Missa Paratha 1 (Wheat And Bengal Gram Flour)
Missa Paratha - 1
Mamta Gupta
Missa paratha is one of the traditional Indian parathas that was one of my father's favourites. So it was cooked in our house frequently. It tastes best served with a knob of fresh butter and some pickles of choice. It can also be served with any of the leaf vegetable dishes like Sarson ka Sag (mustard leaves curry) or Sarson ka Sag with Shalgam (Turnip) or Dal Palak orLamb Curry with Spinach. A yoghurt drink like Lassi or Mattha is a common accompaniment, because eating it can make you quite quite thirsty.
It tastes nice with meat and chicken curries too.
Same dough can be used to make roties too. Don't be put off by a long number of steps, they are just to explain how to make parathas. Makes 18-20.
Ingredients
350 gm. or 2 cups atta or chapatti flour
150 gm. or1 cup besan* or Bengal gram or Chickpea flour
Enough water to make dough
A little chapatti flour for dusting
1 tsp. ajwain or carom seeds
1 1/2 tsp. salt
A handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped**
1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated**
2-3 green chillies finely chopped**
1 tsp. kalonji/kalaunji/nigella (Nigella Sativa)**
*Gram flour for the parathas and roties is made from whole grams, with the skin intact, whereas besan is made from skinless gram dal. If you can get hold of it from Indian store, it is better than besan for this dish.
Alternatively, you can soak Bengal Gram and blend it to a thick paste. Then add chapatti flour to it.
**These ingredients are not essential for the basic Missa paratha, but can be added to make it special.
Instructions
Making the Dough
Grind or grate or chop finely ginger and green chillies.
Chop coriander leaves very finely.
Place all ingredients in a bowl or a food processor and make a dough of soft to slightly firm consistency. It has to be soft enough to roll out but not too hard to make it difficult to roll. Remember that firm dough makes for harder parathas.
Place dusting flour in an old dinner plate or similar.
Rollin out the Parathas:
Divide dough into golf ball size portions and roll into balls, using a little flour to dust.
Keep them covered with a moist cloth.
Roll one ball in dry flour and roll it out to approximately 7 cm. or 3 inches diameter.
Place 1/8 tsp. (a few drops) of oil in the centre of the circle, pull the edges in and seal it in the centre. Now you have a ball again.
Meanwhile, heat a griddle or tava.
Roll out the ball into a 16-18 cm. or 6-7 inches circle. It should be rolled from centre outwards so that the edges are thinner than the centre. You will need to dip it in dusting flour, on both sides, a couple of time during this process. Parathas should not be too thin, approximately 2-3 mm. thick, as very thin ones do not have 'bite'. This again is your personal choice, some people prefer paper thin parathas.
Cooking:
Put the paratha on the hot griddle/tava. Turn it over when it changes colour to semi-translucent and you can see a few blisters on the under surface.
Cook the other side the same way and turn over again.
Brush a little oil on both surfaces, one by one. This can be done with the back of a long handled ladle or a soup spoon.
Press paratha gently all over, using a flat spatula, coaxing it to fluff up into a ball. If you see any steam escaping, seal it by pressing it with the spatula. This ensures fluffing up of the paratha.
Cook until crisp and nicely browned on both sides.
Next paratha can be rolled as the previous one is cooking.
Serve hot with a curry or pickle of choice.
