Egg Stuffed Paratha

Stuffed parathas are a very common dish in Indian cooking. The fillings range from vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage, to cheese, paneer etc. It’s basically thin bread stuffed with deliciousness, so the possibilities are endless! One of my favorites is egg stuffed paratha. This version of the paratha does not involve filling the dough before rolling. Instead, you roll out the dough very thin and then add the raw egg mixture onto it as the paratha cooks, and then fold the edges over to hold the egg mixture inside. I know it sounds very tricky! My mom has been making it for us for years but I only recently garnered the courage to try making it myself. I have to say my dough wasn’t rolled out as thin as hers, so the dough-to-filling ratio ended up being a little higher, but it was delicious nonetheless.

This paratha is best made on a concave pan, so that the egg mixture can stay in place without spreading outside the paratha. Since I didn’t have a pan like that, I decided to make it in a fairly small flat bottom pan so that the sides of the pan could help contain the filling.

Ingredients:

Chapati dough

Whole wheat flour

Oil (optional)

Warm water

Salt

Filling (enough for 2 parathas)

1 large egg

1-2 Tbsp chopped onion

½ Roma tomato, chopped

1 Tbsp chopped green bell pepper

1 tsp chopped cilantro or parsley

Minced green chilies (to taste)

Salt (to taste)

Any other spices/herbs that you enjoy in your omelettes

Make the chapati dough by mixing wheat flour and salt to taste. Add a little bit of oil (if using) and mix. Knead with enough water to get a soft (but not sticky) dough. Alternatively, you can skip the oil mixed in with the flour and put some oil on your palms as you knead.

There are several good tutorials for chapati/roti making online if you’ve never made the dough or the chapatis before. This is a good one from Aayi’s recipes.

Prepare the filling by whisking the egg and mixing in all the other ingredients. If you prefer, you could saute the onions first.

Make a small ball (~2” diameter) of the dough and using a rolling pin, roll it thin into a somewhat square-ish shape. If you have a flat bottom pan like me, it’s best to have the chapati size larger than the pan size, so that the filling won’t spread outside.

Heat a couple drops of oil in a pan over medium heat, gently transfer the chapati to the pan. Add half of the filling in the center and move the pan around to spread it a little. Bring in opposite corners and try to seal them with some of the egg mixture using a spatula. Once they seem somewhat secured, bring together the other two corners and do the same.

After the bottom is cooked completely and has some nice golden brown spots, flip the paratha over and cook on the other side. There might be some egg mixture leaking out if it is still too raw, but it tastes great so that shouldn’t be a problem!. Take the paratha out once both sides are cooked and the egg mixture feels like it is cooked - a good way to check is to press down gently with the spatula, and a perfectly cooked omelette inside the paratha will seem puffy and spring back.

Serve hot with ketchup or your favorite chutney.

~Gayatri

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Rice Thepla (Flatbread) with Spinach

I’m not much of a rice eater, but I do cook it once in a while, especially when I have guests over for dinner. Not having much practice with cooking rice, I almost always overshoot the required quantity and end up with leftover rice. There are several things that cooked rice can be used in, such as spinach-brown rice gratin, and cheesy broccoli rice; and here’s another. This recipe converts the cooked rice into a bread! Thepla is a type of bread originating in India, in the western state of Gujarat. It is generally made with a mix of flours, often has some greens, and is seasoned with aromatic spices. The dough is rolled out and pan fried to form a thin, soft and crispy flatbread. Generally I use leftover rice and just enough flour to form the dough with the addition of leafy greens or any other vegetables that I might have in the refrigerator. Its a great way to use up cooked veggies too. Anything goes, as long as you can make a soft and firm dough out of it.

Ingredients (Makes 5 small theplas)

1 cup cooked rice

½-1 cup packed spinach leaves, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 tsp grated ginger

⅛ tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp coriander powder

¼ tsp garam masala (optional)

Salt to taste

Red chili powder to taste (optional)

2 Tbsp chickpea flour (chickpea flour helps crispiness, but can substitute with wheat, oat or rice flour)

~2 Tbsp wheat/oat flour

Oil

Mix in all the ingredients except for the flours, and knead to form a soft dough using a food processor or by hand. Add the chickpea flour and just enough wheat/oat flour to make a soft dough. Check and adjust seasoning before making the theplas.

Divide the dough and make 5 dough balls. Roll out each one using flour for dusting. The dough can be delicate, so don’t roll it out too thin. Mine were 2-3 mm thick.

Heat a couple drops of oil in a pan over medium heat. Transfer one of the rolled theplas to the pan, cover and cook until lightly browned on the bottom. Add another couple drops of oil on top (optional), and flip the thepla. Cook uncovered until the other side is golden brown as well. Crispy brown spots, slightly puffed up in places but soft to touch is the sign for a perfect thepla!

Remove from heat and serve hot with your favorite condiments - ketchup, chutney, raita, or just plain yogurt.

~Gayatri

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Something fun to make with leftover rice - Thepla! This version of the easy Indian bread is made with cooked rice and...

Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Saturday, October 24, 2015