Surati Paratha

EVENT: MEGA BLOGGING MARATHON#92

THEME: A-Z  FLATBREADS AND MORE – INDIAN FLATBREADS

What is Mega Blogging Marathon?

Well, its a group of bloggers who get together to post a dish for 26 days according to the chosen theme. For more details check out the initiator Srivalli’s page here. For this theme we had a choice of 3:

1. A-Z Indian Flatbreads that are not made using batter e.g. like rotis

2. A-Z Indian Flatbreads using batters e.g. dosa

3. A-Z International Flatbreads.

I decided to opt for option number 1. India has such a huge variety of flatbreads to offer that are made on the stove top, in the tandoor, in the oven, under the grill or fried. Its going to be a challenge to look for flatbreads beginning with all the letters of the alphabet as for this group cannot use batter based flatbreads. However, am up for this challenge.

Part of the family is in Goa. We had been arranging for months to give a surprise to my mother in law for her 85th birthday. Surprised she was, to find us all at the resort waiting for her. She just couldn’t believe that none of mentioned anything about all of coming down to India for her birthday. Her younger daughter and family flew in from Florida, one grandson from Bali, the other from Canada, granddaughter from Dubai, us from Kenya, her sister in law from UK and of course she flew down to Goa with the eldest daughter and son in law. Day 1 excitement over, now to wait for the dinner party on 24th. In the meantime we enjoyed a wonderful walk on the beach and the beautiful sunset.

 

Day 19, wow that’s really fast. For Letter S, I had a few options, S for Sindhi Koki, S for Suran (yam) paratha, have a sheermal recipe already on the blog, or use the word spicy and make a flatbread. Then I remembered that I had bookmarked a recipe from Vaishali’s blog. That recipe caught my attention because it was presented like a sunflower, the stuffed paratha was opened up in that manner.

I googled and didn’t find any other facts about Surati Paratha except for a video that Vaishali had shared on her blog. I was completed intrigued how easily the lady makes the parathas. Its more of a street food flatbread. I decided that I had to make S for Surati Paratha following Vaishali’s recipe.  Take it from me its not as easy as it appears in the video to open up the top layer of the paratha and open it like a flower. Its very difficult.

However, I am so glad I made these parathas as they were absolutely tasty and quite different from the usual stuffed parathas that we all normally have. I just couldn’t get myself to load it up with so much cheese and I enjoyed it without the ketchup as I’m not a fan of it. I reduced the amount of cabbage and added a bit more beetroot as I love beetroot.

Would I make these Surati Parathas again? Yes definitely, but will not really waste too much time opening them up. As you read the recipe you’ll realize what I’m talking about.

SURATI PARATHA

Makes 4

Recipe Source : Ribbons to Pastas

Watch this video before making the parathas

For the dough:

2 cups wheat flour

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp oil

¾ – 1 cup water

For the filling or stuffing:

½ cup finely grated carrot

½ cup grated beetroot

½ cup grated cabbage

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

1 medium potato, boiled, peeled and mashed

¼ – ½ cup grated cheddar cheese

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp garam masala

¾ tsp salt

1-2 tsp chilli sauce

For topping:

4 small fried papad or 2 big ones

½ cup grated cheese

For serving:

some green chutney

yogurt

ketchup/tomato sauce

extra flour for dusting

extra oil for shallow frying

Preparation of the dough:

1. Mix flour, salt and oil in a bowl.
2. Add water and make a soft dough like that of roti.
3. Knead it till its smooth. Shape the dough into a ball.
4. Rub little oil over it.
5. Cover and keep the dough on the side for 20-30 minutes.

 

Preparation of the filling:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl. Don’t add salt till you’re ready to make the parathas.
2. Add salt and mix well just before filling.

 

Preparation of the Surati Paratha:

1. Divide the dough into 4 parts and roll each part into a ball.
2. Divide the filling into 4 parts and try and shape it into a ball by pressing it in your fist.
3. Heat a frying pan or tawa over medium heat.
4. Dust  the rolling board with flour. Take one part of the dough, roll it in the flour and flatten it slightly in between your palms.
5. Roll it into a 3 inch diameter circle.
6. Put one part of the stuffing in the middle.
7. Bring up the edges together to seal in the middle, forming like a money bag.
8. Press gently, dip in the flour and roll gently into a 6-7 inch in diameter circle.
9. Put the rolled paratha on the tawa that is has been smeared with a bit of oil.
10. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes and flip it over.
11. Cook the other side for 2-3 minutes.
12. Drizzle about 1 tsp oil over the paratha, flip and gently press to cook till brown spots appear.
13. Drizzle some oil, flip the paratha and cook till done.
14. Using a pizza cutter, cut 8 wedges of the paratha making sure that you don’t cut through completely.
15. Using a knife lift the upper paratha layer to expose the filling.
16. Gently fold the flaps back to resemble a flower.
17. Add a small fired papad or half a fried papad and crush lightly.
18. Add grated cheese and serve immediately with yogurt, chutneys and ketchup.
19. Repeat steps 4 to 18 with the remaining dough and filling.

 

Tips:

• While rolling the paratha, the first one got torn. I didn’t want to throw it away as it had the tasty filling in it. I left on the side till I finished preparing the other 3. Got back to the broken one, added a bit of flour, mixed it well and rolled it out like a paratha and cooked it. It tasted absolutely delicious.
• I used 2 papads as I did not have the mini ones and I deep fried them properly. I fried one like in the video and it didn’t come out too crunchy.
• Adjust the spices according to your taste.
• Can you serve it without opening? I’m sure you can.. only thing you wouldn’t be able to add is the fried papad and the extra cheese. I guess its ok if you served the papad on the side.

 

A little request:

If you do try this recipe then please either

• add a comment below,
• send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
•  tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
• or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962

 

You may want to check out what flatbreads I’ve made so far for this event:

A for Akki Roti

B for Bhakri

C for Chousela

D for Dalpuri

E for Ekadashi Thalipeeth

F for Fungawela Mag na Paratha/Sprouted Bean Parathas

G for Gulachi Poli

H for Hyderabadi Halwe ki puri

I for Indori Masala Roti

J for Juar Jo Dhodho

K for Kulcha

L for Luchi

M for Makki Roti

N for Nagori Puri

O for Onion and Carrot Ragi Roti

P for Padvari Rotli

Q for Qubani Naan

R for Rotlo

 

Check out what other Blogging Marathoners have made:

Sending this recipe to the following event: