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.
Head over to priya’s blog for today’s Garam Masala Tuesday recipe and do check out her mouthwatering recipes while you are there.
- 1 cup + 2tbsp Whole wheat flour
- ⅔ cup leftover cooked lentils/dal
- 1 tsp ajjwain/carom seeds
- 2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
- salt, to taste
- 5 green chilies, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp finely chopped onion
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp ghee/clarified butter/oil
- 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!)
Your pictures are wonderful. I Love Indian food — lived in India for a couple of years.
Thank you. I love Indian food too and miss India like crazy!
the blog’s got a cool makeover-loved the title font especially. Thanks a ton shumaila for gracing my spcace
It was a pleasure to guest post for you Priya. You made it so easy! I love the title font too:)
once again you make me drool over your pictures and your narration of this universal Desi treat !
It is a beloved treat. My dadi would make me have ghiya, lauki and all the thinks I wouldn’t eat in this form. And I never knew!
I think these are my favourite pictures of yours, ever! The bread looks SO good 🙂
Thanks, I like them too 🙂
oh my gosh!i have just seen heaven 🙂
beautiful photography!
http://tapasnalingua.blogspot.com
Thank you so much for the comment! Hope you get to try these. I recently used some leftover broccoli soup to make these paranthas and they were absolutely delicious. Its really a great way to use leftovers!
Wow. These look wonderful. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks and you are welcome!
Great Photography and I just love the way you write about the food. Keep it up 🙂 FYI: You can come to my house anytime to make these dishes hahahaha 😉
This is such an easy dish, and really doesn’t need too many ingredients that I would be glad to come and make it for you! And thanks for appreciating the blog:)
I visited your blog and wanted to comment, but somehow couldn’t figure out how to! Wanted to thank you for linking a recipe to my blog 🙂
Love your blog! the pictures.. the food.. everything looks amazing and I’m sure it tastes great too!
hotoffthestove recently posted..Aloo Tikki (Spicy Potato Patty)