Basic Indian Triangular Flatbread (Paratha)

Basic Indian triangular flatbread (paratha)

As “pasta” is to the Italian and “noodles” is to the Chinese, the same way, paratha is to the Indians! If you are an Indian curry addict, then learning this basic triangular paratha is a must. If you are not a curry lover, which is less likely, try parathas with the commonly available tomato sauce in your town, and it will taste no less! These can be also eaten with Indian pickles (which range from sweet, sweet and sour, to spicy). You might have come across a number of paratha recipes, some being stuffed, but this simple paratha (very popular among the Bengalis) has a beauty of its own…

These parathas should be crisp, not to the extent that these break off easily, but you should be able to tear the small pieces effortlessly. The only way to make these crisp is to initially cook it over slow flame for a few minutes and then increasing the flame to medium. If you cook them over high heat, the parathas would cook from outside, but these will be raw from inside. Also, there are chances of the product getting burnt. So you have to be very careful in controlling the flame at the right time!

Whole wheat flour

These Indian flatbreads taste best if you fry them in Indian ghee (available in Indian stores) or butter, instead of oil. Also, serve them immediately to savour the crispiness to the fullest! Each cup of whole wheat flour makes three balls for rolling out into these unique triangles. I have made an attempt to explain the process of making these triangular flatbreads as stepwise as possible. Hope you will try it out and share your experience with me soon!

Basic Indian Triangular Flatbread (Paratha)

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta): 1 cup

Salt: ¼ tsp

Water: ¼ cup

Ghee or butter: 7 tbsp

Method of Preparation:

Combine the first three ingredients to make smooth dough. Please add little water at a time while kneading. Make sure it is not powdery with flour, in which case you’ll have to add a little water and knead more till the desired texture is reached. If it feels sticky, add more flour and knead again. Finally, it should look like this:



The flour dough

Make three equal-sized balls from this dough. Take one of them, flatten it slightly and smear some flour on the ball.

Now roll out a medium-sized circle, making sure that the thickness is even all around.

Take ½ tsp ghee or butter and spread it over the circle.

Fold the circle, so that it becomes a semi-circle. Again, spread ghee on this.

Fold this one more time, as shown below.

Press the small triangle slightly, between your palms. Put some flour again and start rolling this out.

First, elongate the paratha. Smear a little flour on both sides.

The next step is to roll it wide. Ensure that the corners are thin and the body of the paratha is comparatively thick.

 The final size should be a little smaller than twice the size of your computer mouse.



Ready to be fried!



Heat 2 tbsp ghee and let it start smoking. Slide in the triangulr flatbread carefully (it should not fold).Reduce the flame to “low” for 2 min.

After 2 min, increase the flame to “medium” and flip when you find the paratha has started swelling up.

Can you see the paratha puffing up slightly?

Fry the other side for 2 min. Flip again.

Press the corners and the body of the flatbread slightly. Flip again after 2 min. You should see that the flipped side is nicely brown-tanned.

Repeat, till both sides have brown marks.

Serve immediately with your choice of curry, pickle, yogurt, tomato sauce or even jam!

I like it with my favourite hot and sweet mango pickle. The paratha is eaten directly using your hand: no forks, knives or chopsticks, please! Enjoy your bite.