North Indian

Plain Paratha (Layered Tawa Flatbread)

Name: Plain Paratha (Layered Tawa Flatbread)
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: North Indian
Ingredients: 2.5 cups whole wheat flour (atta); 1/2 tsp ajwain (carom seeds); 1/2 tsp salt; 1 cup water; 4 tbsp ghee

Farzana B. @farzana_lucknow

Plain Paratha (Layered Tawa Flatbread) is North Indian home cooking, eaten at breakfast. On the plate it is the dish at the centre and the carb everything else is eaten with. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.

35 min Easy Low sodium High fiber Vegetarian Halal Pescatarian

Ingredients

Serves

The quantities follow this count.

2.5 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
1/2 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
4 tbsp ghee

How to cook it

Mix the atta, ajwain and salt in a wide bowl and add the water a little at a time, kneading for 5 minutes into a soft dough that no longer sticks to your fingers. Cover it and let it rest 15 minutes. Dough kneaded the night before and kept in the fridge works just as well.
Divide the dough into 8 balls. Roll one into a thin round, smear half a teaspoon of ghee over it and dust it with a pinch of dry atta.
Fold the round in half, smear and dust it again, then fold it once more into a triangle and roll it out gently to the thickness of a coin. The ghee between the folds is what makes the layers.
Cook it on a hot tawa for about 1 minute until small bubbles rise, flip it, spread a little ghee on top, flip again and press the edges with a spatula until both sides carry brown spots and the layers puff, about 3 minutes in all.
Stack the cooked parathas in a box lined with a cloth so they stay soft while you make the rest, and serve them hot with a bowl of dahi, a little achaar and a cup of chai.

Serve it with

A North Indian breakfast is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Plain Paratha (Layered Tawa Flatbread), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.

The sharp little thing
- Plain Curd (Dahi)
  
  5 min

Safe at your table

Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Plain Paratha (Layered Tawa Flatbread) carries dairy and gluten. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.

Every tracked allergen in Plain Paratha (Layered Tawa Flatbread)
Allergen	In this dish	Cook this instead
Peanuts	No
Tree nuts	No
Dairy	Yes	Lauki Chana Dal (Bottle Gourd and Lentils)
Gluten	Yes	Lauki Chana Dal (Bottle Gourd and Lentils)
Shellfish	No
Eggs	No
Soy	No
Fish	No
Sesame	No
Coconut	No

These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.

What it brings to the plate

Estimated, per serving

Calories: 370 kcal
Protein: 9 g
Carbs: 54 g
Fat: 14 g
Fiber: 8 g
Sugar: 0 g
Sodium: 290 mg
Saturated fat: 8 g

Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.

When to cook it

Plain Paratha (Layered Tawa Flatbread) takes about 35 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is easy going. It is eaten at breakfast. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.