“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” – James Beard 

This statement holds true for any kind of bread there is, especially Parathas. There is something deliciously satisfying about hot fresh off the griddle parathas on cold wintry evenings. All I need with it is some salt, a couple fresh green chile and fresh butter, Yum! Short-Cut Ranna (Cooking) in our house on lazy cold evenings usually meant Aloor Pyager Chorchori and Porotha, a few extra would always be made for my dads favorite breakfast of Baashi Porotha and Lonka (One day old paratha with fresh green chilli) the next morning. A ritual every time we were T-few hours away from a family vacations.

Parathas are very popular in India and pretty much every region has a version or two of it. I am calling this Bangali, because so far I have only eaten this shape of paratha in bengali households. Tikona in Bangla means triangle.

Time for Prep: 10 mins     Time to Cook: 15-20 mins    Yield: 10 parathas    Level: Easy

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cup whole wheat flour + more for dusting
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour (optional)
• 1 tbsp ghee or oil as shortening + more for cooking
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Warm water as needed to make dough

Process:

1. Making the dough:
   • In a wide mouth bowl/ food processor mix in the flour and ghee/oil.
   • Then gradually add in the warm water and work the flour to make dough.
   • Knead till the dough is soft, smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands.
   • Cover with damp cloth/paper towel and let sit for 20-30 mins.
2. Rolling the Paratha:
   • Take a golf ball size portion of the dough and roll it into a ball.
   • Dust it with flour and flatten it using your fingers to form a disc.
   • Place the disc on a flat surface and roll it out into a circle around 1/8 inch thick.
   • Brush the surface with a little bit of oil/ghee. This is just to make the parathas flaky, don’t use too much oil, just a drop or two and spread it out.
   • Fold into half to make a semi-circle
   • Brush surface with a little bit oil/ghee
   • Fold again to make a quarter of a circle.
   • Dust it with a little flour and roll it into a triangle shape (roughly) around 1/8 inch thick.
3. Cooking the Paratha:
   • Heat griddle to medium-high heat (I usually test by waving my palm over the griddle to feel if its hot enough). If your using one of the electric griddle with temperature control, heat griddle to 375-400F.
   • Toss one of the rolled paratha on a heated griddle.
   • Flip when it begins to puff a little.
   • Press down the sides with a spatula to ensure they get cooked too. It will ballon up a little at this stage.
   • Brush a little oil/ghee and flip.
   • Again press down to ensure corners are cooked.
   • When you see a few dark spots forming here and there, on both sides, take it off the heat.

Notes:

• My mom says that cooking the rolled side (top part touching the rolling pin) first results in better parathas.