Daal waalaa parantha (Fried Indian Flatbread with Split Bengal Gram filling)

Paranthas are my favourite breakfast and there are so many types of paranthas.  Today’s recipe is daal waalaa parantha which is a parantha filled with Split Bengal Gram.  When I was young I used to call it lentils for the horse, a reference to the fact that in India it is fed to horses because of its nutritive value.  It is a good source of calcium, iron and dietary fibre.  So here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Cup             Wheat flour

50 gms          Split Bengal Gram (Chaney ki daal)

1 pinch          Asafoetida (hing)

1 Tsp  Salt

1 pinch          chilli powder

1 pinch          garam masala

1 small          Onion/ Shallot (finely cut)

1 or 2            Green chillies (finely cut)

Water

Ghee (clarified butter) or Oil

Procedure:

Knead flour so that when you make a hole in it with your finger, it doesn’t stick to your finger.

Filling

Take split Bengal gram, add water and boil it with asafoetida.

Take it off the fire when it’s well done and dry all water.  Mix and crush the Bengal gram, so that it becomes a sort of dry paste.

Add salt, red chilli powder and garam masala and mix well.

Add onions and green chillies.  Mix well.  Keep it aside.

Paranthas

Take a small part of it and roll it into a small ball and ensure that there’s no crack in the ball.

Roll this ball in dry flour and flatten it.

Use rolling-pin and flatten the circle further till it is around 4-5 inches in diameter.

Take 1 Tea spoon of the filling and put it on the flattened dough.

Take all ends and close it in the dough.

Roll it in some dry flour and flatten it upside down i.e. the folded end should face the plate.

Use rolling pin to further flatten it and make it into a bigger circle.

Put the girdle on fire.

When it is hot, put the flattened dough on the girdle.

Once it is cooked on one side (it will become somewhat yellowish brown), turn it over and put oil on the cooked side.

After some time, turn it over again and if the other side is cooked oil it as well otherwise turn it back till it is cooked.  Once it is cooked, turn it over and oil the other side (that you’ve not oiled earlier).

After around 1 minute turn it over and let it cook for some time.

Serve it with pickle or/and vegetables or/and plain yoghurt and/or raita and/or dahi pakodiyan and/or Tomato chutney.

I hope that you loved this healthy meal as much as I do.  Enjoy your meal!