Coriander Paratha

Stuffed and spicy parathas are my favourite pick any day. I love the soft, a little crispy parathas with a faint hint of ghee and a chilled bowl of yogurt with some onions, tomatoes and coriander leaves. Coriander leaves with its freshness and herby feel is a good option if you are trying to jazz up your everyday boring parathas. The trick is to add some more ingredients to the dough to make it extra special. It does not need to be stuffed and so less tricky and anyone can make it anytime. Also...don’t be a miser when it comes to ghee. Ghee is always a better option to fry the parathas than oil. Besides adding its flavour, ghee also makes the parathas soft and more appetizing, whereas the oil just makes the parathas greasy.

Coriander Paratha / Dhone Patar Paratha

Makes 12 parathas

Ingredients:

2 and ½ cups of whole wheat flour / atta

½ of a medium onion – finely sliced

1 and ½ cups of finely chopped coriander leaves

1 tsp finely grated ginger

2-3 green chillies – finely chopped

1 tsp aamchur powder

½ tsp chat masala

½ tsp carom seeds

1 tsp dry roasted and ground cumin seeds

2 tbsp oil

Ghee to fry the parathas

Method:

In a large bowl take the whole wheat flour, some salt to season, 2 tbso oil and ¼ cup of water. Mix with your hand until all the flour is well incorporated into a lump and there is no flour left in the bowl. The lump should be firm yet soft to touch.  If the dough is very soft and sticky, add some more flour and knead.

When you have created the lump you need to start kneading the dough, until you have a smooth non-sticky ball of dough. You can knead the dough inside the bowl or you can also transfer it to a flat surface and knead with the back of your palms.

Now add the chopped coriander leaves, sliced onions, grated ginger, chopped green chillies, carom seeds, aamchur powder, chat masala to the dough.

Knead to mix these ingredients. When the ingredients are well incorporated, divide the dough into 12 medium large balls.

Dust one ball with a little atta / whole wheat flour and roll into a slightly thick paratha.

Fry the parathas on a hot tawa over medium heat without any oil. Flip when the bottom side is cooked and has started to have small blisters. When the parathas have blisters on both the sides, grease the sides with ghee and fry each side for half a minute. Make pokes on the paratha with the slotted spoon so that the ghee can get inside the paratha as well.

Once both the sides are fried with ghee, transfer the parathas to a hotpot and repeat the same process with the rest of the dough.

Serve the parathas hot with some pickles and chilled raita.