“Mop my brow minion”-Shiva Chaudhuri
Hardest things about learning Indian cuisine? Adjusting to a whole new set of spices, and getting the breads whether they be rotis, parathas or naan to come out consistently. My rotis are now consistently puffing, and flavorful and my naan, well, it’s following close behind. Of all the food that Shiva has taught me to make, some that he hasn’t made in years, we only had one disaster and that was our first attempt at potato stuffed parathas that we over-spiced to the point of being totally inedible. Though I am no spice champion, others around me like their food much hotter than I can handle (my friend Ray, requested that I make him pickles with habaneros, I put 5 per quart jar and he insists that they are delicious) I am no wilting flower, so when I say they were too hot to eat, they were nuclear.
Given that my rotis are showoffable and my spice foundation solid, we tried again and this time we got it right.
Spinach Paratha Dough
1 1/2 cups chopped spinach
1 teaspoon carom seeds
2 cups chapati atta
We started by making the spinach paratha dough by grinding the spinach in a food processor until it became pastelike.
Put the spinach in a bowl and mix in the carom seeds.
Add the chapati flour and knead until smooth. You might need to add 2-4 tablespoons of water depending on your spinach.
Wrap in saran wrap and let sit for at least 15 minutes. In the mean time make the potato filling.
Potato Filling for Parathas
2 potatoes boiled, skins removed and mashed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 TBSP salt
2 tablespoons chunky chat masala
1 tablespoon mango powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 small green chili chopped
Once the potatoes are mashed add the spices and mix well. Add in chopped cilantro and mix again.
When the dough is ready, break into large meatball sized balls and roll. Then flatten with your fingers into disks. Fill each dish with 2 tablespoons of the dough sealing the filling in and press down until disks again. Pat each disk in chapati atta flour, and get ready to roll.
Roll them until about as thick as a pita, don’t worry if some of the filling leaks out. At this point you have two cooking options. You can fry these in a couple of tablespoons of oil, or you can dry roast them in one pan, then move them to a second pan where you brush them with oil, which is what we did. Once they are browned on each side they are done, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Food Thinking 