Dill Paratha ~ Indian Wheat flatbread with dill

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Wishing all my readers a very happy, joyous and wonderful new year. Also sincere apologies to all regular readers for my long absence. It has been so long since I posted anything in this space. Every time a friend, cousin or relative asked me last year, I assured them I would be back to blogging soon. Yet the effort of taking pictures of the things I make just seemed too much. With traveling and guests, 2016 was just too busy and seemed to go in a blink, and this space had to take a back seat.

One of my resolutions for this year is to blog more often. I am hoping I am able to keep this resolution  ** fingers crossed **   I already have a few fun recipes lined up that I will be posting here soon. 

Dill leaves haven't had much of a place in my kitchen until recently. But once I started to use them, I really liked the aroma of these leaves and have been using it more often these days. Dill leaves have some amazing health properties. The are said to be a great source of calcium, have healing properties, help prevent cancer and help digestion among other things. They also taste great in parathas :)  If you are looking for a new kind of paratha to go with your curries or something different for the lunch box, give this one a try and tell me what you think of it.

Click here for a printable view of this recipe 

Ingredients and Method to make Dill Paratha
1 and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (atta / godumai maavu)
1/2 cup loosely packed chopped dill leaves (sowa/ sathakuppi sompa)
salt to taste (approx 1 1/4 tsp) (namak / uppu)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi/ manjal podi)
1 tsp chili powder (or to taste) (lal mirch )
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/ jeeragam) (optional)
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 to 3 tsp of any flavorless oil + a little extra for applying on the parathas while cooking

Rinse and dry dill leaves, chop the leaves finely and keep aside. 

In a large bowl add whole wheat flour, salt, spices, cumin if using and mix well.

Add dill leaves, oil and mix with your fingers.Add water as needed and knead until it forms a soft non sticky dough.

Divide the dough into equal sized balls.  With the help of a little flour roll out into a circle of desired thickness. Heat a flat pan/ griddle/ tawa. Place rolled out dough on it and cook until the lower side has brownish spots on it, flip over and cook the other side until it has brown spots on it. If you wish you can apply a few drops of oil or ghee to the side facing upwards. Flip over for a few seconds and remove from heat.

Serve hot with dhal of choice, curry of choice or some raita.

Notes:
The oil/ ghee to be applied on the rotis is optional. When I plan to serve it immediately, I skip this sometimes and it tastes just as good. I do apply a little oil/ ghee when I plan to make this for the lunchbox or if I plan to serve it a little later.



If you are looking for roti varieties, here are a few more

Spring onion/ Hare Pyaaz Roti

Carrot Roti ~ Gajar Roti

Avocado Roti

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Mixed Vegetable Paratha (Stuffed Indian flatbread) and a DIY beaded Mirror

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First the beaded mirror :) I know I have to absolutely stop with the mirrors, but as I mentioned in this earlier post, I really do think I have mirror fever on my brain and it seems I have to get it out of my system. So I been making mirrors every chance I get.  Since I have taken up making jewelry with beads as a hobby  I always have beads around my home. After I made this sunburst mirror with some rope to frame the mirror, I wondered how it would have looked with beads instead of rope to frame the mirror. Since I had some beads that I had bought in bulk that were not getting used in any other way I decided to try using it in a mirror and satisfy my curiosity. The first one looks like this.....



I have posted the picture of the second one and all the DIY steps in this post on Bead creationz.  If you are interested in this kind of thing, take a peek into the post and let me know what you think about it :)



 In the meanwhile let me move on to the mixed vegetable paratha. This one is a classic from north Indian cuisine. Paratha is essentially an Indian flat bread with stuffing in it, in this instance a stuffing made of mixed vegetables. It is simple, hearty and satisfying dish. Pair this with a curry/ dhal and some plain yogurt and a little pickle on the side if you like it and you can enjoy a delicious satisfying meal :)



Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Mixed Vegetable Paratha
For the dough
2 cups whole wheat flour
Approx 3/4 cup water
Salt to taste (I used approx  1 1/4 tsp)
2 to 3 tsp oil

For the filling
1 small red onion cut very fine
1 small potato cooked until soft and peeled, cooled and grated fine.
2 small carrots grated fine
7 to 8 mini peppers cut very fine (or half a bell pepper/capsicum cut very fine)
1/4 head of a medium cauliflower cut very fine
4 Thai or Indian variety green chilies cut very fine ( or to taste)
1 tbsp oil
3/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 to 3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro (coriander leaves)
salt to taste

A little clarified butter (ghee) or any oil to shallow fry the paratha (use oil for a vegan version)

For the dough
Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Add water and oil and knead till it becomes a soft , pliable and non sticky dough. Keep covered and let sit for at least 30 minutes.

