Gobi Paratha (Spiced Cauliflower Stuffed Indian Flatbread)

My life seems to be in a jeopardy these days. one after another problems are just keeping on coming like heavy weight punches...whack, whack, whack. once we think that we are going to be stable and plan to arrrange life with a positive note there comes another blow. I dont know if its only me or it happens to all of you, but it seems like a big black cloud is covering our lives. you might think this is another post to announce one more break but no...a big BOLD NO...this time I choose to be brave, I choose to face everything that tries to diminish my spirit. am going to fight and I am going to face whatever comes our way. With my undivided faith in God I leave everything to him and I will do what he chose me to...to be true to myself and to others surrounding me. Here comes another boquet of thanks for my blogger friends. if you are a blogger or a blog reader you would never know what it means to have prayers from online buddies untill you need it. in distress faith and prayers are the weapons that makes you couragious. so thanks friends for all your support.as a lovely blogger buddy mentions blogging gives us time and space to be oueself and to channel out tensions. I cling to this window of mine to be a part of all your lives...There is no way I can thank you enough and ask you to be with me...the way you always do. Just a small note of thanks to have received all your support.

In between all these miseries  my Laptop also decided to leave me which explains my absence from the blogosphere...yesterday got a new one and here I am connecting to you once again. 

Now back to todays recipe. 

On a day to day basis I prefer to cook healthy (like all of you) and with a crazy-haywired schedule like the last few days i mostly resort to one dish meals. Hubby doesnt like to eat rice for dinner so often I make stuffed paratha. some good fat parathas and a yogurt dip (raita) and you are all set to rock the dinner. better if you make some more to have leftover for next day's breakfast. my kitchen often sees many experiments in this regard. Though we love stuffed parathas but when it comes to Bengali parathas...those refined flour tringle piece of flatbread dipped in ghee gets a stern thumb down from both of us. we much prefer their Punjabi counterparts made with wholewheat flour and stuffed with the goodness of vegetables. by 'healthy' I mean thats how I make my parathas. My best friend who is married to a Punjabi family once told that her in laws dining tables always have a big slab of butter in the center and they simply love to generously slather their parathas with it.but if you read my recipe carefully you will see no use of ghee(clarified butter) and very little oil. 

Though these days all veggies are available the year around but it wasnt the case when we were growing up. we had to wait for winter to taste those fresh peas, cauliflowers or tomatoes. come winter Maa would deny to cook if her fridge was not well stocked with ruby red tomatoes, jade green peas or freshest coriander leaves.and if you go by taste you will also agree that these veggies taste much better in season. now when i run my own household in a big city where everything is available if you have money still I crave those freshest of ingredients, nothing can beat the tender taste.so every winter I love to go to my local wholesale market (Madiwala) to indulge in winter veggie basket. the fresh small new cauliflowers, ripe plum tomatoes, fresh baby carrots or green spinach. last weekend we bought a pair of very cute looking new cauliflowers and made our all time favourite  gobi paratha with it. with my black and deker chopper it hardly takes any time to bring hot warming meal to the table. 

Here is how I made it

Gobi Paratha

(Makes 5 parathas)

Ingredients:

for the stuffing:

grated Cauliflowers: 11/2 cups (please see the note below)

Onion: 1; small

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tsp

finely chopped coriander leaves: 1 tbsp

coriander powder: 1 tsp

cumin seeds:; 1/2 tsp

green chilly: 1

chat masala: 1 tsp

turmeric

salt

oil: 2 tsp

for the dough:

whole wheat flour: 2 cups

ajwain: 1/3 tsp

salt

oil: 2 tsp

warm water

oil: approx. 1/2 tsp for frying each parathas

Method:

First take the flour in a big bowl and mix the ajwain and salt. pour the oil in the middle. mix and then knead with warm water to make a soft but firm dough. knead for 2-3 minutes. cover and let it rest for min 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and chopped green chillies. once it splutter add the finely chopped onion. fry for a couple of minutes and then add the ginger-garlic paste. fry on low till oil separates. mix in the coriander powder and turmeric. mix.

Add the grated cauliflower, salt and little bit of red chili powder. mix and cover. it will leave water and will be cooked in that juice itself. so cook on low by stirring in between.

Once they turn dry add the chopped coriander leaves, chat masala  and check the seasoning. take off from heat and let it cool.

Knead the dough again and divide it in 5 balls.

By pressing in the center to make a bowl like shape. place a big amount of stuffing in the center. bring the sides at the middle and cover the stuffing.

Press and make it flat. dip in flour and keep covered. do the same for the rest.

Now roll the balls with dry flour to get thick round breads. 

First roast the breads on a dry tawa till brown spots appear. smear the sides with little oil and fry till cooked through center. (for a pictorial of how to make stuffed paratha please see THIS).

Keep aside. Repeat for the other four and keep covered.

serve hot with some yogurt raita.

At late afternoon we enjoyed ours with cucumber-onion raita and home made sweet-n-sour mango pickle.

A Homemaker's Note:

The most important aspect of making this dish is grating the cauliflower florets really fine, almost like coarse breadcrumbs. this is very important as a coarse and lumpy stuffing wiill result in breaking of the parathas at the time of rolling. so do your best if you need soft parathas.

Event:

To sujana's Celebrating Regional cuisine.

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