Meetha Paratha - A Quick Breakfast!
When you have dough leftover from last night and barely have time on hand to make an elaborate breakfast, here is a Paratha which comes to the rescue! Not only is it quick to make but enjoyed by children as well.
- Take 2 cups of Atta (Wheat Flour) and knead it to a smooth dough with enough water. Leave aside covered for half an hour.
- Roll up balls out of the dough while the Griddle heats up on the gas stove.
- Roll out each ball. Spread some Ghee on the Paratha and sprinkle about 2 tsp Sugar ( Or Gur (Jaggery)) and a big pinch of Saunf (Aniseed) on the rolled Paratha. Make a slit from the edge till the centre and roll to form a cone. Press the cone from the top and roll out again to a slightly thick Paratha.
- Cook the Paratha on one side till brown specs appear, then, flip, and cook on the other side till brown specs appear again. Apply ghee on the first side, flip and apply ghee on the second side. And it's done....!
My notes:
As a variation, 1 tsp of grated coconut can be added with the sugar and saunf. It imparts a 'richer' taste to the Paratha!
The Parathas need to be rolled out thick. If rolled out too thin, it starts sticking to the Griddle ( Due to the melting and caramelising of sugar). Not only that, thick Parathas give that extra bite/crunch and bring out the taste of the stuffing.
Once the Parathas are transferred to the Griddle, poking holes over it with a fork or making slits with a knife on it allow the ghee/oil to be absorbed inside, making the Paranthas crispy.
Instead of using the 'cone method' to make the Paratha, one can simply roll out a small round first - thinner on the edges and thick in the middle. Mould it like a cup, add the filling, seal it again by pulling over all the edges, make it into a ball and roll it out again.
Another method to make Meetha Paratha is to knead the flour with some salt, baking soda, ghee and sugar dissolved in warm milk. Make balls, roll them out and fry them on the Griddle. This method doesn't give the best results for me always as the dough tends to become sticky and difficult to roll out at times.
Its best to have these Parathas hot. Once they turn cold, the melted sugar inside hardens and even microwave-ing the Paratha to reheat will not yield the original taste!