India Dreaming and an Easy Paratha Recipe

I recently came back from India. I’m still digesting my trip through Delhi, Rajasthan, and the foothills of the Himalayas. It was a deeply moving and cognitively challenging time there, and most days I felt elated and humbled, grateful and saddened, all at the same time. What can you say about a land that’s choking in “Hazardous” air that’s on occasion a thick soup of eye burning smog (the air quality index was 400 when we landed in Delhi, for reference, anything above 100 is unhealthy), cities with heart wrenching sights of poverty, yet bustling with life, chaotic calm, unimaginable treasures of culture, architecture and beauty, and full of human kindness? A place although filthy with discarded trash and animal excrement everywhere, still oddly pleasant smelling, and full of color and human grace. It’s darkness and light, all around you, and the darkness makes the light that much brighter and easier to notice.

I feel like I know nothing.

But let’s talk about food. That I feel I’m ready to start sharing. India is a vegetarian’s paradise. There are more vegetarians in India than there are in the rest of the world combined; about 40 percent of the general population avoids meat, and in some areas of the country vegetarians are the majority – Rajasthan is about 75% vegetarian. All menus and products are marked by green and red labels indicating vegetarian and non-vegetarian respectively. It’s refreshing to not need special accommodations, because if there’s one thing I don’t like about being vegetarian is that it’s often a burden on hosts and restaurants that need to make something special. Dining through the innumerable culinary regions of India was a unique pleasure. No Delhi belly issues either – I was either lucky or just careful enough (and I did eat almost everything).

The first India inspired dish I started making when I came home was stuffed paratha.

Stuffed Parathas of many variations were part of our breakfast on many days. It’s a famous breakfast food especially in north India, and it’s also sold as street food, stuffed with anything from cauliflower, paneer, potato to mint, and served with chutneys, yogurt sauces and pickles.

There’s more than one way to fill a paratha, but the technique I’m going to show you is a game changer, because it’s so easy, and you’ll soon see how it can apply to any filling you desire. A stuffed paratha can be filled with anything, as long as you make the filling smooth an non-lumpy.

This is by no means the classic Indian dish – I came to be inspired, and I’ve adapted the dish to my style of food and local ingredients. I use whole wheat, which is how it’s usually made in India, but I use olive oil, which they’d never do, they use ghee. I do not fry mine, but feel free to try it with more oil on the pan if you so desire.

Another thing you’ll love about this paratha recipe is that it’s unleavened and un-yeasted, which makes this a quick bread – knead the dough, wait 15 minutes, and you’re ready to bake the bread on any simple pan or skillet.

Here we go:

Stuffed paratha with vegetables (vegan)

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour

• 1 cup flour

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

• Water as needed (start with ¾ of a cup)

For the vegetable filling: 

• ½ onion finely chopped

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil

• ½ cup grated cauliflower

• Finely chopped small carrot

• ¼ cup green peas (frozen is fine)

• 1 small potato boiled and mashed

• 1 tablespoon Dr. Ayala’s Magic Spice

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1 tablespoon very finely chopped coriander or parsley

Preparation:

Make the dough: (this can be done by hand or in an electric stand mixer.)

In a bowl large bowl combine the flour, salt, and oil, add water and knead the dough. Add as much water as needed to form an elastic, non sticky dough.

Let dough rest in room temperature for at least 15 minutes.

Make the filling:

Heat olive oil in a pan, add the onion, cauliflower, carrots green peas, as well as the spices, cook until soft (you may need to add a teaspoon of water to the pan), and remove from heat

Add the coriander leaves

Mash the vegetable mix

Rolling and filling the paratha: (see clip below)

On a floured surface, divide the dough into 6, and form each piece into a ball

Roll the ball with a rolling pin to a circle of about 5-6 inches

Place 1.5 tablespoons of the stuffing in the center of the circle, leaving about 2-3 inches of margin

Take the edge of the dough and start pleating and closing the dough into a ball, the way you’d make a dumpling

Pinch the pleats at the top

On a well floured surface roll this ball gently, flattening it until it looks like a pita. Don’t worry if a bit of the filling is peeking out

Roast/Bake/fry the paratha:

Use an iron griddle, a frying pan or a non-stick pan .

You can shallow-fry or add no fat at all – I usually roast the first side with no oil, and then add a small amount to the pan for finishing off the second side.

Preheat the pan to medium high heat, place the paratha, and keep it there until the paratha is crisp and golden

Flip the paratha and cook the other side until you get a few dark blisters.

Stuffed paratha with goat cheese and herbs

Follow the above instructions, replacing the vegetable filling with this easy one:

Goat cheese and herb filling:

Ingredients:

• 4 oz soft goat cheese

• 3 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs such as parsley, coriander, dill, chives, thyme, basil etc.

• ½ tablespoon finely grated lemon peel

• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

In a bowl or a small food processor, mix all ingredients until smooth.

Stuff the paratha and bake it as in the instructions above.

Enjoy, send me a picture of your paratha!

Dr. Ayala