Gobi Paratha – Cauliflower Stuffed Flatbread

I made these gobi parathas last weekend for lunch and they ought to be the simplest, most basic gobi parathas around but they were out-of the world. Really. I am saying this because Jagan asked for these parathas again for dinner the same day and he is never fond of vegetarian food. They were delicious. I wanted to mince the cauliflower and I started out with a knife but soon got impatient. So I tried pulsing it in the mixer and you know what, it’s so much easier and so much better. I wanted teeny tiny florets, but when I minced it in the mixer I ended up with a fine cauliflower crumble – somewhat like breadcrumbs but with teeny florets here and there.

I somehow felt this cauliflower crumble stuffing was more flavourful and tasty, more than the parathas with those teeny tiny florets. Don’t skimp on the butter(or ghee) while cooking the parathas. The butter (ghee) is what makes a stuffed paratha so special. So go ahead, smear it on.

Prep time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Makes: 10-12

Ingredients – Paratha

Wheat flour – 2-1/2 cups
Salt – a pinch
Oil – 2 tsp
Water as necessary
Butter/Oil/Ghee – 2 tsp for each paratha

Ingredients - filling

1 Medium Cauliflower – rinsed and cut into florets
Red chilli powder – 1tbsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Oil – 3 tsp

Method

1.      Prepare the dough first. Take the wheat flour in a medium bowl. Add salt and oil and mix to incorporate. Then add water slowly little at a time and knead to a soft, smooth dough. Set aside. Let the dough rest covered till you make the filling.

2.      For the filling, first rinse the cauliflower, pat dry and cut into florets. Take the dried cauliflower florets in a mixer/grinder in batches and pulse to get them minced. It’s important to just pulse or the texture will be lost. You’ll have a coarse minced cauliflower mixture.

3.      Heat a pan, add oil and when hot add the minced cauliflower. Saute for a minute. Add red chilli powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder and salt and mix well. Cook covered for 5-8 minutes ill cooked through and fragrant. Uncover and cook for a further 2 minutes. Switch off and let cool.

4.      To make the paratha, pinch a lemon sized ball of the dough and roll out using a rolling pin to a small disc. Place about 2 tbsp of the filling/stuffing in the centre and bring together the edges of the paratha towards the centre and pinch together to enclose the stuffing. Now roll out this stuffed paratha gently to a larger disc, neither too thick nor too thin. Dust the rolling surface with flour to avoid the paratha sticking and tearing.

5.      Heat a tawa and add 1 tsp of butter/ghee/oil to the pan. When hot, reduce heat to low and place the paratha on the tawa. Keep heat at medium-low for the best golden parathas. Smear the remaining ghee on the top surface of the paratha and flip after a minute or 2. Cook till both sides are nice and golden. You may drizzle extra butter or ghee while making the parathas. Continue to make parathas with the remaining dough and filling. Remove from tawa and serve hot with yogurt and pickle.