Stuffed Indian Bread aka Paratha for your Breakfast

Paratha is a stuffed flatbread made with whole wheat flour cooked commonly for breakfast in North of India. It tastes delicious when paired with butter, pickle, chutney or curd. My mom makes variety of parathas which are nicely stuffed with very thin layer of dough.

Aloo/ Boiled Potato Paratha

Aloo Paratha is one of the most common form of paratha which is made across India and widely available at eateries on highways too. Loaded with homemade white butter or Amul butter it tastes really good. I like it when it has lots of onions and green chillies. The stuffing is made with boiled potatoes, onions, green chillies, ajwain, grated ginger, amchoor and salt. It is very easy to make as the stuffing is not watery and rolling it doesn’t damage the dough. Ajwain is good for digestion.

Vegetable Parathas

Punjabi’s and North Indians make parathas filled with seasonal grated vegetables too like cauliflower, radish, carrot, green peas, onions etc. The best way to use the vegetables for the stuffing is to drain the water from vegetable by squeezing after grating them. Vegetable parathas tastes delicious when you add green chillies, amchoor, grated ginger and amchoor to the stuffing. Onions can be optional in these. I don’t add as the original taste of the vegetable is lost with onions.

Innovative Paratha

You can make parathas with innovative stuffing as well like grated broccoli, raw papaya, green garlic, boiled chana dal etc. For the raw papaya stuffing, grate the papaya one night before, add salt and keep it aside. It will soften the papaya when you use it for the stuffing in the morning. Add onions and you will surely love it.

Green garlic paratha has the outstanding aroma of garlic. It is similar to green onions and is available in winters.

Leftover Vegetable Paratha

You can use cooked leftover vegetable for the stuffing of paratha. Just add a little salt to taste, ajwain and amchoor. You can use paneer bhurji, aloo gobhi, methi aloo, methi paneer, aloo matar etc to fill your paratha. Just before stuffing lightly mash the cooked vegetable with a fork.

Leftover Dal / Lentil Paratha

We also make leftover dal paratha quite often. Any dal can be used for this quick and healthy paratha. I even use Rajma! Just knead the dough with leftover dal, add a little oil, salt and ajwain. Add water only if you need.

Green Leafy Vegetable Paratha

You can make super healthy green leafy vegetable parathas as well. Finely chop or puree methi or palak or bathua and knead it in the flour with salt, chillies, ajwain and oil. These are packed with vitamins and minerals and perfect for kids too.

Healthy Version of Paratha

To avoid oil you can make paratha in Tandoor or ulta tawa. It is full of flavour minus the oil.

My favourite is Raw Papaya Paratha and Mooli/Radish Paratha. My husband loves Paneer Paratha and my son is crazy about Aloo ka paratha. Which one is your favourite?