Besan Paratha

I was introduced to Besan Paratha by my paternal grandmother who we all called Badi Mummy. She grew up in Amritsar in Pre Partitioned Punjab and then later moved to New Delhi when she married my grandfather. A lot of what I cook in my home has two equal influences – my maternal grandmother’s Old Delhi and sometimes U.P. style cooking and then my paternal grandmother’s Punjabi, Delhi style cooking. Not to say that they were distinct styles, they definitely had their overlaps too, thanks to what my mother eventually cooked both styles and taught me. But it is this shared culinary knowledge that broadly shapes the kinds of North Indian recipes I cook.

What is Besan Paratha?

This Besan Paratha is not one that uses Besan in the dough, but uses regular roti/chapati aata (dough) which may or may not be salted. The dough ball is rolled out and stuffed with chickpea flour in some form, folded and rolled out again to cook on a tawa or griddle.

The Besan or Chickpea flour stuffed paratha is something Badi Mummy used to make on a whim on some mornings, greasing it generously with ghee that resulted in a lot of wisps of aromatic smoke in the kitchen. I’ve seen her make it in different ways over the years. Even though the above description seems pretty straight forward, she would be playful and would do one thing and another the next time. And in the spirit of this playfulness, I too have adapted her non-recipe for this paratha to make my own version.

The wonders of Besan/ Gramflour/ Chickpea flour

I am not sure where Badi Mummy learnt it, whether it was a typically Punjabi recipe or if she learnt it from someone from another culture. What I do know about her style of cooking is that she would extensively adapt recipes and her cravings to suit her health conditions – which were mainly diabetes and hypertension.

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The need for foods with low glycemic index were constantly something she tried to include in her food. I remember she used to have read a Hindi book called Swadeshi Chikitsa Sar (roughly translated to Indigenous Medicine Repository) which had nuskhe or health advice based on Ayurveda that would be referred for everything in our house, from dry chapped lips to blocked nose. Probably that is where she was prompted to make more recipes with Besan to suit her needs as a diabetic.

Besan or gram flour or chickpea flour has a low glycemic index. And I can think of two other recipes besides this Besan paratha, at the top of my head that my grandmother made very often – Punjabi Kadhi with pakoras and Besan ka Halwa.

Her recent passing during the second Covid-19 wave in India, made me reminisce about the food that she used to make and enjoy; and I find myself making this Besan Paratha now more often.

So what are the different ways of making this Besan Paratha?

I’ve seen Badi mummy make Besan Parathas two ways. One where she would sprinkle besan, ajwain (carom seeds) and spices over a greased and rolled out perha/peda (dough ball) and spread it evenly thereby mixing everything on the dough surface. The other way was where she would add oil or ghee to a mix of besan and spices and seeds to make a paste. The paste was then smeared on the rolled peda and closed shut like a dumpling. Rolled out again and cooked on a hot tawa with ghee or oil. I will share both these ways of making Besan Parthas in a video soon.

Make-Ahead Besan Paratha Mix for a Protein rich Breakfast Paratha

In this post, I am sharing the second method of making a paste of Besan and spices. I have adapted this so that this mix can be made ahead of time. I add kasoori methi to the mix which I don’t remember from her version. The resultant paste can be stored at room temp for up to a week and can be used with normal salted or unsalted roti atta/dough that you may have lying around in the fridge.

Ingredients

Makes 7-10 Parathas; Serves 3-4

Prep Time: 20 mins (from scratch); Cook Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 35 minutes

Equipment – Big wide vessel like a Paraat for kneading dough, Rolling pin, griddle/tawa for cooking

For the Dough/Aata

• Whole Wheat Flour (Aata), 2 cups, plus more for dusting
• Salt to taste (I use around 1/2 teaspoon)(Optional)
• Filtered Water, as needed to knead a soft pliable dough
• Ghee or Oil, 1 teaspoon, to coat the dough

For the Make Ahead Besan Paste

• Gram flour/Chickpea flour (Besan), 2-3 tablespoons
• Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder, 1 teaspoon (or less)
• Turmeric powder, a pinch
• Salt, 1/4 teaspoon
• Carom Seeds/Ajwain, 1 teaspoon
• Dried Fenugreek Leaves/Kasoori Methi, 1 teaspoon (optional)
• Ghee or Vegetable Oil, 1 -2 teaspoons, plus more for cooking

Method

Kneading the Dough/Atta

Start by making the dough/atta. In case you already have atta from earlier, skip to making the Besan paste. In a big paraat like vessel, put 2 cups of whole wheat flour. If you like the roti to be slightly salty, add in the salt too. If not, then adjust salt in the besan paste. I only add salt in the dough when I know I’ll be making stuffed parathas with the dough. Both ways work. Next add in a little splash of water (a few tablespoons, to be more specific, but no one really measures while kneading) at a time, and start mixing it in with your clean hands.

