Spiced Minty Parathas
Paratha is an Indian flatbread. It is an unleavened flatbread and similar to the chapati. It is a staple in many cuisines in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand and Singapore.
A plain paratha is simple to make with just three ingredients flour, salt and water but you do need to allow a couple of hours perparation for proving. We keep a stash of shop bought plain parathas in the freezer and have them as an alternative to naan. You can cook from frozen and they are ready in a couple of minutes.
Usually cooked on a tawa, a traditional Indian flat pan, but works really well in a non-stick fryng pan.
These parathas incorporate lots of fresh mint and a few spices, which make them a bit more special than a plain one!
Cooking surfaces
BBQ Temperature
Ingredients
For the dough
- 210g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 20g fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
- 110ml water
- melted butter for brushing
- vegetable oil to cook
For the spice mix
- 2 tsp dried mint leaves
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, coarsely crushed
- 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tsp chaat masala
Equipment
- I use the Tefal Ingenio stainless steel frying Pan or a an indian tawa pan.
Method
- Put the flour, salt, oil and fresh mint into a bowl and give it a good mix. Add the water gradually and knead to bring the dough together. This recipe makes about 5 parathas.
- Cover in cling film and leave to stand for 60 minutes.
- Combine the spice mix ingredients together by giving them a good zhuzh.
- Cut the dough into 5 equal size portions. Making one paratha at a time, roll out as thin as you can (using flour to dust your surface), until the dough is about 20cm in diameter.
- Brush with some melted butter and sprinkle a generous amount of the spice mix onto the paratha.
- Now comes the fun bit, starting with the edge closest to you, roll the paratha away from you. In effect you’re creating a swiss roll shape. The paratha thenneeds to be coiled, so coil one end of the swiss roll inwards until it meets the other end. Think snail’s shell!
- Flatten slightly, place on a plate. Repeat with the other 4 parathas.
- Cover in cling film and leave to stand for 60 minutes.
- Heat your Egg to 180°C with a stainless steel grid and a non-stick frying pan or tawa.
- Making one paratha at a time, roll out as thin as you can (using flour to dust your surface), until the dough is about 20cm in diameter.
- Place the paratha into the frying pan. Leave for 1 minute then flip over. Cook for another minute.
- Add 1 tsp of melted butter to the pan. Flip the paratha and cook for for 1 minute until it goes golden and flaky.
- Brush the top of the paratha with a bit more melted butter, flip for the last time and cook for 1 minute.
- Use a spatula to lift the paratha from the pan and place on a plate.
- Wrap in foil or a clean cloth to keep warm.
- Repeat until you have cooked all your parathas.
- These are great served with curry or we served them with roasted sweet potato and two chutneys: Green Chutney and Tamarind Chutney.