Making parotta is a pure art and this flatbread has been reigning the South Indian food world for many centuries…
When I think of parotta my mind will instantly dress up to attend a muslim wedding in South India. A mandatory flat bread served at every muslim wedding and other special occasions. I don’t think there would have been or would be any muslim weddings without parottas being served. Next, my mind will rush to a roadside restaurants seen widely in Kerala, where we could actually see the chef making the parottas. It’s always great fun watching them make it from scratch which involves the waving the thinly flattened dough, tapping of the folded dough and finally patting the fried parottas stacked together while it is still hot. Not to mention about the aroma that fills the air while walking down that road, it’s hard to resist!
For me, there is nothing more perfect than chicken curry to go with the parottas. The mere thought of “parotta with chicken curry” has never failed to trigger my craving. To make parottas just like restaurant style needs a lot of practice and skills. If you are someone who could whip up parottas with much ease, then you must be one heck of a chef.
Making parottas flawlessly had been always on the top of my must to cook list. I had once tried making parottas using my mom’s recipe and didn’t quite succeed in it. After that first attempt, I never got the feeling of making parottas by myself. However, recently after watching a documentary about Indian food in which they showed about the art of making parotta, stirred up the sudden urge of making this from scratch. Coincidentally, my sister had given me the recipe for making eggless parotta a few weeks ago. Without much thinking I steeped into my kitchen and started making this.
This time I made with all passion and was quite happy about the end result. The parottas came out good, though I wouldn’t dare to compare mine with the ones you get from the restaurant as I still have to work on my parotta making skills. Hopefully, someday I could make this flawlessly and perfectly.
Eggless Parotta
Makes: 5 parottas
Ingredients:
- All-Purpose flour or Maida- 1 1/2 cups
- Water- 1/2 cup
- salt- 1/4 tsp
- Oil- 3 tbsp + more while flattening the dough
- Ghee- while frying the parotta
Instruction:
- Combine the flour with water and salt to form a soft dough.
- After kneading the dough, pour 3 tbsp of oil over the dough.
- Cover the dough with wet muslin cloth and let it rest for 2 to 3 hours.
- After 2 to 3 hours, make medium sized balls out of the dough and keep aside.
- Place the ball dough on a wooden cutting board or chapathi board or you could use your cleaned dried counter top for this.
- Grease the dough with oil which will help you to flatten the dough.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough and flatten it as thin as possible.
- It’s little hard to flatten it as the dough will bounce back, apple some pressure while doing this.
- The flattened dough wouldn’t have to be round in shape and it will have breaks on it.
- Our goal is to flatten the dough as thin as possible.
- Fold the flattened dough from one side to make pleats.
- Holding on to one end of the pleated dough, tap the other end of the pleated dough on the board.
- You will see that the by doing so the length of the pleated dough will increase.
- Repeat this for 3-4 times until it is long enough.
- Now, starting from one end rotate the pleated dough to make it into a spiral.
- Repeat the same with the other dough and keep aside.
- Place the spiral shaped dough over the wooden board.
- Apply little oil, using your hands or rolling pin roll the dough to a medium round shape.
- You could apply oil while rolling the dough.
- Place a wide pan or tawa over medium heat and let it get hot.
- Add 1 tbsp of ghee to the pan and place the rolled dough on the pan.
- Let the bottom side turn light golden in color.
- Flip it to the other side, add 1/2 tbsp ghee and gently tap with the flat spatula.
- Let the other side turn slight golden in color.
- Keep flipping the sides and fry for some more time until both the sides cook well and turn golden brown in color.
- Don’t leave it unattended, it will get burned very fast as it’s frying in ghee.
- Remove the cooked and fried parotta from the pan and let cool slightly.
- Using both your hands gently pat the sides of the cooked parottas, this will help the parottas to relax.
- If you are a hard core non-veg serve paotta with chicken curry, if you are a hard core vegan serve with vegetable korma.
Tips:
- Leftover parottas could be refrigerated.
- I’ve found that the refrigerated parottas when steam cooked ( stack the parottas on a glass bowl and cover the bowl with aluminum foil, place it on a deep bottomed pan with 1 cup water in it, cover the pan with its lid and cook for few minutes) for few minutes or so makes it really soft rather than heating it on the pan or microwaving it.
- Tear the leftover parottas into small slices and combine with chicken roast to make a totally different dish called “Kothu Parotta” or “Stir fry Parotta”.
- Here is the recipe for Chili Pita I had posted last year, you could make Chili Parotta using this recipe. Add parottas instead of pita.
- All-Purpose flour or Maida- 1½ cups
- Water- ½ cup
- salt- ¼ tsp
- Oil- 3 tbsp + more while flattening the dough
- Ghee- while frying the parotta
- Combine the flour with water and salt to form a soft dough.
- After kneading the dough, pour 3 tbsp of oil over the dough.
- Cover the dough with wet muslin cloth and let it rest for 2 to 3 hours.
- After 2 to 3 hours, make medium sized balls out of the dough and keep aside.
- Place the ball dough on a wooden cutting board or chapathi board or you could use your cleaned dried counter top for this.
- Grease the dough with oil which will help you to flatten the dough.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough and flatten it as thin as possible.
- It's little hard to flatten it as the dough will bounce back, apple some pressure while doing this.
- The flattened dough wouldn't have to be round in shape and it will have breaks on it.
- Our goal is to flatten the dough as thin as possible.
- Fold the flattened dough from one side to make pleats.
- Holding on to one end of the pleated dough, tap the other end of the pleated dough on the board.
- You will see that the by doing so the length of the pleated dough will increase.
- Repeat this for 3-4 times until it is long enough.
- Now, starting from one end rotate the pleated dough to make it into a spiral.
- Repeat the same with the other dough and keep aside.
- Place the spiral shaped dough over the wooden board.
- Apply little oil, using your hands or rolling pin roll the dough to a medium round shape.
- You could apply oil while rolling the dough.
- Place a wide pan or tawa over medium heat and let it get hot.
- Add 1 tbsp of ghee to the pan and place the rolled dough on the pan.
- Let the bottom side turn light golden in color.
- Flip it to the other side, add ½ tbsp ghee and gently tap with the flat spatula.
- Let the other side turn slight golden in color.
- Keep flipping the sides and fry for some more time until both the sides cook well and turn golden brown in color.
- Don't leave it unattended, it will get burned very fast as it's frying in ghee.
- Remove the cooked and fried parotta from the pan and let cool slightly.
- Using both your hands gently pat the sides of the cooked parottas, this will help the parottas to relax.
- If you are a hard core non-veg serve paotta with chicken curry, if you are a hard core vegan serve with vegetable korma.
I've found that the refrigerated parottas when steam cooked ( stack the parottas on a glass bowl and cover the bowl with aluminum foil, place it on a deep bottomed pan with 1 cup water in it, cover the pan with its lid and cook for few minutes) for few minutes or so makes it really soft rather than heating it on the pan or microwaving it.
Tear the leftover parottas into small slices and combine with chicken roast to make a totally different dish called "Kothu Parotta" or "Stir fry Parotta".
Here is the recipe for Chili Pita I had posted last year, you could make Chili Parotta using this recipe. Add parottas instead of pita.