It will be sticky and you will need to get in there, incorporating more dry flour in the sticky bits. Gradually add more water and continue incorporating more dry flour in the vessel. Keep on mixing and you will soon have lumps and some dry flour. Eventually, bring it all together and start kneading, adding a little more water when it is absorbed in the resultant dough.

When the dough is somewhat smooth, knead it just a bit more till it is soft and pliable and springs back on poking. Next drizzle oil or ghee to coat the surface to prevent it from drying and cracking. Finally cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel and let it rest for at least 15-20 minutes. Alternatively, you can transfer the dough in an airtight container and let it rest on the kitchen counter.

Making the Besan Paste Filling

Next, in a bowl, add in besan, salt, kashmiri red chilli powder (or any other variety of chilli powder you use in your cooking), turmeric and mix. Place a teaspoon full of ajwain in the palm of your hand and rub the seeds with your other thumb to release the oils. Tip in the ajwain seeds in the besan mix. Repeat the step by crushing dried kasoori methi leaves in your palm, if using. Mix it with a spoon and add a teaspoon worth of oil or ghee to the dry besan mix. Mix to make a paste and adjust the consistency by adding more oil if needed. We want the past to be spreadable.

Storage of Besan Paste: This paste of besan and spices can be stored covered, at room temperature for a week to ten days. It usually gets used up for us in a week at most. You can put it in the fridge too. But if you are using ghee, you will need to bring it out ahead of time to let the ghee melt.

Make Besan Parathas

Roti Mise En Place: Making any kind of Indian roti starts with the mise en place for me, for it to be a smooth and quick process. I use a chakla, a round platform for rolling pedas but you can use your counter too after cleaning. My roti mise en place consists of the chakla, a wide plate or container with dry flour called paleythan (पलेथन) for dusting, a container with the dough and another with filling if any, the tawa or griddle, a rolling pin, a container or bowl with ghee or oil, a flat turner and roti box or plate lined with layers of kitchen towel, aluminium foil and wax paper for the finished roti or parathas.

Place a tawa, cast iron skillet or griddle on medium heat.

Rolling the Pedas for Besan Parathas

As the tawa heats, pull a large golf-ball sized piece of dough and roll in to a ball. This is your peda/perha/पेड़ा.

Dust the peda in dry flour/paleythan/पलेथन on both sides and roll it out into a somewhat even circle.

Next, place a spoonful of prepared besan paste in the centre and use your fingertips to spread it all across till the edges. With the carom seeds, it feels like exfoliation.

Potli style rolling: You can fold the circle into a dumpling or potli style peda by bringing all the sides together in the centre.

Square shaped rolling: Or you could fold it in a square shape. For a square shape, bring one end to the centre, creating a straight crease on one side. Repeat on the opposite side resulting in a rectangle. Fold the smaller sides by bringing each side to the centre one after the other.

Dust the stuffed peda in dry flour and roll out in a 1/8 inch thick disk. You may need to dust the pedha again with flour so that it does not stick on the surface. It need not be round, don’t worry. Parathas are very forgiving.

Multitasking and Making Rotis

Place the rolled out besan paratha on the hot tawa. Keep the heat to medium to medium low while cooking the besan parathas. We want to cook the unroasted/uncooked besan inside the parathas.

While the Besan Paratha cooks on the tawa, repeat with the process of making the pedas for the next paratha. You will need to pay attention to both the tawa and the dough you are rolling out. Soon you will get in to the rhythm of rolling and cooking at the same time.

Turn the first side after a minute and grease with just a few drops of oil or ghee. Finally, cook each side with more drops of ghee till you see the besan paratha develop brown crispy spots. Take off heat.

Serve hot Besan Paratha on their own, or with your choice of sabzi like bhuna aloo, paneer, phaliyan with a bowl of homemade yogurt and pickle.