Dal Parantha

Looking for a way to use up left over dal. Try this delicious dal parantha & your family will never guess that leftovers hit them with these flavours they’ll relish..

Ingredients 2 cups whole wheat or atta flour 1 red onion chopped 1 cup left over dal salt to taste ghee or oil for smearing on parantha

Spice Mix ½ tsp paprika or cayenne pepper ½ tsp carom seeds, crushed ½ tsp dry cilantro powder ½ tsp dry mango powder 1 tsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped finely

Serves 4 Pots n pans Marble rolling stone Rolling pin skillet

SOS No left over dal, no problem. I have a confession to make. Sometimes I ‘ll make regular dal just so I can make dal parantha.

Method

1. In large bowl, combine flour, dal, onions, spices & salt. Using a fork, combine ingredients together till flour comes together in a ball. SOS No need to knead flour nor add water for this spiced lentil Indian flat bread.
2. Heat skillet.
3. Make round balls of flour about 1.5″ in diameter, and press into flour before rolling on stone. Don’t worry if your parantha is not a perfect circle. This is a rustic flatbread & the imperfection just adds to the charm. SOS While the flour prevents the parantha from sticking to the stone, use flour sparingly otherwise the dust will burn on your skillet.
4. Place rolled parantha on skillet & cover with lid. Flip over when you see white spots on parantha which indicate one side is cooked.
5. Let the other side cook. Now drizzle ½ tsp ghee on one side, Flip over drizzle ½ tsp ghee on other side. If you like your parantha on the more roasted side, you can add any oil on top of ghee.
6. Wait till parantha turns golden brown. Take off stove. .

Featured Spice
Ajwain or carom seeds lend these dal paranthas their almost thyme like flavour. Once you start introducing ajwain in your diet, there’s no looking back—take it from me,, you’ll be hooked for life.

Health benefits
Ajawin seeds contain an essential oil which is about 50% thymol which is a strong germicide. Thymol is also used in toothpaste and perfumery. In India the seeds are used as a household remedy for indigestion and colic, especially for children and used in poultices to relieve asthma and arthritis

Fun facts
Ajwain seeds have aphrodisiac properties and the Ananga Ranga prescribes it for increasing a husband’s enjoyment in his middle years. If you’re a smart wife, you’ll introduce ajwain cleverly in your husband’s diet early on for maximum satisfaction 🙂

Suggested Pairing
I like to serve dal parantha with a little mango pickle and some yoghurt, But you can easily have these lentil spiced flatbreads by themselves. On a cold winter’s day they make a complete meal, I’ve also served them cut into wedges as appetizers to the utter and complete satisfaction of my guests!

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