Paratha Manjula

Find Manjula's Kitchen on the internet and you will have a ton of fun watching her cook Indian vegetarian dishes.  She is kind, calm, happy and knowledgeable, and quite the character.

I learned how to make parathas - a classic Indian flatbread from her videos, and it's easy.  Don't have fresh naan hanging around for that curry you just made?  Make these in a snap.
Dough:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
about 1/2 cup water

about 2-3 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup flour on a plate

Mix the dough ingredients together with your fingers, using only about 3/4 of the water. Add more of the water as needed to make a smooth elastic dough. Knead the dough gently in the bowl for a minute or two to assure a smooth elastic consistency.

Add a few drops of oil to the bowl and roll the dough ball in the oil to moisten the surface. Cover the dough with a damp paper towel and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Now knead the dough for about 30 seconds. Divide the dough into 5 separate balls and roll them in your palm.

Flatten to make a disk. Roll a disk out on a floured surface to be about 3-inches. Use the back of the spoon to spread a dash of oil on the rolled-out disk.

Fold disk in half and oil the top surface of the half moon. Fold the half-moon in half again.

Dip a triangle in dry flour and roll out to about 6-inches, sprinkling with dry flour as needed to avoid sticking. Repeat with remaining disks, one at a time.

Heat a large cast-iron or non-stick skillet to medium-high heat. Fry the parathas dry, one or two at a time. In about 10-15 seconds, the paratha will change color and begin to bubble.

The paratha will start filling with air - flatten with your spatula as they cook.

Flip paratha and spread a bit of the oil on the cooked side, slathering with the back of your spatula. In another 10-15 seconds, flip again. The paratha should have nice golden spots. Remove paratha from skillet and keep warm in a covered bowl, so they do not dry out.

Makes 5 parathas.

Bread

Focaccia

Focaccia is fast, and is a great complement to soups or dishes with a sauce. This recipe is essentially the same I use for pizza dough. You can put herbs and spices right in the dough to flavor pizza or focaccia doughs. Think olive, garlic, rosemary; think Mediterranean.

Wheat Bran, Garlic and Oregano Focaccia
4 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp breadmaker granulated active dry yeast
2 Tbsp. wheat bran
1 tsp dried oregano (or other spice)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1½ cup very warm water
1 Tbsp olive oil

In a mixer fitted with a dough hook and set on medium, mix together the first seven ingredients. Add the water and then the olive oil. Allow the dough to form a ball that has taken up all the flour. At that point, knead on medium-slow speed for 5 minutes. Place 1-tablespoon olive oil in a large bowl. Form dough into a ball and turn into the bowl. Roll dough ball around to assure all surfaces are coated and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit about 1-2 hours in the kitchen. I don’t find that a ‘warm, dry’ spot is necessarily needed, depending on the season. I have never had a problem simply placing the bowl on the counter top and walking away – and we live in New England! But if it is exceptionally cold, just put your bowl in a warmed oven (turned off of course!). After dough has doubled to tripled in volume, turn it out to a greased jelly roll pan or a pizza pan. Spread dough out with your fingers to about ¼ to ½ inch thick. Let rise to about ¾ to an inch thick, another 30 minutes or so. Preheat oven to 425F.

Then punch small holes in the dough with all fingers (as if you were playing the piano) and brush olive oil liberally all over the surface (this gives the foccaccia a nice brown crust). Sprinkle coarse salt, fresh ground pepper and whatever dried herbs you want (rosemary for example) over the surface. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.