In our small mining town, we are a total of eight people from India; three couples and two bachelors, one of whom is actually a forced bachelor, since his wife is in California doing a one year course.
Its nice to have people from your country in the same city, especially in a place like this. And more so when it means you get to eat home cooked Indian food that is not cooked by your own hands. So every time we get a dinner invitation from our Indian friends I get super excited. And the joy is double since both the couples belong to states in the south of India, and since I am a complete novice with cooking south Indian food, I revel in their dosa, biryani, sambhar, and curd rice.
Its not that I have not tried my hand at South Indian cooking. During the first few months of our marriage, I tried making dosa, but it was a complete disaster that ended with me throwing the dosa batter away. After that misadventure, I have kept my distance from cooking anything that is south Indian totally relying on my South Indian friends here to satisfy my idli-dosa cravings. And it doesn’t hurt that my friend makes amazing food.
A parantha/paratha is one of the most popular unleavened flat-breads in Indian Cuisine.
Crispy yet soft.
Stuffed or plain. Or maybe just with a little salt in between.
Topped with homemade (white) butter. Or even store bought (yellow) butter.
With some pickle. Or without.
Dipped in yogurt, plain or raita. Or just on its own.
Whatever way you take it, it is always loved.
They are the perfect way to start the day.
Being from Punjab, these were a staple on the Sunday breakfast table growing up.
And never was there a complain. Even when I was conscious of my weight, Sunday was the day to just let go. Of course I would skimp on the butter, but paranthas were always relished.
As many ways there are of eating your parantha, there are even more varieties of paranthas.
In the past, I have shared recipes for aloo parantha (unleavened flatbread stuffed with a spicy potato filling), and mooli parantha ( parantha stuffed with a radish filling).
Since I am always left with a cup of leftover cooked lentils (not enough to carry over to the next meal), I quite often make another unleavened flatbread by mixing the leftover lentils (like V’s crockpot lentil recipe)with whole wheat flour and cooking the resultant dough rolled on a skillet. We, in our household, call them Dal ka parantha.
These paranthas serve as a great breakfast or as the perfect on-the-go meal when rolled up . Nutritious and tasty, these paranthas are quick to make and are the perfect use of leftover cooked lentils/ lentil soup and even small leftover servings of cooked vegetables.
Today, I guest post for Priya of Bon Appetit and am sharing the recipe for my version of Dal ka Paranthas.
Priya is a wonderful lady with a blog centering on varied vegetarian recipes. Check out her recipe box and I am sure you will find plenty of things to make. I am definitely intrigued by her spiked up 7-up pulao and oats lassi
Priya also blogs at Straight from my heart which has her travel footprints and other interesting musings.
Puree the dal/cooked lentils and any leftover veggies to a smooth paste in the blender.
To the pureed dal, add rest of the ingredients, adjusting the quantity of flour sufficient to make smooth dough that is not sticky and can be rolled out easily.
Divide the dough into a little larger than golf sized balls.
Roll out a ball into a circle and apply some ghee.Bring the edges together and twist into a ball again, flatten it slightly. Dust each portion with some wheat flour
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the flattened dough ball into a circle ¼th inch thick with a rolling pin, applying additional flour as necessary to avoid the dough sticking to the pin.
Heat an iron skillet/tawa. If you do not have an iron skillet use a non-stick pan. Gently pick up the rolled circle and place it on the hot skillet. Cook for a minute and flip it over with a spatula. Each side should have tiny brown spots.
Drizzle one teaspoon of oil on each side and cook the bread while gently pressing down on them. They will get slightly crisp and dark with more brown spots on them.
Wrap the cooked rotis in a dish or paper towel and store them in air-tight containers till ready to serve. (I generally take a bite or two while I am waiting to make the other paranthas. It's ok if you do too!)
June is the month I had chosen to go on a controlled diet. And what would you know it’s here.
Now the thing with me is that I can not, for the love of god, diet. See, I don’t mind slogging it while exercising, but dieting and me have just never been good friends. Earlier this mutual hatred never was a problem. When I would put on weight- one month of rigorous exercise and I would be back in shape. Results with exercise were instant- in fact within a week I would see a difference. But now, not so much. I have been exercising quite religiously for months and still have not seen the results I would like.Of course I do admit things are different this time around.
For one, this time I have really, really, really put on weight. So there is more to shed off than the previous times. For another, (harsh reality) I am older than before. With age also comes slow metabolism. And maybe that’s why the results have not come as fast as before.
