talking animatedly as they lapped up hot parathas. Of course, the box of tissues was emptying liberally, as everybody mopped the oil off their parathas… only to top them with neat little cubes of butter!

I hid a smile as Beta said, “Can you put some ghee on mine, please Mum –just a little bit?” (He pronounces it as “gee”, without the h: my Australian-Born Confused Desi).

The vegemite jar was nowhere in sight.

***

The paratha, especially of the stuffed variety, only makes its appearance rarely on my breakfast table. Weekday mornings it is out of the question; and weekend mornings are just as busy, what with sport and all.

In years BC (Before Children) though, we indulged on most weekend mornings. They were brunch, rather than breakfast. The aloo (potato) paratha was by far the most popular, but the gobhi (cauliflower) and mooli (white raddish) parathas were not far behind. My paneer parathas never came out good. A friend taught me to cook spinach parathas with a little besan added in the dough. Leftover-dal parathas were another favourite.

Today parathas are a rare treat. Most people avoid them because they can be a heavy meal, but from what I’ve noticed, put parathas in front of them, and nine times out of ten, they will be relished.

You probably have your own little top tip for a yummy paratha favourite, such as using oil from the pickle jar for that special spicy touch, or using tomato sauce or Nutella (yes, Nutella!) as a stuffing, or using a touch of milk (or even yoghurt) to soften your dough. Mine is: add a touch of chana flour (not besan) to your dough for a tastier paratha.

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The sheer variety in stuffed parathas never ceases to amaze me. You can make your stuffing with all kinds of grated veggies, cooked dal or even minced meat. Most of these would be stuffed inside a little packet of dough to be rolled out and then cooked on a griddle. For watery vegetables though it turns out better if you mix them in the dough itself.

Every so often I come across a stuffing that simply blows me over. Fancy a sharaabi paratha? Read on!

Serve hot with plain yogurt, butter and spicy pickles, and wash down with masala chai.

Grate small tender carrots and add chilli powder, salt and fresh lime juice.

Grate tender white radishes, add salt and leave aside for a while. Then squeeze out water and add grated ginger, fresh green chilli and some tender leaves from the tops of the radish, chopped. Add coarsely powdered pomegranate seeds and salt to taste.

Boil and mash eggs. Add salt, pepper, chilli powder, fresh coriander leaves and a touch of oil.

Cook in a little oil the methi leaves with green chillies, salt, chilli powder, any other masala powders and a touch of tomato, until dry. Remove from heat and cool. Then add the flour with enough of water to form a pliable dough. Make small balls of dough, roll out into parathas and cook on a hot griddle.

Grate paneer and add finely chopped onions, green chillies, fresh coriander and mint leaves, salt and amchur (mango powder) or chaat masala or powdered pomegranate seeds.

Blend together fresh mint leaves, lemon juice, a touch of cumin seeds, green chillies and salt. Use this to make your dough, along with water, salt and a touch of oil or ghee. Make your parathas with this minty dough.

Grate pumpkin and mix with fresh coriander leaves, about 2 tsp sesame seeds, same amount ajwain seeds, green chillies, salt, coriander powder and lime juice. Add a touch of turmeric powder to heighten the yellow colour.

If pumpkin is of a watery variety, mix all the above in the flour and knead your paratha dough with it.

Alternately, you could cook your pumpkin with desired masalas and use this as a filling.

Soak chana dal for 4 hours. Cook it in a saucepan with salt and turmeric added, with just enough water so it doesn’t stick to the bottom, until just done. Drain and grind coarsely. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and roast dal briefly. Then add some asafetida, red chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala, and for khatai, amchur or chaat masala or pomegranate seeds. Add fresh coriander leaves if you like.

Cook and coarsely mash peas. Heat some oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and cook mashed peas briefly. Add grated ginger, green chillies and asafetida. Then add salt, red chilli powder and a touch of jaggery (or brown sugar). Turn off heat and add lemon juice, some fresh coriander and mint leaves.

Mix left over rice with finely chopped onions,green chillies, red chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder, salt, amchur/chaat masala/pomegranate seed powder and fresh coriander leaves.

No, you don’t make your dough with beer, wine or spirits for this one. All you do is, soak dried fruit such as sultanas, raisins, apricots, figs, overnight in a little alcohol (vodka or a sweetish wine). Drain, mash coarsely and mix with sugar, jaggery or brown sugar, fresh grated coconut, cardamom powder, nutmeg, and almond meal. Use this to make up a sweet paratha. Serve it by itself, or with some roseflavoured syrup, or perhaps, with some good quality vanilla ice cream.

This is another sweet variation and can be served just like the sharaabi paratha. The ingredients though, might be hard to source in Oz - you’ll need fresh paan fillings (not the leaves) - yes, the local paan stall variety.