Parathas are Indian flat breads made from wheat flour. These are a staple in North Indian cuisine and eaten in every household at all times of the day – breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Stuffing the parathas take these humble flat breads to a whole new level making it a complete meal in itself. The options are endless and you can get as experimentative as you like. Some of the traditional favourites are aloo paratha (potato stuffing), onion paratha (spiced onion stuffing), gobi paratha (cauliflower stuffing) but there are many modern ones too like beetroot paratha, zucchini paratha etc….
The best accompaniment for parathas are raitas or flavoured yoghurt dips and a side of hot, spicy pickles. Make sure to add a dollop of ghee or butter to the parathas…
Children love parathas; it is fuss free eating and make excellent lunch box recipes too. And mothers get to hide all sorts of veggies inside. A winner all the way!
Today’s dish is a rice stuffed paratha – something I had never heard of before till a friend mentioned it in passing the other day. We were chatting about my blog, the onion paratha recipe I had posted and she mentioned that I must try with some leftover rice stuffing. It piqued my interest (reminded me of burritos with lime rice filling) and I waited eagerly for some leftover rice to make its presence known in my refrigerator.
My friend, Alka, mentioned that they use traditional Gujarati spices to flavour the rice but I decided to create my own flavours instead. The result was deliciously fabulous – hot piping parathas with a mildly spiced and fragrant rice stuffing served with a dollop of butter.
So, come on, let’s take out some rice and flour and get cooking – rice stuffed parathas!
Rice stuffed Paratha
Ingredients
- For the dough:
- Unbleached wheat flour/atta – 2 cups
- Salt – to season
- Water – ¾ ths cup add more if necessary
- Ghee – 1 tsp
- For the stuffing:
- Leftover white rice – 1 cup
- Red onion – 1 small finely chopped
- Green chilli – 1-2 finely chopped (you can totally omit this too)
- Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
- Salt – to season
- Chat masala – ¼ tsp
- Coriander leaves – 1 tsp finely chopped
- Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
Instructions
- Prepare the dough by mixing together all the ingredients. The amount of water mentioned is an approximate; you may need to add more water to adjust the dough consistency. Cover with a wet cloth and leave at room temperature for at least an hour.
- For the stuffing, mix the rice, chopped onions and green chilli in a bowl.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the rice mixture to it. On low heat, mix it well and add turmeric powder and season with salt. After 5 minutes, remove the mixture and allow to cool.
- Once cooled, add chat masala and coriander leaves and mix well to combine.
- To make the stuffed paratha, divide the dough into medium sized balls. Roll out to at least 3 inch diameter circles (see the images). Place a little stuffing on one rolled out ball and cover it with the second rolled out ball. Press the sides well to avoid stuffing from leaking out. Dust with flour and roll lightly on top to press the layers together. Be gentle or the stuffing will seep through.
- Heat the tawa/flat pan and place the paratha; cook one side well before flipping over. Drizzle some ghee and flip over again. Cook till the parathas are golden brown and done.
- Serve hot with a dollop of butter.
Hi. I’m new to Aus and yesterday got a pack of flour from Coles. It’s written as wheat flour(unbleached). Is this what’s to be used for puris and chapathis?
What is used for cakes? The maida that we say?
It will be grateful if you can help me out.
Unbleached wheat flour is what we call ‘atta’. Otherwise wheat flour here is generally the white one which is our maida. Its best to visit an Indian grocery store if you are looking for atta and for cakes and baking, the flour that you find in the baking section in Coles would do.
Wow! That sure is an interesting kind of parantha,!
That’s a wonderful stuffed paratha!!! I’m a bigggg time fan of paratha and this one is added to the list now… See my collection here: http://cookingwithsj.com/indian-breads/ 😛
wow…that’s a good collection you have got there
N ‘m gonaa try urs next!!! 🙂
cool…do let me know the experience.
I love it 🙂
yay
Masale bhath in roti! Super idea. 🙂
lol…u can call it so!
Now thats something interesting!!! I have seen parathas being stuffed with pickles, mince, and what not… this is really something unique… Superb post Dhanya!!
thanks elson. The taste and texture was quite similar to having burritos which usually have lime rice in the stuffing.