Wednesday, January 10, 2007

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

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gattina I found your WHB URL and it looks so good.

I can't wait to try it. I do make my own tortillas but they never look that good.

Anonymous said...

I once did Paratha fairly often and haven't now for a long time. It's time I revivied it. This looks excellent.

Anh said...

This looks so good! I have bookmarked this to make when the weather gets cooler here. It is too hot for anything now except for ice-cream. *LOL*

Shah cooks said...

I still like the name gattinamia.:(pouty lips) anyway, thanks for linking back to me and ur cumin parantha looks good.

Brilynn said...

A fresh look for the New Year!

I love cumin, I like it on popcorn among other things. This would be very tasty with curry.

Kalyn Denny said...

I've only had paratha in restaurants. Very impressive that you're making your own! I like the sound of cumin in it.

Pooja said...

Hi Gettina,
Nice effort ! and your paratha is absolutely delicious. great goin on . Btw, which link have you forgot of my post? let meknow if I can help you to search it .
thanks for mentioning my name wlong with this post, it is almost the same way I made. Try making it more triangular next time ,its not that hard to keep it triangular. though in any shape parath tastes always yummy!
thanks dear
-Pooja

Patricia Scarpin said...

Gattina, I didn't know this type of bread, it looks delicious!

I had some pizza dough left the other day and baked it with cumin powder, curry and dried oregano, shaping the dough similar to these parathas. It was devoured before lunch. lol

The tutorial you liked is very good.

Unknown said...

I see a 'flood' of home made breads coming our way, be it asian, indian, international or italian *wink wink*

Anonymous said...

That looks wonderful!

Krithika said...

Your parathas look fantastic !

Gattina Cheung said...

Coffeepot, thanks! I haven't made tortilla, but for this paratha requires quite a bit of oil/fat in order to taste/look good.

Tanna, thank you!

Anh, *lol* send half of the heat here then everyone will be happy :D

Shaheen... I know... but better change it before everyone getting tired of me so hard-sell my name *lol*

Brilynn, oh you're back sweetie!

Kalyn, the cumin is fantastic! And thanks!

Sher, it's a breeze, really. Try it when you have time.

Pooja, thanks for your advice, will make it look better next round. Your recipe is pin up as I'll make it regularly, so delicious! I got that link too, am going to add it soon.

Pat, your pizza sounds wonderful, will you post it later? My husband just took some of my "action" shots when I made pizza yestersday. Oh mine, he's immediately on hook of taking-photo :D

Angie, thanks! But you know making bread (or anything) needs a good mood... I'll change to make something else before I'm droopy, heheee.

Kristen, thank you!

Krithika, thank you so much too:D

FH said...

They look great Gattina!Pooja is a great cook.Enjoy!!:))

sudha said...

Hi gattina..parathas looks delicious. I never made them at home i always had this feeling that they are tough to prepare but seeing yours i can't resist to try.

Meena Kandlakuti said...

hey gattina...Let me wish u a very very happy new yaer for u and ur dear ones first.Happy NewYear Dear!! and ur parathas look great.I always make some stuffed parathas..but never made cumin or any other vplain parathas...but u really inspired me to do one.Thank uou gattina for sharing this and pooja too.Enjoy cooking!!

Dr. Soumya Bhat said...

Hmm all i can say is hmm yummmy...

Callipygia said...

Thank you Gattina and Pooja, this looks so good and simple. Can you use regular whole wheat, do you need the durum...more gluten?

Gattina Cheung said...

Asha, you're right, Pooja is a fantastic cook!

sudha, try it, no fear :D If fail (which is unlikely), what you lost is only cupful of flour. If succeed, yummy paratha for life!

Meena, I can imagine your stuffed paratha so heavenly! Thanks for your new year's wish *hug*

Dr Soumya Bhat, thanks for your visit and kind words.

Callipygia, I used durum wheat flour as I like its taste. Pooja just posted a tomato version, fantastic!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely adore this type of food! Thanks for a once more, great recipe Gattina! I am glad it is dinner and I have a homemade pizza in the oven ;-)

Mandira said...

Gattina, the parathas look delicious and nice shape too. Mine are usually a cross between square and triangle. :)

Edith said...

Shall i built a small hut next to your house? then i can savour all your yummies everyday!

Anonymous said...

I love cumin. I made paratha only once. It didn't come out so well, but it tasted good. ;-)

Paz

Ruth Daniels said...

Gattina, I love the new look to your site.

As usual your food shots make me drool. The paratha look amazing.

Anjali Koli said...

Good going ! Its nice to see you do it like we do the baking western style.