Rustic Lentil Parathas and Eco-Cooking
These lentil parathas have evolved over many years, to their current spicy delicious form. They originally started as an attempt to both use up leftover lentils and make something interesting for the kids. My children still love them. Well, I like them too. There is something so enormously comforting about well seasoned crisp flatbreads. With all the spices and seasonings they make a complete meal.
Paratha Love
And we love parathas in all forms. Here are a few more parathas from this site,
Classic Alu Parathas – Potato Stuffed Parathas
My Story of Lentil Parathas
Since I make these with leftover dal or lentils they turn out different every time I make them. They had originated when the kids meals well a lot of them were mass produced. Well, once a week Rajni our helping hand used to mass produce this food.
And one of the staples was a large batch of dal. By the end of the week, the need to make that into something interesting was absolutely essential and thus my lentil parathas were born. The only thing that you need to watch when following my recipe is the moisture content. I usually make them with either these red lentils or this cholar dal. Now they both have very different degrees of soupiness so I adjust the flour accordingly.
Other than that, a few key spices and we are in the lentil paratha business. I finish these with a spice infused brush of olive oil. You can do this ghee if you wish. Just do not over do it. It is much like buttering bread. You want to be uniform but not overdo it.
And next time you have some leftover dal on hand, make lentil parathas. Believe me, you will thank me for the idea.
A very flavorful, sustainable and rustic dish pairing leftover lentil and whole grain flour.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of whole wheat flour (atta) plus extra for rolling.
- 3/4 cup of leftover lentils dal cooked any way
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 tablespoon of snipped thyme fresh or dried)
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons crushed coriander
- 3-4 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
- Oil for frying
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon amchur or lime juice
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Place the flour/atta in a bowl. Add in the lentils, salt, thyme, cumin seeds, crushed coriander and the chopped cilantro and work in the mixture until well mixed. You should have smooth well mixed texture. If it is too dry add a little extra water, and if wet a little more flour.
- Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes or so.
- Break into lime sized balls (you should get about 8. Roll them out using extra flour into 7 inch circles.
- Heat a cast iron pan and place the bread on the pan. Allow the paratha to heat through, and lighten and turn.
- Cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side, and then add a little cooking oil, and cook lightly till crisp and brown, turn and repeat.
- Remove from fire..
- Mix the brushing oil, cilantro, amchur and red pepper flakes. Brush the parathas with this spice mixture before serving.
Slow Cooker White Bean Dip
[…] the refrigerator. The cherry tomatoes are out, so today we enjoyed this with tomatoes and rustic lentil parathas. I have revived and improved this fish curry that I made last year and of course made this mint […]