I
was a child growing in eighties. In those times doodarshan
would run movies
from the sixties and seventies on the weekends. The mother of the
hero in those movies would be an aging woman clad in white sarees,
who would stitch for a living and inevitably cook her
son's favourite aloo
paratha and gajar halwa with
her own hands.
Being
raised in a Maharashtrian household aloo paratha was never a part of
our platter. But now that I had heard of it, I was dying to taste it.
My mother borrowed its recipe from one of her friends and paratha
made a grand filmy entry in my home.
Over
a period of time, I have fell head over heels in love with parathas.
It is filling, tastes delicious and is super healthy.
Of
all the parathas that I have tasted, the best one was the one I had
at Amritsar. The stuffed aloo paratha was baked in the tandoor and no
matter how much I tried I couldn't find that taste in any other part
of the world. I knew there existed a parathe wali galli in Chandni
Chowk area of Delhi. But I couldn't locate it till date. When you
travel by those tourists bus in and around Delhi, the roadside dhabas
and joints will fleece you of your money. You order a paratha and
they serve it dal, saag and then charge you triple the amount of
paratha citing the price of dal and saag which you had never ordered
in the first place. I have travelled almost the entire country and
fortunately have not come across of such corrupt, unethical practice
anywhere else.
Another
version of paratha comes from the south of India and is named as
banana paratha. The first time I read its name was at the Mango Tree
restaurant at Hampi. I was intrigued. I hadn't heard of banana
paratha and decided to
be adventurous and
taste it. It was served with a bottle of honey. Believe me, this
Banana Parota, as it is called in the south melted in my mouth. The
smooth hot texture of the mashed banana dipped in honey was heavenly.
We
keep experimenting with parathas at our home. Here is one version
which I simply devour – Dhepare.
Ingredients
2
cups bajra flour, ¾ cup wheat flour, 2 spoon dahi, 1 cup chopped
methi, I spoon chilli paste, 1 spoon sesame seeds, salt, a pinch of
sugar, 1 spoon oil, hing
Method
Mix
all the ingredients together. Knead the dogh. Make small balls. Roll
the parathas and roast it on the tawa.
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