The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

Cheese parathas teeter dangerously close to the limit of "healthy" but when you crave cheese, far wiser to club it with wheat flour bolstered with fenugreek leaves and carom seeds than ordinary white bread, right?

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What can one do with wheat flour, onion and tomatoes? Make stuffed parathas of course. This filling came to be simply because I was out of other vegetables and it was raining too heavily for me to venture out and restock. Sometimes, necessity and laziness can produce wondrous results. Onion tomato parathas are proof!

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I try to include a variety of grains/flours and cooking oils in my diet. Whole wheat flour, gram flour, brown rice have been regulars in the pantry. One grain I haven’t taken to easily is finger millet (ragi in Karnataka / marua in Bihar). One reason is that I am not a big fan of this millet – too much of it in a dish turns its taste to what I can only describe as ‘dusty’.

Ragi’s health benefits are multifold – nutrition sites tell me it is a rich source of amino acids methionine and tryptophan, and minerals such as calcium and iron. One HAS to eat it, ‘dusty’ taste notwithstanding! The most palatable way I’ve found is to add a portion of ragi flour to chapati flour and make it into ragi roti.

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What do you like to stuff inside your parathas? This soya bean stuffing is a constant favorite of mine. The main ingredient in the stuffing is soya bean granules, quick and easy to prepare, with all the goodness of soya.

You Need:

For the paratha:

• Whole wheat flour (atta) – 2 cups
• Water – to knead

For the stuffing:

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Have you had those triangle-shaped parathas with layers inside them and wondered how they got made? Wonder no more: in this post, I’ll show you how to make triangular parathas with step-by-step pictures.

The word "paratha" comes from the words parat (layer) and atta (flour). So parathas are literally layers of cooked flour.

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In olden days I’m told, the first test of the new Indian bride’s ability to cook was based on how she would make chapatis. Did she roll them round and even, cook them just right (no patches raw or charred), get them to fluff out beautifully? Could she roll out a chapati and watch the one on the stove at the same time?

The in-laws would scrutinize the final product, tear off a portion, bite and pass their verdict.

Those days of “judging” the bride are over (or so I hope!), but the fact remains that getting the chapati right is an instant indicator of the chef’s experience. Someone with a flair for cooking can possibly prepare any dish (like a curry) first time right – instructions and instinct guide them well – but one cannot make a perfect chapati until one has made several not-so-good ones before. Making chapatis is easy once you know how but it takes a few stumbles to get there.

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