Parathas are one of my favorite things to eat and I usually have them for breakfast at least 2 times a week. They are filling, healthy and there’s so much you can do with them. They are made using Indian whole wheat flour [atta] and stuffed with anything and everything you can think of. The popular fillings are potatoes, paneer, cauliflower, radish, green peas, lentils etc. Broccoli is definitely not that popular, maybe it is now but growing up broccoli wasn’t readily available so we never actually had broccoli paratha.
I think this is one of the best ways to eat broccoli, my husband who won’t eat broccoli otherwise ate this without any complaint. Now that says a lot. It has to do with the fact that you can hardly recognize/taste broccoli in this paratha. First of all it’s so finely shredded and then you stuff in inside a whole wheat flat-bread. So next time your kid doesn’t want to eat broccoli, you know what to do! The addition of carrot brings in a sweet taste and balances out the flavors perfectly. I used minimal spices here and let the veggies take the spotlight.
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour atta
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon salt
water as needed to knead the dough
1 small broccoli head
1 carrot large
1 teaspoon vegetable oil some more to cook the paratha
? teaspoon red chili powder
¼ teaspoon cumin powder
? teaspoon dried mango powder [amchur]
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon fresh ginger chopped
1 tablespoon cilantro or coriander leaves chopped
salt to taste
Method
* Wash and peel the carrot, chop it into 4-5 pieces. I used a large carrot here, if you have small ones use 2. Also wash a small broccoli head and chop it into pieces.
* Place the chopped carrot and broccoli into the food processor.
* Pulse till the carrot and broccoli are finely shredded. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
* In a pan heat 1 teaspoon of boil. Once hot, add cumin and mustard seeds and let it crackle.
* Once the seeds crackle, add the chopped ginger to it.
* Saute for few seconds till ginger turns light golden in color.
* Add the grated broccoli and carrot to the pan and mix.
* Add red chili powder, cumin powder, dry mango powder, salt and mix.
* Add the fresh chopped coriander leaves.The filling for the paratha is now ready.
* In a pan take the whole wheat flour (atta). Add salt, oil and mix.
* Add water slowly to the flour mix and knead to form a smooth and soft dough. Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes.
* After 20 minutes divide the dough into 4 equal parts.
* Take one dough ball and roll it into a circle of around 1/8 inch thickness. Apple little oil all over and then place around 2 tablespoons of filling the center.
* Seal the edges from all sides to form a dumpling like shape and then press to form a flat disc.
* Using your rolling pin, roll the stuffed dough again to a circle of around 1/8 inch thickness.
* Place the rolled paratha onto a hot griddle on medium-high heat.
* Cook from one side and then flip the paratha.
* Apply 1/4 teaspoon oil [or butter or ghee] on the cooked side.
* Flip again and now apply oil on the other side as well.
* Press paratha from both sides, it's done when it appears all cooked and you can see light golden brown spots all over.
* Repeat the same steps with the remaining 3 dough balls.
* Serve parathas hot with yogurt, pickle or any curry of your choice.