Paratha 

A paratha is a flatbread that originated in the north of the Indian Subcontinent. It is still quite prevalent in the north of India, where wheat is grown and is the traditional staple of the area. Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta which literally means layers of cooked dough. Alternative spellings and names include parantha, parauntha, prontha, parontay, porota (in Bengali), palata (pronounced: [pəlàtà]; in Burma), and farata  (in Sri Lanka and the Maldives).

                                     

                                        Plain parathas and stuffed parathas

 

 Parathas are one of the most popular unleavened flatbreads in the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent and they are made by baking whole wheatdough on a tava, and finishing off with shallow frying Parathas are thicker and more substantial than chapatis/rotis and this is either because, in the case of a plain paratha, they have been layered by coating with ghee or oil and folding repeatedly (much like the method used for puff pastry or some types of Turkish börek) using a laminated dough technique; or else because food ingredients such as mixed vegetables have been mixed in with the dough such as potato and/or cauliflower, green beans and carrots.

A Rajasthani mung bean paratha uses both the layering technique together with mung dal mixed into the dough, while some so called stuffed parathas resemble a filled pie squashed flat and shallow fried using two discs of dough sealed round the edges; alternatively using a single disc of dough to encase a ball of filling and sealed with a series of pleats pinched into the dough round the top, gently flattened with the palm against the working surface before being rolled into a circle. Most stuffed parathas are not layered.

Parathas can be eaten as a breakfast dish or as a tea-time (tiffin) snack. The flour used is finely ground wholemeal (atta) and the dough is shallow fried.

Perhaps the most common stuffing for parathas is mashed, spiced potatoes (aloo ka parantha) followed perhaps by dal (lentils). 'Many other alternatives exist such as leaf vegetables, radishes,cauliflower, and/or paneer. A paratha (especially a stuffed one) can be eaten simply with a pat of butter spread on top or with chutney, pickles, ketchup, dahi or a raita or with meat or vegetable curries. Some roll the paratha into a tube and eat it with tea, often dipping the paratha.To achieve the layered dough for plain parathas, a number of different traditional techniques exist. These include covering the thinly rolled out pastry with oil, folding back and forth like a paper fan and coiling the resulting strip into a round shape before rolling flat, baking on the tava and shallow frying. Another method is to cut a circle of dough from the centre to its circumference along its radius, oiling the dough and starting at the cut edge rolling so as to form a cone which is then squashed into a disc shape and rolled out. The method of oiling and repeatedly folding the dough as in western puff pastry also exists, and this is combined with folding patterns that give traditional geometrical shapes to the finished parathas. Plain parathas can be round, heptagonal, square, or triangular.

History and popularity

The paratha is an important part of a traditional South Asian breakfast. Traditionally, it is made using ghee but oil is also used. Some people may even bake it in the oven for health reasons. Usually the paratha is eaten with dollops of white butter on top of it. Side dishes which go very well with paratha are curd, fried egg, omelette, qeema (ground mutton cooked with vegetables and spices),nihari (a lamb dish), jeera aloo (potatoes lightly fried with cumin seeds), daal, and raita as part of a breakfast meal. It may be stuffed with potatoes, paneer, onions, qeema or chili peppers.

 

                                          Types of Paratha

 

Kothu Parotta (Chicken) as served in Tamil Nadu, India

Ajwain paratha (layered paratha laced with ajwain)

Aloo paratha (stuffed with spicy boiled potato and onions mix)

Aloo Cheese Paratha

Anda paratha (stuffed with spiced egg)

Bal wala paratha

Band gobi wala paratha/Patta gobhi paratha (stuffed with cabbage)

Batuha paratha (Lamb's quarter, Chenopodium album)

Boondi paratha (stuffed with salty boondi & baked with ghee)

Ceylon paratha (from Sri Lanka)

Chana paratha (chick peas)

Channa dal paratha (stuffed with channa dal)

Chicken paratha

Chili parotha/mirchi paratha (small, spicy shredded pieces)

Dal paratha (stuffed with boiled, spiced and mashed dal mostly available in northwestern and western India)

Dhaniya paratha (coriander)

Gajar paratha (carrot)

Gobhi paratha (stuffed with flavoured cauliflower)

Jaipuri paratha

Kerala paratha (popular version pronounced "porotta")

Lachha paratha – tandoori (Punjabi in origin. Round in shape with multiple layers traditionally prepared in a tandoor)

Lachha paratha – tawa wali (popular in eastern India, triangular in shape with multiple layers interspaced with ghee)

Lasuni Paratha (Garlic flavoured)

Lauki paratha (bottle gourd)

Makka paratha (corn)

Mattar paratha (stuffed with boiled, mashed and flavoured green peas)

Meetha paratha (stuffed with sugar)

Methi paratha (stuffed with fenugreek leaves)

Mooli paratha (radish-stuffed paratha, popular in most regions of northern India andthe Punjab region of India.)

Mughlai paratha (a deep fried stuffed paratha filled with egg and minced meat)[6]

Mutton paratha

Papeetey ka paratha (papaya stuffed paratha)

Mix paratha

Palak paratha (spinach)

Paneer paratha (stuffed with cottage cheese)

Papad parantha

Parton wala paratha ( Lachha paratha )

Plain paratha (layered roti without any stuffing except ghee and baked with ghee – popular in most regions of India)

Podeena paratha (laced with dry mint)

Putthay taway ka paratha

Pyaz ka paratha (stuffed with onion)

Qeema paratha, (stuffed with minced meat (keema), usually mutton, mostly available in Punjab, Hyderabad in India, and Myanmar)

Roti paratha/prata (Singapore & Malaysia)

Sattu paratha (stuffed with spiced sattu – roasted gram flour popular in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar)

Shrimp paratha

Sugar paratha (layered with caramelized sugar, usually after a meal or as dessert)

Tandoori paratha

Tomato paratha (stuff

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                                                                      Kachori

 

Kachori or Kachauri or Kachodi or Katchuri (Hindi कचौड़ी or कचौरी, Bengali কচুরি Odia କଚୋଡ଼ି) is a spicy snack popular in various parts of India, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bengal and Orissa. It is a popular snack food in Pakistan especially in Karachi.

 

Kachori is supposed to have originated in Uttar Pradesh or Rajasthan In these states it is usually a round flattened ball made of fine flour filled with a stuffing of baked mixture of yellow moong dalor Urad Dal (crushed and washed horse beans), besan (crushed and washed gram flour), black pepper, red chili powder, salt and other spices.

 

Additionally in Rajasthani cuisine, the Pyaaj Kachori (onion kachori) is very famous. Another form of Kachori which is famous in Rajasthan is the Mawa Kachori. It is a sweet dish which is dipped in sugar syrup.

In Gujarat, it is usually a round ball made of flour and dough filled with a stuffing of yellow moong dal, black pepper, red chili powder, and ginger paste.

 

In Delhi it is often served as a chaat. Also Delhi has another kind of kachori, called 'Khasta kachori' or 'Raj Kachori'.

A variant includes sweet upwas (fast) kachori, made with potato, coconut, and sugar. Kachoris are often served with a chutney, often made from tamarind, mint, or coriander. Another variant is fried and stuffed with pulses (urad and moong especially) and it is generally found in Kutch region in Gujarat. A kachori stuffed with peas is a delicacy in Bengal.

 

Some of the variants popular in North India include a version similar to the Rajasthan version, accompanied with a curry made of potatoes and varied spices or even chana (chole) similar to one served in chole bhature.