Parathas, part 3 of 3, egg roll

14 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by Zoli in breakfast, eggs, flatbread, indian, kids lunchbox ideas, paratha, peanut free, quick and awesome, sandwiches, snacks, Street food, Vegetarian

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breakfast, egg roll, Indian street food, kids, lunch, lunchbox ideas, paratha, vegetarian

A street food popular in Kolkata, also a quick homemade breakfast or lunchtime snack. Not a revolutionary recipe, but a different way to eat eggs, and also quite handy for when you are on the go or for your kids’ lunchbox. (If they like eggs, which my son does not.) Speaking of packing lunch boxes, parathas are tasty as quesadillas or dipped in hummus too.

Ingredients
serves 2, double if needed
2 cooked parathas (see recipe)
2 eggs
olive oil and skillet for frying

Stuffing ideas:
1/2 red or white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 green chili, deseeded and finely sliced
fresh lemon juice
chaat masala
salt and pepper
ketchup
sriracha or other chili sauce
green chutney

1) Beat the eggs well with some salt and pepper. Heat up 1-2 tsp oil in a frying pan and pour half the beaten eggs onto it. Swirl the eggs around the frying pan to the size of the paratha.
2) Lay a cooked paratha over the egg and cook a couple minutes to cook the bottom of the egg and seal it onto the paratha. When the eggs are cooked through, flip over and finish cooking on the other side briefly. It is done when the eggs are completely cooked and the paratha is hot.
3) Place the egg paratha on a work surface egg side up. Layer whatever filling you like and roll up. I chose cucumber, onion and green chutney this time.
Another option is to mix the sliced onions, peppers, chili, a pinch of chaat masala and lemon juice together and use this as the filling. Or you can dice up the veggies and add them into the eggs before you cook it.
4) Cut in half and roll in paper towel or tin foil to eat as a sandwich. Repeat for the second egg roll.

Parathas, part 1 of 3

01 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Zoli in bread, flatbread, indian, kids, kids lunchbox ideas, paratha, the basics, Vegetarian

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flatbread, ghee, indian, kids, paratha, vegetarian

Another lovely flatbread to eat on its own, rolled up with filling, stuffed or eaten with a curry or raita. Paratha is made with whole wheat flour, like chapatis, but layered so that it is soft and flaky. For this first post, I have made plain paratha two ways, in a normal circle and in a triangle shape.

Ingredients
2 cups atta or wheat flour (or 1 1/2 cup white flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat — Whole Wheat flour makes these dry so I use a mix or recommend Trader Joe’s White Wheat flour if you can’t find Atta flour)
about a cup of room temp water
salt to taste
a tbs or so of olive oil or melted ghee

For trianglular paratha
1) Mix the flour (for this version I used half white, half whole wheat flour) with the salt and oil or ghee.
2) Don’t just dump in the water! Add in a little at a time and mix with your fingers till it comes together as a nice soft dough. You may not need all the water.
3) Knead for a few minutes, then cover so the dough stays soft and leave to rest about 20 minutes.
4) Tear off pieces of dough and roll into balls. Keep them covered while you are working so they don’t dry out.
5) Take one dough ball, dip it in plenty of flour and roll out to a large flat circle.
6) Brush olive oil or melted ghee, then fold in half. Brush a little more oil on the half circle shape and then fold one more time to a triangle.
7) Pat down with your fingers to help seal the sides. Then sprinkle more flour and gently roll the triangle out to a large, thin triangle shape.
8) Heat up a cast iron skillet or frying pan with a little oil or ghee and fry the paratha on medium to medium high heat.
9) The paratha will start to bubble up. Flip the paratha to cook the other side.
10) Add a little more oil to the pan and push the paratha into the oil. Turn the heat down if it starts to burn. Keep flipping and cooking until you have a nice golden brown spotted look.

Serve warm with anything you want like a raita, chutney, curry or eat on its own.

For circle-shaped paratha

1) Mix the flour (for this version I used only whole wheat flour) with the salt and oil or ghee.
2) Add in the water, a little at a time and mix with your fingers till it comes together as a nice soft dough.
3) Knead for a few minutes, then cover tightly and leave to rest about 20 minutes. Tear off pieces of dough and roll into balls. Keep them covered while you are working so they don’t dry out.
4) Take the first dough ball and roll out to a medium small oval shape.
5) Brush with oil or melted ghee. Sprinkle with flour.
6) Pinch the middle of the oval to form a number 8 shape. Then fold over.
7) Gently roll out, using more flour if need be, to a large, thin circle shape.
8) Fry in the same manner as above. Repeat for the remaining parathas.

Serve warm. These are as versatile as any flatbread and they even make good quesadillas as they are softer, flakier and tastier than whole wheat tortillas.

Triangle paratha: