Parathas (Flaky Flatbreads with cumin seeds)

May 3rd, 2009

A friend let us borrow the most wonderful Indian Cookbook I have used yet.  I just finished making a complete dinner out of the book and wanted to share it with you:

To accompany my dinner I made this delicious Indian flatbread based on a recipe in the book. It was exactly as the description said: flaky! I was curious about spooning on melted butter (or ghee if you have any) in the manner described below, but it turns out it really worked to make the flatbread flaky, not to mention delicious! I loved the aroma of this bread too because it has cumin — which I honestly think should be the secret ingredient to everything! Here’s how I did it:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of plain white flour
• 1 cup of Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• course ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely crushed in a mortar
• 1/2 medium sized green chile finely chopped (adjust portions and spicyness according to your spice-tolerance — I used 1/2 jalapeno and it wasn’t spicy at all
• 1/2 small bunch cilantro (coriander) very finely chopped.
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon very finely grated fresh ginger
• 6 tablespoons butter (or ghee)

Method:

1. Combine the flours, salt, black pepper, cumin seeds, chilies and cilantro in a large bowl.
2. Add the oil and mix
3. Mix the ginger in the water
4. Add the ginger water 1/4 cup at a time, mixing between each addition until the dough is wet.  I only needed 3/4 cup but your mileage may vary.
5. Knead the dough for 10 minutes adding more water if it is too dry or more flour if it is too wet.  Set it aside for 30 minutes or so.
6. Divide the dough into eight equal balls
7. Heat up a cast iron pan over a medium-high heat
8. Roll out each ball, one at a time, until it’s a 6-inch square
9. Place a teaspoon of melted butter (or ghee) over the top of the square and spread it around evenly
10. Fold 1/3 of the dough square, then the other 1/3 to form a rectangle 1/3 the size of the original square.
11. Now butter it again with 1/2 teaspoon
12. Fold it into 3rds again, this time making a square 1/9 the original size
13. Now roll it out again (make sure you have your apron on) using flour as you need — into a 6-inch square again.
14. Place the square in the cast iron pan and place another teaspoon of butter on top of the dough evenly
15. Flip 4 times or so every 15 seconds, until the bread starts to turn golden brown and is slightly crispy outside, but still soft inside.
16. Serve immediately or re-heat in a tin-foil wrap.

I hope you enjoy it!