Prep all the vegetables by cutting/grating them separately as mentioned above. A chopper or food processor is handy for this since it gives evenly finely cut vegetables. 

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add cumin seeds. When the seeds sizzle and green chilies and stir a couple of times. Then add onion and stir for a few minutes until the onions turn transparent.

Add all the other vegetables, turmeric powder, salt to taste and stir for a few minutes until the vegetables are cooked but not mushy.
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Roll the dough into equal large lemon sized balls and keep aside.

With the help of a little flour if required, roll the dough into a small pancake sized circle. Place a little of the cooked vegetable mixture on the center of the dough. Pull together the ends of the dough, join and flatten gently. Refer to this post for pictures of this process. With the help of a little flour roll out the dough into a small circle of desired thickness and keep aside.

Heat a griddle/ tawa/ flat pan on medium high and place the stuffed rolled out dough on it and cook for a minute.
Flip it over and cook the other side, apply a little clarified butter (ghee) on the side facing upwards, turn over and apply clarified butter on the other side and cook for an additional minute until light brown spots start to appear on the bread.
Remove and serve hot with plain yogurt / pickle or dhal / curry of choice.

 Proceed with the rest of the dough and the spice mixture in the same manner

This quantity yielded approx 8- 10 parathas. 

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Mixed Vegetable and Mung bean paratha (Stuffed Indian bread)

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Hope you all had a good weekend. Is it just me or does everyone feel like time flies even faster over the weekends than it does the other days. That is how it works for me almost every weekend. One minute it seems like the weekend has just begun and the very next minute it seems like it is Monday morning. In a blink of an eye two days just disappear. Sigh :-(

Anyway getting back to the topic of mixed vegetable paratha with mung bean this is something i came up with the other day for dinner.  I had soaked some mung to make this mung snack, and on an impulse I  decided to use it in the paratha I was planning to make that day. This way I got to add some healthy protein to my dinner and make the paratha much more filling and nutritious. This flavorful , hearty paratha is perfect for dinner/ lunch, and is great for the lunch box as well.

   

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Mixed vegetable and mung bean paratha
For the dough
2 cups whole wheat flour (atta/ godumai maavu)
salt to taste
2 to 3 tsp oil
approximately 1 1/4 cups of water

For the filling
1/2 cup split mung bean lentil (mung dhal) soaked for 3 to 4 hours
4 small potatoes
1 heaped cup frozen or fresh green peas (if frozen thaw to room temperature) (optional)
2 large carrots grated
salt to taste
4 Thai or Indian variety green chilies (or to taste)
1 inch piece of ginger(optional)
1/2 tsp garam masala (or to taste) (can be substituted with any other curry powder)
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp finely cut cilantro (coriander leaves/ kothamalli)
a little oil or clarified butter (ghee/nei) to shallow fry the parathas
a little extra flour to help in rolling out the dough

For the outer cover,
In a large bowl mix together whole wheat flour and salt to taste. Add water a little at a time and knead to make a very soft yet non sticky dough. Add oil and knead some more. Keep this dough covered and let it sit at least 30 minutes before using in recipe.

For the filling
Soak mung bean in sufficient water for 3 to 4 hours. Drain well and cook mung bean until soft with as little water as possible. The mung bean should be a soft thick paste consistency
Cook potatoes with skin. When cool, peal skin and mash coarsely. Keep aside.
Cook the green peas until soft. Keep aside.
Mince ginger and green chilies together using a mortal and pestle or a blender. Keep this aside.
In a large bowl, mix together cooked mung bean, cooked peas, mashed potatoes, grated carrots,salt to taste, minced green chilies+ ginger, garam masala and mix well.Gently mash the vegetables and lentils a little, then add lemon juice and cilantro and mix well again, keep this filling aside

