Raw Papaya Paratha

Raw Papaya is used in salads, curries or stuffing for parathas – either way it is a great way to eat it as it is very nutritive. This vegetable is used very often in Thai cuisine.

The raw papaya that is shown here, did not have a single seed inside and made my job that much easier. I just had to peel off the skin and grate it. This recipe is from the famous chef Sanjeev Kapoor of Khaana Khazana fame.  It turned out so delicious that I did it a second time and was highly pleased to see it disappear from the serving plates before I could churn out another one!

See here also for the Raw Papaya Salad recipe.

Ingredients:

For the stuffing :

Raw Papaya

Raw Papaya (grated)	About 2 cups
Green chilies (chopped)	1 or 2
Red chilly powder	½ tsp
Jeera/Cumin powder	½ tsp
Garam Masala	1 tsp
Amchur (Dry mango) powder	1 tsp
Salt	As per taste
Coriander leaves (chopped)	2tbsps

You will also need the following:

• Prepared chapatti dough from wheat flour
• And oil for shallow frying

Method:

• Prepare the dough with whole wheat flour as you normally do for making chapattis. It should be soft and pliable.
• Make fairly large sized balls from the dough and keep them aside.

For the Stuffing:

Ingredients

1. First squeeze out the juice as much as possible from the grated raw papaya and place it in a bowl.
2. Roughly crush chopped green chilies and salt together and add this in the bowl.
3. Next add all the powders (red chilly, jeera, garam masala and amchur) and the chopped coriander leaves.
4. Use your hands and mix them well.
5. Take each dough ball, flatten them using your hands or the rolling pin and take a small quantity of the above mixture and place in it (as shown in the pic) and seal it well. 
6. Now using the rolling pin, and dusting the board with wheat flour, lightly roll them into the required size parathas.
7. In the meantime, heat a tawa or a griddle. Wait till the tawa is hot enough and then lower the flame to "low" and place the prepared paratha on it. After a minute, flip it on the other side.
8. Dribble a little oil on the edges and fry them on either side till brown spots appear.
9. Remove and serve hot with plain curds.

Grated Raw Papaya mixture being stuffed in the paratha base

Note:

• The above stuffing is enough for 3 medium size parathas.
• A dollop of home made butter (white butter) placed on this hot paratha tastes excellent. Watch out for the extra calories though. 

Paratha being fried on one side

Paratha almost ready

Wheat Kulcha

First of all I wish to thank Ms. Vidya Nayak Shenoy and  Ms. Preethi Mukesh Rao (my facebook friends) for this wonderful “Wheat Kulcha” recipe. The kulchas turned out very soft and tasty.

Some of you may ask – “What is Kulcha ?  ”Kulcha is a type of Indian flat bread and is a cuisine from Punjab. It is generally made from “maida” (all purpose flour) and baked in an earthen clay oven (tandoor) until golden brown.

Since we all do not have a (tandoor) at home, the method and the ingredients have been slightly tweaked to get the same (more or less) texture. Wheat flour (a healthier option) has been substituted for maida.  And instead of the tandoor, our regular tawa has been used.

I made slight changes in the method of preparing the kulchas from the original recipe. I rolled them into small rotis and fried them like “phulkas”. This way, I could work faster and with ease and they all puffed up nicely. Adding of sesame seeds is optional. Infact, in few rotis, I simply omitted sprinkling of sesame seeds while placing it on the tawa; instead I sprinkled lightly roasted sesame seeds on top of the kulcha after applying ghee! 

But the end result was good. 

 

Ingredients:

Wheat flour	2 cups
Curds	½ cup
Baking soda	1 tsp
Minced Garlic (optional)	2 tsps
Chopped coriander leaves	1 tbsp
Oil	1 tsp
Water	About 100 -150 ml
Salt	As per taste
For Garnishing
White sesame seeds (optional)	About 1-2 tbsps

Method:

1. Mix all the above ingredients except water and sesame seeds in a mixing bowl and then add required quantity of water to make soft pliable dough. If you have a food processor this can be done in a jiffy.
2. Keep the dough covered for at least an hour.
3. Divide the dough into equal sized balls. Roll each ball into a shape of a thick roti.
4. Spray (very little) water on the surface of the roti and sprinkle white sesameseeds on it. (This is optional.)
5. Then place the roti on a hot tawa or griddle with the sesame seed side facing you. After a few seconds, you will notice bubbles on the surface. Immediately overturn the roti with the help of tongs. Keep it for a second.
6. Then with the help of tongs, remove the roti from the tawa with your right hand and the tawa from the flame with your left hand and place the roti directly on the high flame. The roti will instantly fluff up as shown in the picture. Kulcha is now ready.
7. Apply ghee (optional) on the surface of the kulcha while hot. Follow this procedure for the remaining balls.
8. Serve hot.

 

Ingredients - for the Kulcha

Kulcha dough prepared in a food-processor

Kulcha dough ready and  placed in a container 

Kulcha being fried on a tawa/griddle

A puffed Kulcha 

Makes : 12  kulchas (depending upon the size of each ball)

Note:

    

·         If you are not making the kulchas immediately, the dough can be kept in the refrigerator; but make sure that when you make the kulchas the next day, do not thaw the dough to room temperature. The kulchas may not puff-up as it leaves moisture.

·         Kulchas are generally served with “Chole”. It tastes good with any dish with gravy.