Mooli Ka Paratha

You never know some dishes can be prepared differently until you see them in somebody else’s kitchen. The same happened to  me when I visited one of my friend for Brunch a few months ago. She was supposed to prepare Parathas for me, and since she is an expert in that I had high hopes for the meal. Honestly ! I hadn’t eaten anything but an apple since morning in an anticipation of stuffing myself with her yummy parathas.

So.. She had made Mooli parathas that day with chilled potato raita  and the aroma of fresh hot Ghee was already churning my stomach inside out. When I had the first bite, I was surprised to see that the stuffing was all roasted and very spicy. Although it tasted great, the way I make Mooli Parathas is completely different and I never thought there would be any other way of making them. So there went my pride of knowing all about Parathas .. She told me it’s a very common recipe in Punjab and I was even more ashamed.. L

Anyway, the way I make them is by using the fresh and shredded radish in its raw form, with loads of coriander leaves and some black pepper. It’s a heavenly combo and one of the best ways to incorporate this low fat vegetable in your diet. I have seen many people struggling to get these Parathas right, due to the high water content in radish which spoils the dough when mixed with it. But as always, there is a trick to get the perfect result, which I have explained below in the recipe. 

What you need?

For the stuffing:

• 1 big Radish , shredded / grated
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ cup packed fresh coriander leaves, chopped fine
• 1-2 green chillies, chopped very small ( optional, depends how hot do you like your stuffing )
• A pinch of black pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped small

 For the dough:

• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp yoghurt

*We intend to use only the Water that comes out after squeezing grated radish. Use more plain water only if its required.

How to make?

• First of all,  take grated radish out in a big mixing bowl, and mix salt with it properly. Leave it like that for at least half an hour to an hour. In between, squeeze out the water from it 2-3 times in another bowl. At the end, the grated radish will be all dry and should not release any more water. Keep this aside, not mixing any spices yet
• Now, take the water which you have squeezed out of the radish in another bowl and mix flour and other ingredients and knead into a smooth “not too pliable” dough . Only use more water if required, else the radish water should be sufficient . Keep aside the dough for 20 min or so
• Come back to the grated radish, squeeze one last time any excess water ( I am sure there will still be some ) and mix other ingredients listed under stuffing. Mix gently, if you mix it forcefully like you are kneading it , it will again start releasing water 

• Start making Parathas, by making small balls of the dough, filling the stuffing inside and rolling.  Roast them on the griddle, with little oil  on both sides. Make sure the flame is on low-medium and not on high else the Parathas will get burnt.

Enjoy these Parathas, hot and fresh with chilled Potato raita and pickle.

*Be very careful while rolling the paratha after its stuffed. Roll gently and not rigorously, to get it right since radish can easily break the sides and come out. You will get the idea after 1-2 trials 

Notes

• If the stuffing is still damp, and its breaking out from the Paratha, add some dry flour to it and mix well. Flour will absorb the extra water from the radish
• Don’t leave the stuffing for too long after mixing coriander and other spices, since the longer you leave it will keep on releasing the water. Try and mix everything to the radish just before you are going to make Parathas and  don’t forget to squeeze the extra water one last time.
• Always check salt in the radish mixture after the stuffing is all ready, since a lot of salt gets squeezed out with the water.

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