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Entree, Seasonal, simple, vegetarian  /  March 21, 2017

For the love of Parathas

by Sakshi Kapoor

I have a vivid memory from my childhood of being propped up on the kitchen counter while my mom or my grandma cooked parathas (Indian flat bread). I could start eating pretty early in the morning as the gentle winter sun streamed in through the window bathing the stove top in golden light.

carrot and peas stir fry with flatbreads
Hot parathas served with gajar matar ki sabzi

Coming from a Punjabi family, most breakfasts consisted of a seasonal sookhi sabzi (vegetable stir fry) and a couple of beautifully done golden parathas.

Parathas in their various Avatars!

Besides these so called ‘plain’ parathas there were parathas with namak and ajwain (salt and carom seeds) served with mix fruit jam or even ketchup. They were the go to snack for my mom to prepare when she found us kids hungry at some unusual time of the day or when we refused to eat anything else. A simple salty ajwain paratha always seemed to satiate our hunger. On weekend mornings while we waited for our favourite cartoons to start, we would be treated to stuffed parathas filled with spiced potatoes or finely grated cauliflower or shredded radish or boiled chana dal, topped with butter, and when lucky we’d find freshly churned homemade butter- a beautiful creamy white in color, along with a serving of plain homemade yogurt.

Besan Paratha recipe
Flaky goodness of a Besan Paratha cooked low and slow

Sometimes the parathas were triangular, sometimes layered, sometimes they had lachhas (rings) and were flaky and sometimes they were square.

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Homemade yogurt or Dahi has been a standard with stuffed parathas as it cools down the steaming hot parathas to a perfect temperature – just right to not burn our tongues. As we grew up and could handle spicier things we started devouring them with pickles, most of them homemade.

Come September, the heat and humidity post monsoons would subside in Delhi, cooling it down and bringing in new vegetables in the markets. Cauliflower, or phool gobhi in Hindi, is the best that time of the year. If you think this is a boring vegetable- you need to try the gobhi mattar (cauliflower and peas stir fry) with paratha cooked up in my mother’s kitchen. Not just this, parathas stuffed with a spicy mix of gobhi, onions, ginger, garlic and coriander would be at their best form till late spring months.

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Winter (and a delicious range of Parathas) is coming!

As it would became colder, our parathas slowly turned to the greens. The dough would now have the best seasonal palak (spinach), baathu (also called fat-hen) and methi (fenugreek leaves) mixed into it. My brother and I found ourselves breaking our own records at how many fresh parathas we could gobble. The greens we would otherwise hesitate to eat in other forms would be allowed on our plates. The season also brought aloo methi (potatoes with fresh fenugreek) which has become my favourite dish to complement the parathas. If it was post diwali, we would find creamy melted khoya barfi in our parathas!

Rotis served with Beans thoran stir fry
Beans thoran with Paratha

To those who make the best parathas!

My Masi (maternal aunt) was someone who had rasa in her hands. Her visits meant an unlimited supply of delicious food and a friendly but firm takeover of the kitchen that translated into a forced holiday for my mother. She made some of the best parathas I’ve ever had. Crispy and flaky on the outside and, soft and steamy on the inside; always with just the right amount of ghee or oil. The precision and earnestness with which she cooked, making sure each part of the flatbread was a lovely golden brown, is something I haven’t seen in anyone else. Needless to say, her parathas were always in high demand!

The other person whose hands are magical is my grandmother. The opulence of ghee on her parathas kept us full well past afternoon. Lately, she’s begun to prop herself on the kitchen slab, just as I would as a child, to make parathas as she can’t stand for too long. Cooking food for us is her way of expressing her love. She often makes a Besan Paratha that is good on its own or with sabzi, dahi and pickle

grandma's cookimg
Grandma and my mom in the kitchen in the morning

But my mom still takes the cake! Her everyday parathas that are just right, the perfect thickness with just enough oil or ghee. She still wows me every time when she starts dishing out gloriousness after gloriousness in the name of this humble Indian bread.

As I sit and write this in Dubai on a Saturday spring morning, I am craving for some of these parathas. Oh how I would love to have parathas by any of these three women to satisfy my hunger.

crispy paratha with gajar matar

No wonder I came to love breakfasts since my early childhood, because they mostly consisted of  delicious parathas made by the most amazing home cooks!

Homemade Fenugreek flatbread
Paneer Paratha serving suggestion

Check out some delicious Paratha recipes on Kitchenpostcards!

  • Methi Parathas and the art of the pedha
  • Homemade Fenugreek flatbread
  • Gajar Matar ki Sabzi
  • crispy paratha with gajar matar
  • Bathua Paratha
  • Three parathas or flatbreads in a bowl with achar
  • Mooli Paratha – Daikon Radish Stuffed Flatbread
  • mooli paratha
  • Gobhi ke Parathe
  • Easy Gobhi Paratha recipe
  • Besan Paratha
  • Besan Paratha recipe

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  • breakfast paratha
  • childhood
  • family
  • Indian flatbread
  • lachha paratha
  • memories
  • Namak ajwain paratha
  • paratha
  • Pironthi recipe
  • punjabi paratha
  • square paratha
  • triangle paratha

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14 comments

  • Debra
    March 26, 2017

    Alu paranthas are my favorite! When made by a loved one there’s nothing better. Now I’m craving them! ❤

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    • kitchenpostcards
      March 27, 2017

      Thank you for stopping by 😊 Agree with you, nothing like the satisfaction of a warm home made meal 🥘

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  • Pizza from Scratch | Kitchenpostcards
    April 20, 2017

    […] region, northern and eastern Africa, middle east and finally south Asia have one thing in common; a flat bread made either from wheat or other fermented grains paired with meat, vegetables and lentils. These […]

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  • When the spouse cooks dinner: Simple homemade Egg rolls | Kitchenpostcards
    May 13, 2017

    […] usually use leftover roti or parathas to make these, but this time we bought whole wheat pita bread from the supermarket. If you want to […]

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    July 2, 2017

    […] other Indian flat breads? check out […]

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    July 23, 2017

    […] are great anytime of the day- as a breakfast spread on your favourite breads, with a warm parantha or as a snack time […]

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    December 9, 2017

    […] love for parathas is not new. I have spoken about it earlier and have deep respect for those who make rotis/chapatis/parathas for their loved ones every single […]

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    Reply
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    February 7, 2018

    […] And while we enjoyed numerous Cauliflower (phool-gobhi in Hindi) based recipes like Gobhi paratha or Pakore (gram-flour fritters), this recipe was often made to lift the humble Gobhi Sabzi to a […]

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    March 18, 2018

    […] For the Love of Paranthas  […]

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  • Of Smoothies and Smoothie bowls | Kitchenpostcards
    March 19, 2018

    […] my Mother’s only breakfast that she would have before she stepped out for work. She carried a paratha which she could have at her desk once she reached […]

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    March 20, 2018

    […] with hot chapatis, parathas or […]

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    March 22, 2018

    […] my Mother’s only breakfast that she would have before she stepped out for work. She carried a paratha which she could have at her desk once she reached […]

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    April 29, 2018

    […] For the Love of Paranthas […]

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  • Green Peas Parantha and Dilli – a foodie’s delight! | Kitchenpostcards
    May 11, 2018

    […] For the love of Parathas […]

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