For the paratha

Divide dough into 10 to 12 equal large lemon sized balls. With the help of a little flour roll out dough into a small circle. Place 3 to 3 1/2 tbsp of filling in the center. Pull the ends of the rolled out dough together and press gently to seal the filling inside. With the help of a little more flour, roll out the dough evenly into as thick or thin a circle as you choose.
Heat a griddle/ tawa/ flat pan. When hot place the rolled out dough on it. Allow to cook for a few seconds. Flip over and cook the other side. Apply a few drops of oil or clarified butter around the paratha and on top of it. When the lower side has slight golden brown spots, flip over again and cook the other side until it gets golden brown spots.
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For step by step pictures of the process of making parathas, check out this post.
Remove and serve hot with pickle/ salad/ yogurt/ raita.
Proceed with the rest of the dough and filling in the same manner.
Yielded approximately 10 to 12 parathas

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Sweet Potato and Bean Paratha (stuffed Indian flat bread)

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Surprised by the mention of bean in the title?  I know this seems like an unusual combination for a paratha filling but trust me this combination works :-)  I make sweet potato paratha frequently and usually make it just as I have mentioned in this recipe below ,minus the beans. The other day when I had some cooked pinto beans, I wondered how it would taste if I combined it with sweet potato in this paratha as a way to get some additional protein along with the vegetable.

The results were surprisingly good, the paratha turned out delicious and was very filling.I enjoyed the texture and slight "bite" that the beans contributed to the paratha.  This variation of sweet potato paratha has become my new favorite. Try this if you are in the mood for something "different"............. like me, you may end up making this your favorite version of paratha too:-) 




Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Sweet potato and Bean paratha
For the dough
2 cups whole wheat flour (atta / godumai maavu)
salt to taste
water as needed

For the filling
1 large sweet potato peeled, cut into cubes and cooked until soft.
3/4 cup cooked beans ( I used pinto beans but it can be substituted with any other bean like black eyed beans (chawli) or red kidney beans(rajma) )
salt to taste
3 Thai or Indian variety of green chilies cut very fine (or according to taste)
1/2 tsp dry mango powder (amchur powder)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (jeera powder)
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro (coriander leaves/dhania/ kothamalli)

a little oil (if you want a vegan version) or clarified butter (ghee/nei) to apply on the parathas.

In a large bowl mix together whole wheat flour and salt well. Add water as required and knead to make a soft and non sticky dough with the emphasis on soft. Keep dough covered for at least 30 minutes or so.

In the meanwhile peel sweet potato, cut into cubes and cook it until soft either using the stove top or the microwave. I used the microwave and it took me just a few minutes. Add as little water as possible while cooking the potato.

When the sweet potatoes are cooked and a little cool, mash them. Then add salt, green chili, dry mango powder, cumin powder and cilantro to it and mix well. If you do not want too much of a bite from the bean, mash the cooked beans coarsely and add to the sweet potato mixture. I like a little bite so I do not mash cooked beans very much.
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Divide the dough into lemon sized balls. With the help of a little flour roll out each ball into a small thickish circle. Place about 1 tbsp to 2 tbsp of the sweet potato mixture in the center of the circle. Pull the ends together and seal it. Flatten gently and with the help of a little flour roll the dough out gently into as thin or thick a circle as you like. Check out this post for some step by step pictures to explain this process.

Heat a tawa/ flat pan/ griddle on medium to medium low heat. Place the rolled out paratha in the center and allow it to cook until there are small golden spots on the lower side. Apply some oil/ clarified butter to the side facing upwards and flip over and cook the other side until it has a few golden/ brownish spots on it.

Remove and serve hot with plain yogurt, raita or curry of choice.

This quantity yielded approximately 8 to 10 parathas

Notes:

If you do not like beans or are cooking for someone who doesn't you can easily omit the  beans and make this a simple sweet potato paratha , just be sure to scale down the spices a little to compensate for the lack of beans. 

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Sweet Potato Paratha and a little fusion ( Indian flat bread stuffed with spiced sweet potatoes)

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Since I have learnt about the health benefits of sweet potatoes, this handy and healthy vegetable has graced my table in many forms. From curried sweet potato bites to spiced potato oat rolls to sweet potato roti, all variations of this vegetable have been appreciated and enjoyed. On a whim I decided to try using this vegetable as a stuffing in a paratha instead of the usual aloo paratha (potato stuffed Indian flat bread).

Having decided to use this as a stuffing I also wanted to try my hand at using some south Indian spices such as rasam powder to spice up this essentially north Indian preparation. The rasam powder gave this paratha an interesting and intriguing dimension and we thoroughly enjoyed this slightly sweet and slightly spicy preparation.




Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make the sweet potato paratha
For the dough
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup water
3 tsp oil


For the filling
2 medium sweet potatoes cooked and mashed
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (or according to taste)
1/4 tsp ginger powder
salt according to taste
1/2 tsp rasam powder (or substitute with any garam masala powder or curry powder)

In a large bowl add whole wheat flour and salt and mix well. Add oil and water as required (for this quantity I used about 3/4 cup) and knead to make a soft, pliable and non sticky dough. Keep covered and let sit for at least 30 minutes.

Place the sweet potatoes in the microwave with skin and cook on high power until the sweet potatoes are soft. Cool thoroughly and peel the sweet potatoes and place them in a large bowl
and mash them completely and keep aside.

Alternatively you can peel the sweet potatoes, cut them into cubes and place them in a microwave safe bowl and cook for a couple of minutes or for time required until cooked and soft.Then mash them completely and keep aside.

When the sweet potatoes are a little cooler, add all the spices mentioned in the filling to it and mix well.

Roll into little lime sized balls and keep aside.

Roll the dough into equal number of large lemon sized balls and keep aside.

Using a little flour if required roll out the dough into a pancake sized circle.

Place filling in the center and pull the ends together until it looks a little like a pouch.

Gently flatten the dough and roll it out again into a thickish circle, with the help of a little flour if required.

Continue with this process until all the dough and all the filling gets used up. Then heat a griddle/tawa / flat pan.

Place the rolled out dough on it and cook each side until light pink spots appear on it. Apply a little ghee or oil on each side and cook each side further for a minute or so

Remove the stuffed flat bread and serve hot with a side of yogurt and pickle or dhal and curry.

Yielded about 8 parathas.

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Aloo Paratha ( Indian flat bread stuffed with spiced potatoes )- With Stepwise Pictures.

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Aloo paratha is a famous and well known Indian flat bread stuffed with spiced potatoes originating from Northern India. This delicious and filling dish needs a little knack and patience to make and this causes a lot of people to get turned off and avoid making this dish. One of the secrets to gettting this right is to get the consistency of the dough correctly, once the dough is made right the rest of the recipe is pretty simple and fool proof.

 

Initially I struggled to get this dish perfectly, but with trial and error, I learnt the correct consistency for this dough and it has been smooth sailing every since.Try this if you haven't....... this soft, melt in your mouth bread will not disappoint. Traditionally this is served with a little plain yogurt on the side and a little pickle , but you could even serve it with some curry or dhal to make it more filling and to make it a complete meal.



Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make the Aloo Paratha

For the filling
3 medium white potatoes (aloo/urilakizhangu) (pierced all over with a fork and cooked in the microwave) or cooked in the pressure cooker.
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (Jeera/ jeeragam)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi/ manjal podi)
1 tsp salt (or according to taste) (namak/uppu)
1/2 tsp chilli powder (mirchi powder)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (jeera powder)
1/2 tsp coriander powder (Dhania powder)

For the dough
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (atta/ godumai maavu)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup water
3 tsp oil

A little extra clarified butter (ghee/ nei) or any other oil to shallow fry the paratha (about 2 tsp for the entire batch of this size) (use oil for a vegan version)

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Add water and oil and knead till it becomes a soft , pliable and non sticky dough. Keep covered and let sit for at least 30 minutes.

Pierce potatoes with skin all over with a fork and place in the microwave and cook on high heat for about 3 to 5 mins until done. Keep aside and let cool a little. or place potatoes in a pressure cooker and cook until soft. It usually takes me about 3 to 4 whistles in mine to get done.

Peel the skin off the potatoes and mash it in a large bowl.

Add all the dry spices mentioned for the filling and mix well.

Roll the potato mixture into even small lime sized balls and keep aside. ( This quantity yielded me about 8 balls )

Roll the dough into equal large lemon sized balls and keep aside. ( This quantity yielded me about 8 balls)
With the help of a little flour if required, roll the dough into a small pancake sized circle. Place the spiced potato mixture in the center of the rolled out dough and pull the dough from all sides into the center and form a pouch with the dough and then press in the center to flatten it a little.

With the help of a little flour roll out the dough into a small circle of desired thickness and keep aside.
Proceed with the rest of the dough and the spice mixture in the same manner and keep aside.

Heat a griddle/ tawa/ flat pan on medium high and place the stuffed rolled out dough on it and cook for a minute. Flip it over and cook the other side, apply a little clarified butter (ghee) on one side, turn over and apply clarified butter on the other side and cook for an additional minute until light brown spots start to appear on the bread.

Remove and serve hot with plain yogurt and pickle or dhal and curry of choice.
Yields approximately 8 parathas.

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