I doubled up in surprise when a few years back my sweet friend P told me her cook in the US makes Avocado Parathas! Firstly, I had never heard of parathas with avocados. I couldn’t imagine for the life of me what they would taste like. Secondly, I thought about the poor Spaniard who first discovered them. The thought of what we desis are doing to his wonder fruit, must make him turn in his grave.
Now, I do not eat avocados often. I have nothing against them. Just that it is hard to find locally grown options here in Hong Kong. Eating the imported avocados all the way from Spain or the US makes me cringe at the thought of the carbon footprint it creates. So, it is very rare that I buy them and whenever I do, parathas happen. As most of us would know, avocados have what the nutritionists call the “good fat”. While on the topic, here is a little trivia about Avocados I found on Reader’s Digest.
It’s Great for the Lunch Box
Coming back to the parathas. Due to the “good fat” parathas made out of avocados are soft and require very little additional fat like ghee or butter. Unlike most parathas, they remain soft long after being cooked. Therefore, they make for great lunch box options too! I took advantage of the fresh methi (fenugreek leaves) that is abundantly available in winter and decided to throw some in along with fresh mint leaves. Feel free to add just avocados or other greens available in your kitchen. The dough can be prepped the night before. Make sure you keep it out of the fridge for 15 minutes before cooking.
For the detailed recipe, you may have a look at the simple tutorial video.
If this is the first time that you are making parathas, do not stress about the shape. That is a thing of practice. I hardly make rotis and parathas myself. Whenever I do, they never turn out the perfect circle until I have rolled out a few. As long as they are thin, and cook evenly, these avocado parathas will taste great. Make the most of winters and enjoy these yummies with a hot cup of chai during breakfast.
Ingredients
- Wholewheat Flour(Aatta)-3 cups
- Fully ripe Avocados,peeled and cubed- 2 cups
- Methi,finally chopped-1 cup
- Mint leaves, finely chopped-1/2 cup
- Turmeric powder-1 tsp
- Ajwain(caraway seeds)-1tsp
- Kalonji (onion seeds/black caraway)-1tsp
- Salt-1.5tsp or as per taste
- Water-1/2 cup to be used as required
- Ghee or Oil for shallow frying the parathas
Instructions
- Take all ingredients except ghee and water in a deep and wide bowl convenient for kneading
- Using both hands mix all ingredients together with the dough breaking the avocados into the mixture with your fingers while you knead
- Halfway through, wet your hands with very little water and continue to knead till you get a smooth homogeneous dough typically softer than the usual roti dough. Be very careful while adding water as you do not want the dough to be too sticky which would make it harder to roll out
- The moisture from avocados and the greens is enough to bring the dough together so it would need very little water
- Once done, cover the bowl with a lid and let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes. This helps it smoothen out and extremely pliable
- After 20 minutes , place a tava or flat thick bottomed skillet on the flame while you roll out a tennis ball sized dough into a thin , round paratha. Make sure the pressure on the rolling pin isn't too strong else the paratha wouldn't roll out evenly
- When the iron skillet is hot, reduce the flame to medium high and carefully place the paratha on the pan
- Once you see air bubble start to form, flip it over till bubbles form again, then smear 1 teaspoon of ghee along the periphery of the paratha and on the surface;cook gently pressing down with a spatula till the paratha starts to puff up. This takes 15-20 secs
- Flip and cook the other side similarly making sure you do not over cook or burn the paratha
- Drain it on a kitchen towel to soak excess oil and enjoy with a side of freshly set yogurt, mint chutney or even ketchup and a hot cup of masala chai
[kkstarratings]
1 Comment
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July 29, 2020 at 5:29 pm[…] use low fat butter if you are counting calories. And if you want a no ghee option too, check out my Avocado paratha recipe […]