Ingredients

• 2 cups chapatti flour

• 2 cup Bengal gram/chickpea flour or Besan

• 2 tbsp. oil

• 2 large onions (about 400 gm.)

• 1-2 of green chillies, stalk removed

• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. carom or ajwain seeds

• 1 cup yoghurt

• Enough water to make dough (approximately 450 ml)

• 1/2 cup dusting flour for rolling out parathas

• Oil for pan frying

Instructions

1. Making the dough:

2. Place onion, chillies and ginger in a food processor and chop finely, but not pureed. You can do this by hand, if you do not have a food processor or chopper.

3. Place flours, chopped onions, ginger, carom seeds, 2 tbsp. oil, yoghurt and salt in a bowl.

4. Add enough water, a little at a time, to make a soft to firm...ish dough. If you are new at making parathas, it is better to have firmer dough, which is easier to control while rolling out. Experienced Indian cooks prefer a softer dough, which makes softer parathas.

5. Bring the dough together and leave covered for 10-15 minutes. Do not use food processor for making this dough or it will grind the onions too fine and you will loose the texture. A dough hook is fine to use.

6. Leave the dough to stand for 10 minutes or so. Knead briefly again, with oiled or wet hands. This is easier to do on an oiled surface. This second knead makes the dough soft.

7. Rolling out parathas:

8. Break dough into portions. Roll each portion between your palms to make into balls, using a little dry flour to dust. Keep them covered with a moist cloth.

9. Roll out one ball into a 2-3 inch/50-60cm. circle, place a little oil in the centre and pull up the edges together to make a ball again (see pictures).

10. Now roll out the ball into a circle of 6-7 inches or 16-18 cm. It should be rolled from centre outwards so that the edges are thinner than the centre. You will need to roll it in dusting flour a couple of times during this process, to stop it sticking to the rolling board/Chkla. 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, but for me, they have to have some substance.

11. Parathas are rolled out one at a time. You roll the next one while previous one is cooking.

12. Flap the paratha between two palms to shake off excessive dusting flour.

13. Cooking:

14. Heat a griddle or tava to medium hot.

15. Put the paratha on the hot tava/griddle.

16. Turn it over when it changes colour to semi-translucent and you can see a few blisters on the under-surface.

17. Cook the other side same way and turn over again.

18. Brush a little oil on both surfaces. This can be done with a small ladle or a soup spoon.

19. Press it gently all over, using a flat spatula. This type of paratha does not usually puff up, because of the 'bits' of onion, ginger etc.

20. Cook until crisp and nicely browned on both sides.

21. Serve hot with Aloo Bhaji and a pickle of your choice or as part of an Indian meal.

Notes

• These parathas freeze quite well but should be defrosted properly before re-heating.

• You can cut parathas into wedges and serve as part of a big get or as a snack.