Sprouts Stuffed Paratha

I always feel responsible when my maamiyaar seems cross. She may have had some disagreement with Jagan. She may be upset that the maid retorted defiantly. Relatives may be giving her grief. She may have an upset stomach. I still feel responsible. Most times I don’t know the reason but because I feel responsible I don’t ask.

I need to know though. So I rewind and play the day’s happenings in my mind stopping to scrutinize at every step –

Did I say the truth?

Did I make seppankezhangu fry?

Did I not react cheerily enough to something?

Did I react cheerily to something?

Last week she seemed particularly morose. I felt I was responsible. I didn’t ask. But I worried. I pondered aloud to Jagan who admonished me for being irrational and dismissed me as an obsessive worrier.

He triumphantly told me later that day “She was unwell. She had had an upset stomach yesterday night and that is the reason she looks dismal. I told you, you are wrong. This is the way you screw up things.” Taking the opportunity, Jagan went on about how my instincts were not always right. I needed to be more chatty, I needed to text her, call her and generally act sweet.

Sweet?! How do ya be that to the Maamiyaar? Somebody please (don’t) teach me.

Hmm, Maybe I am overanxious. Maybe, I am over-reacting to everything.

Knowing it wasn’t me I asked her that night “I heard you were sick. What happened?”

“Was a terrible case of food poisoning. It was the tamarind rice I had at lunch.”

I stutter “Puli Puli sadam? Maybe it was the medhu pakoda we bought yesterday”.

I had made the tamarind rice (puli sadam) the day before.

“No, it must be the Puli sadam. The Puli kaachal in the fridge was too old. I should have thrown it out.”

“Hmm.. Oh” I slink off.

I had not made the puli kaachal. She had. I had used the leftover puli kaachal sitting in the fridge. I had wronged.

She had an upset stomach and I was responsible.

I made these sprouts stuffed parathas in a fit of health consciousness. I realized I wasn’t replacing everything with millets. I wasn’t substituting all purpose flour and granulated sugar with ragi and beetroots. I reckoned a little bit of sprouts stuffed inside parathas would compensate in some way.  

I mixed bean sprouts in with boiled mashed potatoes, minced green chillies and cumin and stuffed that into whole wheat dough balls and rolled them out crunching the sprouts under my rolling pin. Cook the parathas on a hot tawa smearing with oil or butter. Chill leftover parathas and warm the on a tawa just before eating. They taste even better.

Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Makes:  6-8 parathas

Ingredients - Dough

Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
Salt to taste
Water as necessary to make a dough
Oil – 1 tsp

Ingredients – Sprouts potato stuffing

Mixed bean sprouts – 1 cup
Potatoes – 2 large boiled, peeled and mashed
Green chillies – 2-3 minced
Cumin powder – 2 tsp
Coriander leaves – a handful chopped
Salt to taste
Oil/Butter – 6 tbsp for frying the parathas

Method

1.       Prepare the dough. Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Add water little at a time to make a smooth, soft dough. Add oil, knead it it and let the dough ball rest.

2.       Prepare the filling. Combined mashed potato, bean sprouts, salt, minced green chillies, coriander leaves and cumin powder. Mix well and set aside.

3.       Pinch a large lemon sized ball of the dough. Dust your working surface with flour and roll out the dough ball to a small circle. Place a ball of the stuffing inside. Pinch edges of the dough ball together , flatten and roll out again to make a large paratha. You may need to press and crush the sprouts a bit.

4.       Heat a tawa. Place rolled out paratha on the tawa. Cook on medium flame till golden spots appear on the bottom. Flip and cook the other side also to golden brown, smearing oil or butter all around the paratha. Serve hot with yogurt, pickle or gravy of your choice.