Paratha is a deep-fried Indian flatbread popular in Singapore and Malaysia. The dough is folded multiple times to achieve a unique texture and can include milk, eggs, and ghee. It can be eaten plain or with fillings such as cheese, potato, or spinach.
Paratha is a type of deep-fried Indian flatbread that can be eaten plain or with fillings. The bread is especially popular in Singapore. A version of this bread is also eaten in Malaysia where it is known as roti canai. Whether crunchy or flaky, paratha cooks rely on folding the dough multiple times to achieve the bread’s unique texture.
Bread dough may include just flour, water, and salt, but usually includes sugar as well. Milk and eggs can also be added to the dough. Although bread can be cooked in oil, it is traditionally fried in ghee, a type of ghee popular in Indian cooking. Ghee is also often used for kneading dough and can be added directly to the dough mixture.
To prepare the paratha, the dry ingredients and ghee, if used, are mixed together. Once the mixture is combined, eggs, milk and water can be added. If ghee is not used, water is included with the dry ingredients. The dough is kneaded, either by hand or in a mixer using a paddle attachment, until smooth. Once smooth, it forms into balls.
The balls are coated in ghee, covered and left to rest. In traditional paratha, the dough will rest for at least six hours and can also be refrigerated overnight. If refrigerated, the dough is first allowed to return to room temperature before being kneaded again. Faster versions may only require a short rest time of ten minutes.
After resting and returning to room temperature, the dough is then stretched into thin sheets of paper. The balls can be rolled out with a rolling pin or stretched using your hands, but the Singaporean version, called roti paratha, is traditionally rolled to stretch, much like pizza dough. Once the dough has been stretched, it is folded several times to create airy layers.
Then, the ghee is melted in a pan and each parata is pressed or mashed into the pan to cook. It only takes a few minutes to cook on each side, and the bread only needs to be flipped once. The finished bread is golden brown.
If fillings are added, they are placed in the center of the dough during the folding process and the dough is sealed. Then, it is rolled up before frying. The fillings can be cheese, potato or spinach based and include many different toppings as well as the main ingredient.
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