Being stationed in North India, which can unarguably be regarded as “land of parathas”, I come across every possible kind of parathas to be imagined and you start to doubt if anything more can be done with them. Today, however, I present you a very different and one of its kind of paratha,  with a history going back decades in the past and known as Mughlai Paratha. As the name suggests, adored by the Mughals, ideally Mughlai Paratha is stuffed with egg, mutton keema and sometimes with fish minces to be served with salads and potato curries. Pretty heavy for being categorized as a snack, mughlai paratha is  indeed a fulll fledged non-vegeterian dish which finds a huge fan following in East India, particularly in and around Calcutta. Try it out to know that Parathas can be more than what we can imagine.

Ingredients to serve 2 :

For the Paratha :

1. Plain flour – 1½ small cup
2. Egg – 2
3. Finely chopped onion – 1 (small)
4. Finely chopped fresh coriander leaves – 1 tbspoon
5. Finely chopped green chili – 1
6. Roasted pea nuts – 1 tbspoon (break them into halves)
7. Bread crumbs – 2 tbspoon
8. Salt to taste
9. Cooking Oil – 7 tbspoon

For Spicy Potato Mixture :

1. Potato (cut into small cubes) – 2 (medium)
2. Chopped tomato – ½
3. Cumin seed – ¼ teaspoon
4. Pinch of asafoetida
5. Pinch of turmeric
6. Cumin powder – ½ teaspoon
7. Coriander powder – ½ teaspoon
8. Red chili powder – ¼ teaspoon
9. Salt to taste
10. Mustard oil – 2 tbspoon

Procedure :

For making Spicy Potato Mixture :

Heat mustard oil in a kadai over medium flame. Add asafoetida and cumin seeds, let the seeds splutter. Add washed potato cubes, salt and turmeric powder. Fry the potatoes till they are half cooked. Then add chopped tomato and cook till they get mashed. Now add cumin powder, coriander powder and red chili powder. Mix all the spices well and cook till their raw flavour disappears. Now add ½ a cup of water and let it comes to boil. Cover the pan with a lid and let the potatoes completely cooked. As the water almost dries up put the flame off.

For making the Paratha :

Mix the flour with pinch of salt and 1 tbspoon of cooking oil. Add lukewarm water, little at a time to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for few minutes until it is smooth. Divide the dough into two equal halves, give them a round shape and grease with oil. Keep them aside in an air tight container for at least 10 – 15 minutes.

Beat 1 egg with a pinch of salt, for a single paratha, in a small bowl. Add half portion of the onion, green chili, coriander leaves, pea nuts and bread crumbs to the beaten egg. This mixture will serve the purpose of filling or stuffing for the paratha.

Now roll one ball in a clean work surface (greased with oil) as thin as possible. Try to give it a square shape. Put the egg mixture at the middle of the square and spread it with a spoon leaving 1½” border from all sides.

Now fold the sides in such a way that the egg mixture is covered from all sides.

Heat 3 tbspoon of cooking oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Put the paratha into the oil and fry till it is gloden from both sides. Cover the pan with a lid and put the flame on low while frying the paratha so that it can get cooked well from inside. Transfer the paratha on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Repeat the same procedure for the 2nd paratha as well.

Now put the mughlai paratha into a plate, cut it into small cubes and serve with spicy potato mixture, salad and tomato ketchup.