Welcome to Project Paratha

This blog will chronicle our one year adventure to eat one Indian (or Indian inspired) meal or snack every day.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010


Today was a paratha day. I made sweet potato parathas based on a recipe in the Sundays at Moosewood Cookbook. I made six parathas. What's that? There are only four in the picture? Would you believe, I could only fit four on the plate? Would you believe I prefer, for artistic reasons, to only photograph items in groups of four? Would you believe four is my lucky number? OK, so I ate two before they could make it to the plate. These are so easy to make. About 1/2 cup of mashed sweet potatoes mixed with a bit of cinnamon, salt, and oil or ghee. Mix in 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and then knead in as much barley flour as needed to make a lovely soft dough. After it is kneaded, let it rest 30 minutes then cut it into six pieces, roll each piece into a ball then roll into a circle. Brush oil or ghee on one side, fold in half, brush with more ghee and fold again, then roll out flat. Throw one into a hot omelette pan and let it cook until brown spots appear on the bottom, flip and cook some more. Brush with oil or ghee and flip again, brush with oil and flip one more time. The paratha should puff up on the second, third and fourth flips. Theoretically, you can put them on a rack to cool, but you can also eat them as soon as they are cooked and then lie about it.