Cumin Flat Bread (Paratha)

Paratha is a flatbread that originated in the Indian subcontinent. When lived in Singapore I always bought some Indian curry and paratha home for dinner after work. The food stores made quite a few versions, plain, with egg, or mutton, or both. I don't know which is original which is creation by Indian immigrants, but they're all good especially just out from hot griddle, so they usually couldn't last before I reach home. Do try to make it yourself, some recipes don't require much skill except your passion in food... and herb! Yes, this one has cumin in it, the recipe is from Pooja's recipe . This time I had my cumin paratha with a vegetable, non-dairy but creamy (!) curry... the trick is from mashed beans... another recipe from Pooja (she makes excellent vegetarian dishes!). To go vegetarian all the way, I used vegetable oil instead of ghee in this paratha.

Recipe courtesy Creative Pooja

Ingredients:

• 2 cups durum whole wheat flour
• 3 tsp cumin seeds
• 3 pinches of salt
• 3 Tbps vegetable oil
• some water
• more oil for brushing and cooking

Directions

• Roast cumin seeds in skillet over low heat until the fragrance comes out. Ground or crush them.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix and knead flour, cumin, salt, oil and water, you're aiming for a soft but not sticky dough. Wrap, rest dough for at least half an hour
• Divide dough into 12 pieces, each has a size of small lemon. Grease the work table, start from the first small dough (always cover those you're not working on), roll to a big circle, cover, then proceed to the second and so on (this way the gluten has time to relax, it's easier for you to roll further)
• Take out the first round flat dough, brush oil, fold in half, brush more oil, fold again (please refer to Pooja's step photos). Roll it to a flat triangle about 1/2 cm thick, cover. Proceed to the rest.
• Heat a big flat pan, well grease, cook the paratha over medium heat, in two minutes you should see it puff. Cook both side, brush more oil before turn, until the golden speckles appear. Total cook time shouldn't be more than 5 minutes.
• Remember to cover the cooked paratha with towel to keep them moist. Serve warm.

Finally, I want to thank mallugirl over Malabar Spices who gave me tons of advice when I first tried paratha. Please check out her recipe in where you'll find many more tips and step-by-step photos