Flaky Plain Tawa Paratha Recipe (Whole Wheat Indian Flatbread)
Plain Tawa Paratha is an unleavened pan-fried Indian flatbread made using whole wheat flour. It’s prepared in a lot of households almost daily.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (gehu ka atta)
- 2 teaspoons ghee or oil, plus more for frying the paratha
- 1 teaspoon salt
- warm water as required
Instructions
Make The Dough
- Add flour, ghee, and salt to a large mixing bowl (or a parat).
- Mix well using your fingers.
- Add warm water to the bowl little by little and knead to make a soft dough.
- I used approximately ½ cup of water for 2 cups of flour. The amount of water used to knead the dough will depend on the quality of the flour. So do not add all the water at once. Go slow, you don’t want sticky dough.
- Knead the dough for 3-4 minutes until soft and smooth. If it is not smooth, the paratha will not come out well.
- Cover the dough using a kitchen towel and keep it aside on the counter for 30 minutes.
Roll The Paratha
- Divide the dough into 8-9 lime size balls. If you are a beginner, measure and divide so that your paratha are the same size.
- Take one dough ball and roll it to make a smooth round. Slightly flatten it in between your palms.
- Keep it on the rolling surface and dust lightly with dry whole wheat flour.
- Roll the dough using a rolling pin to make a 4-inch circle.
- Brush oil or ghee on the circle and fold the sides to make a semi-circle.
- Brush oil or ghee again and then fold to make a triangle.
- Dust and roll to make a 5-inch triangle.
- Paratha is rolled slightly thicker than the roti, approx ⅛th of an inch. Try to keep the edges slightly thinner than the center.
Cook The Tawa Paratha
- Heat a tawa (griddle) over medium heat.
- Transfer the rolled paratha to the hot tawa.
- Cook undisturbed until golden brown spots appear on the bottom side.
- Flip and cook undisturbed until brown spots also appear on the other side. Brush with 1 teaspoon ghee or oil.
- Flip again, brush it with 1 teaspoon oil or ghee, and cook until nicely browned. Keep pressing it with the back of a spoon, especially on the sides, so that the plain paratha cooks nicely from the inside as well.
- Serve hot.
Video
Notes
In India, we use a utensil called parath to knead the dough. It’s a large flat plate with high edges. It makes the kneading process quite easy.
You can use a stand mixed fitted with a dough attachment or a food processor to knead the dough.
When making parathas for everyday use, I skip adding ghee and salt to the flour and make these with just whole wheat flour. Having said that, adding a little ghee and salt makes them flakier.
Brush the oil or ghee generously to get the layers separate.
Wipe the skillet with paper tissue after making 3-4 parathas to prevent the burnt flour from sticking to the next paratha.
Nutrition
Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 1164mg | Potassium: 218mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 2mg
