Lachcha Paratha (Layered Indian Flat Bread)

There are varieties of layered Parathas; all differ in the process of layering the "skins" of the dough. In Lachcha Paratha the whole process is little complicated as compared to other types of layered Parathas.

Here I have explained only one type of layering to make Lachcha Paratha, but sooner other types will also be included in my blog.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups wheat flour
• 2 cups maida
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 tbsp cooking oil
• ½ cup fresh mint (pudina) leaves
• 1 cup of ghee/cooking oil for frying

Method:

• Mix wheat flour, maida, salt, 4 tbsp cooking oil and pudina (mint) leaves. Knead into dough by adding warm water. Cover with moist cloth and keep aside for 20 minutes.
• Add 1 tbsp of cooking oil gradually to the dough, kneading constantly until soft and smooth dough is obtained. Keep aside for 10 minutes.
• Divide all the dough into equal sized balls (about 10-12).
• Flour a clean surface and roll each ball out into a circle about 6” in diameter.

• Apply 1 tsp oil evenly over upper side and dust dry maida over the surface.

• Fold disc into a finger shaped structure (fold the disc in the same way as we make paper fans).

• Coil this into a spiral conical shaped structure (Pedha or Blob).

• Flour the rolling surface lightly and very gently roll out the spiral blob (pedha) into a flat circle about 7-8” in diameter. Refrigerate these flat circles for about 15 minutes on butter paper.

• 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 on the top and spread well over the surface of the paratha. Flip again and drizzle some more ghee on this surface too. The paratha is done when both sides are crispy and golden brown.

• Serve with Chicken Masala or Fried Gosht (Mutton) or Meat Kebabs and chutney.

Do You Know?

Gali Paranthe Wali or Paranthe wali Gali, (literally "the by lane of fried bread") is the name of a narrow street in the Chandni Chowk area of Delhi, India, noted for its series of shops selling paratha, a fried Indian bread, and now a popular culinary destination.

Chandni Chowk was established in 1650 and was built along with the Red Fort under the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan.

Earlier this lane was known only for its silverware shops, before the Parantha shops moved in, first in the 1870s.

50 years back the paranthas were just of 3-4 types of the usual aloo gobi and matar (potato, cauliflower and peas respectively), but today we can find almost 20 varieties of paranthas including Kaju and Badam Paranthas. Mix parantha is something to look out for. It is stuffed with a little bit of everything, from aloo, gobi, matar, tomato and paneer to cashew, almonds, pista, radish and papad. Papad is a fried accompaniment to traditional meals, it is like chips. The paranthas are fried in pure ghee in cast iron pans and are served to the patrons steaming hot accompanied by a mind-boggling variety of chutneys, vegetable pickles and raitas.