Pudina Paratha (Mint Pan-fried Flat Bread)

This leafy-layered paratha is made with fresh mint leaves. Whole mint leaves are kneaded in a mixture of wheat and gram flour.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup gram flour (Besan)
• 1 cup pudina (mint) leaves
• 2 green chilies finely chopped
• ½ tsp chat masala
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain) roasted
• 2 tbsp cooking oil for dough
• 1 cup ghee (clarified butter) or cooking oil to pan-fry parathas

Method:

• Follow Making Paratha - Method II
• Mix the wheat flour and besan.
• Add 2 tbsp cooking oil, carom seeds, chat masala, green chilies, pudina leaves and salt to taste and mix well.
• Knead the flour mix into smooth, firm dough and keep aside in refrigerator for ½ hour.
• Divide the dough into equal sized balls.
• Flour a clean surface and roll each ball out into a circle about 4” in diameter.
• Sprinkle some dry wheat flour over it (flattened dough ball). Now roll it into a finger shaped structure. Coil this into a spiral.
• Flour the rolling surface lightly and very gently roll out the spiral into a flat circle about 5-6” in diameter.
• Heat a griddle and put a paratha over it. Flip the paratha when you see tiny bubbles rising on the surface of the paratha. Drizzle a bit of ghee/oil on the top and spread well over the surface of the paratha. Flip again and drizzle some more ghee/oil on this surface too. The paratha is done when both sides are crispy and golden brown.
• Serve with Aloo sabji and/or any other side dish.

Do You Know?
Raw ajwain smells almost exactly like thyme because it also contains thymol, but is more aromatic and less subtle in taste, as well as slightly bitter and pungent. Even a small amount of raw ajwain will completely dominate the flavor of a dish.

Strong aroma of ajwain is enhanced by toasting or frying. Since most aroma compounds in ajwain are lipophilic and dissolve much better in fat than in water,frying in butter not only enhances the fragrance because of the high temperature, but also extracts the flavour to the fat, hence it can be dispersed throughout the food efficiently.