Sunday, January 18, 2009

Peas Paranthas




I love stuffed paranthas. It reminds me of my dad. He loved stuffed paranthas and being a vegetarian he always ordered this in any Indian restaurant. I can't believe he left us so early in life. Jan 16th was his 61st B'day. Happy B'day Pappa....this is for you. I remember him everytime I makes paranthas and can almost see him at the dining table waiting eagerly. I wish you guys had known him...he was such a sweetheart. The most important thing I learnt from him was always see the good in people and see the positive side of life whenever you're down. I read this food blog a couple of days back where the author was so called "venting" but she said such mean things about such trivial issues with her co-workers that I was shocked. However hard or long your work day was what bitterness do you hold within you that makes you say such terribly nasty shallow things about people who mean no harm. There's a thin line between venting and being downright mean. What a waste of blog space!! After reading her post I thought of my dad and his sweet outlook on life...because of it he was a happy man. Remember people keep the happy thoughts in, throw out the bad ones and use that "hate" word sparingly. Well I have totally digressed from my main point...here is the recipe for paranthas stuffed with peas in my dad's memory.

Ingredients
2 cups peas, cooked in water
2 green chillies
1 tsp cumin
salt to taste
Dough recipe

Grind together the cooked peas, green chillies and cumin with salt to form a thick mixture. Roll out the whole wheat flour dough into a 2 inch thick 6 inch diameter circle.



Add a spoon full of peas mixture in the centre. Fold the dough over it and seal the edges to form a ball. Flatten the ball in some flour and roll gently using flour to prevent sticking or tearing. This can be hard especially since the peas mixture is mushy. I just rolled a much thicker dough than normal and it was still good. So roll the paranthas thick so as to not tear the dough and spill out the filling. Heat a pan. Place the parantha on it. Lightly brown on one side. Turn over. Add oil to the browned side and flip again to bring a golden brown glossy colour. Cook this way on both sides. Do not press the paranthas too much as this makes them hard. Serve hot with yoghurt.

2 comments:

Sharmila said...

Love peas parathas Naina.Haven't made them this winter ... thanks for reminding me. :-)
If you cook the peas mixture a little there won't be any fear of extra moisture or the parathas tearing.
Hope you are taking good care.:-)

Anonymous said...

I really miss him too! My beloved uncle and mentor, He taught me to soldier on in life!

He was happy with simple dal (lentils), potato subji and chapati. Day after day after day.

The next time I'm in a restaurant, I'm going to have a stuffed paratha too to remember him again. Of course, he would expect me to booze with it!