How to make a stuffed paratha for dummies

I picked up a lot of skills from my mom but somehow the "how to make a paratha" along with all her skills with the needle and thread completely bypassed me.

Now I could care less about the thread /needle/ sewing part.

The problem is that I think heaven is made of chocolates, cheese and parathas.

So you see, not being able to make a good paratha used to be a serious issue... er... to me that is.

Want to see an example of my failure? Be my guest.

Ok... got the dough rolled out and the filling inside...

Bring the edges together, pinch in the middle and roll gently with the rolling pin... so far so good.

And there you have it...

An absolutely ridiculous disaster.

Its supposed to be rolled out neatly with the filling distributed all evenly through out the paratha. Sadly this traditional method never did it for me.

I almost gave up.

And then I found a method that worked. It gets the filling evenly distributed and is neat. The only gripe some one might have is that they are not the traditional round but gawd, I don't care! I can make the one food that deserves it's own food group! Yah!

OK..this is how I do it and if you have trouble making parathas (I can't be the only one on this planet... am I? Yikes, am I making a fool out of myself?) like me, do try this method... if I can do it, anyone can. This time I made gobi (cauliflower) parathas but I use this method for all kinds of fillings.

By Bharti

Ingredients for the dough

1 cup whole wheat chapati flour (available at Indian stores)
1 teaspoon of oil/ghee
about 1/2-3/4 cup water (as much as you need to have an elastic soft dough)
spices like salt, pepper, red chili powder optional

Method

Place the flour in a big bowl. Add the oil and water and knead for a few minutes. It should look like this. I like to coat it with a drizzle of oil at this point.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for about at least 20 minutes.

Ingredients for Gobi (cauliflower) filling

1.5 cups of washed and trimmed cauliflower florets
.5 inch peeled ginger
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
1 thai green chili (optional)
salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon dhaniya (coriander powder)
1/2 teaspoon amchur (mango powder)
1 teaspoon jeera (cumin powder)
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder (optional)

Method

Place the first four ingredients in a food processor and process...

... till it looks like this...

Transfer to a microwave safe bowl. Add the spices and mix well.

Cover and cook on high power for about 2-3 minutes. Let the bowl stay covered for 10 minutes. The steamed cauliflower cooks in its own juices. Taste at this point and adjust the spices if you so wish.

Assemble

Alright this is how I do it. Take a small ball of dough and roll it out like a regular roti. Try to make it thin. Dust underneath the roti with flour to make sure it does not stick.

Next, spread about 1-2 tablespoons of the gobi mixture on half of the roti like so.

Next, bring down the other side of the roti and press to seal the edges. Press down with the palm of your hand gently.

Now, roll out gently. Use extra flour if you need it. It's usually helpful as the gobi can be moist.

And there you have it, it's neat, easy and slightly unconventional. Heat up a tava or frying pan. Place the paratha gently on the tava. Cook for about 10-20 seconds on medium heat before flipping.