Sunday, February 24, 2013

Paratha/Parotha/Prantha, it's the same thing.

Paratha  is an unleavened and pan fried Indian flatbread. It's very thin and flaky but the best characteristic of this bread is that it melts in your mouth. Once you discover how to make the basic paratha (which will be taught in a steb-bystep guide below) you can add your own fillings to it! You can even knead in your herbs or ingredients into the dough to create your own version of paratha!

This flatbread is very delectable but it is pretty tricky to get it right. It will take you some practice to be able to get the flakiness and the layers right but when you do, you will know what it takes to create the correct Paratha! Get it wrong and it will become like the usual roti, another indian flatbread.

Ingredients:

400 g Whole wheat flour
½ tsp Salt
3-4 tbsp Sunflower
200-300 ml Oil
100g Warm Water

Procedure:
1.) Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl and gently rub the oil into the flour. 
2.) Pour in the water a little at a time to make smooth, supple but firm dough.
3.) Rub butter on your palms and knead the dough for 10-12 minutes. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.
4.) Knead again for 2-3 minutes.
5.) Divide the dough into 8-10 even balls
6.) Roll them in your palms until smooth
7.) Pin out the ball to approximately 12.5 cm in diameter, making sure that the rolled dough is evenly pinned out, but do not worry about it being perfectly round. That will take some practice.
8.) Apply a thin layer of the softened butter all over the rolled sheet and lightly sprinkle some flour over it.
9.) Now fold the chappati into a concertina, apply butter again and sprinkle flour.
10.) Now twist the narrow end and press down onto the palm to form a twister yet circular dough ball. Roll out again.
11.) Do not knead or handle too much as body heat will disperse the butter inside and the layers will not separate.
12.) Griddle on a medium griddle. If too hot, the outside will burn and the inside will not cook well.
13.) When griddling, you must apply the oil or butter to the surface a little at a time until you get a beautiful golden brown color and you can see the layers separating.


-Nikko Matute

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