Veggie flatbread or parata

[Ruhi_Rose]

 


Despite goin bananas with my new schedule in new place and this very slow internet service that actually doesn't browse but crawls .. I find enough time to peep and see what's cookin

This is a popular item, the recipe of which I got from a dear friend here.  You can call it vegetable flat-bread.  In Pakistan it's more commonly known as 'vegetable parata.'


The mouth-watering veggie parata or flatbread

Ingredients:

One cup white flour
Half cup whole wheat flour
About 1 tbsp chopped green onions
1 tbsp chopped green onion leaves
1 tbsp or little more chopped green corriander
1 tbsp chopped fresh methi leaves (fenugreek greens) or 1 tsp dried methi leaves in packet
2 chopped green chillies (if desired)
2 tsp besan (gram flour) after being roasted in a dry saucepan (optional)
1 tsp cummin powder
Half tsp corriander powder
Half tsp of cummin seeds
Half tsp red chilli powder, little more if green chillies are not used
Half tsp ginger & garlic paste
Salt to taste (approx. half tsp)
About 1 to 2 tbsp oil mixed with dough


Method:

Sieve the flour.  Mix all ingredients thoroughly and make a very soft dough by adding enough water gradually and kneading well.

Knead the dough well and divide it into as many average portions as the quantity allows.

On a rolling board, roll out each portion of the dough into a thin (but not too thin) round with the help of sprinkling a little dry flour on each portion while rolling.

Make a few light, horizontal slits on one side of each round.

Cook on a hot griddle on both sides using a little oil until golden brown spots come on top.  If you don't use a griddle, then cook in a thick based frying pan following the same method and using the same quantity of oil.  Remember not to fry by putting too much oil, but simply cook by heating on a greased pan or griddle. 

Keep tightly covered either in an airtight box or rolled & covered in aluminium foil, and serve warm if not hot.


More information

Please feel free to make any variation you desire.  There are no hard & fast rules that the ingredients must be identical to this recipe.  For instance, omit garlic & ginger paste if you don't like its flavor in flatbread or parata.  If you prefer to replace fenugreek greens with mint leaves, go ahead.  Many people like mint leaves in parata.  However, remember since mint leaves have a strong fizzy flavor, if its being used instead of fenugreek greens or green onion leaves, it should be used in lesser quantity than those other ingredients.  I realize fenugreek greens might not be easily available for those living in the West.  But to others, I would personally suggest not to omit fenugreek greens as it brings an excellent flavor to all vegetable paratas.  To know more about fenugreek greens, known as 'methi leaves' in the East, read the information below.

From a Weblog

Methi, also known in English as fenugreek greens, is a lovely plant.  It has delicate ovoid leaves of a nice medium bluish green, dainty triangular flowers and grows in a mounding habit.

A legume, meaning it is of the same family as peas and beanss, methi has deliciously fragrant, slightly bitter leaves when fresh; when dried, these same leaves have the amazing scent of newly-mown hay. In fact, the English name, “fenugreek” comes from the Latin species name, foenum graecum, which means, “Greek hay.” This name comes from its use as an animal fodder in the ancient Mediiterranean region.

The leaves and thin stems can be used fresh as a vegetable or an herb in Eastern cookery.  For instance, it tastes delicious if cooked with spinach.  Dried methi hay-scented methi leaves sold in packets are wonderful flavorings either for potatoes or dal, both of which benefit from being cooked with the fresh leaves as well.

There are also dried fenugreek seeds that are toasted and ground and used in many spice mixes including Eastern pickles and Western curry powders.  To most Westerners who are used to eating curry, fenugreek is what makes curry taste and smell like curry


The beautiful looking fenugreek greens

[Zainab_M]

Salaams and greetings dear sis, how r u?  Seeing you after ages!    Hope the relocation went well and u and your family are fine, InshAllah.

As for this recipe, it's excellent.  In my recent trip, I too had my fill with this.  A family friend of mine who's an excellent cook and loves to entertain with delicious food (though not health-food ) made some remarkable fenugreek paratas.  I intend to try it out in a couple of days.  I'm fully aware that my first attempts never taste professional .. far from it rather   Thanks for putting this in detail.  It will be of great help to me.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Salaams and greetings dear sis, how r u?  Seeing you after ages!    Hope the relocation went well and u and your family are fine, InshAllah.

As for this recipe, it's excellent.  In my recent trip, I too had my fill with this.  A family friend of mine who's an excellent cook and loves to entertain with delicious food (though not health-food ) made some remarkable fenugreek paratas.  I intend to try it out in a couple of days.  I'm fully aware that my first attempts never taste professional .. far from it rather   Thanks for putting this in detail.  It will be of great help to me.

Salaams, salaams  and how r u sis?  long time no talk.  All I can say is that the relocation went .. I'll leave out the "well" bit    The place is almost as warm in October and November as in July and in the West they grumble about global warming   Not to mention the slow internet service providers here.  they say the slowest IP service in N. America is the fastest here  no jokes, they really say that.  The only good thing is that there's an excellent montessori  within our posh residential area.  We managed to put our daughter there - and guess what, i too got an office job at the same place.  So we go and return home together.  Short working hours - I mean short enough to give me time to take care of household chores but that's about it. 

Thanks for liking the veggie flatbread recipe, sis.  I'm glad you've eaten it before so u know its mouth-watering nature    and how did your trip go?  were u able to finish that chain of errands?  If so, I hope that allows u some peace at least for a while. 

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Assalaam Alaykum dear rose.  Nice seeing u after long long time .. and comin up with such a great recipe   This is new for me.  I made stuffed parata a few times but not this.  Perhaps Eid-al-Adha would be a good time to try it with kebabs or meat korma curry. 

I've improved much as a cook, thanks to this board for the greater part.  So please keep postin guys, don't stop ..

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Here's the recipe for potato parata or flatbread.  The practical demonstration is also given on U-tube video.  Click the following link and you'll find everything.

http://www.cookbookwiki.com/Aloo_Paratha

[Zainab_M]

Hmmmm .. that's a helpful demonstration of potato flatbread (parata).  I must try to make this.  The problem is that when I cook the flatbread in the pan, it starts getting stiff.  I just cannot get it crispy-soft.  Don't know what's the secret behind it ..