Beetroot Paratha: Red Flatbread!

I know some who will not touch beetroot come what may. And so if you must feed them this fantastic food, you have to innovate. Hide it in ways that tame its taste. I present to you the gloriously colorful beetroot paratha, which has many a hater turn into a beetroot buff.

You Need:

[for 4-5 parathas]

• Beetroot – 1
• Atta (whole wheat flour) – 1 cup
• Salt – to taste
• Roasted cumin powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Water – to knead
• Ghee – to cook the parathas (~1/2 teaspoon per paratha)

How To Make Beetroot Paratha:

1. Make the dough:

Peel and grate the beetroot finely.

Handle carefully: beetroot can stain your clothes.

Sprinkle salt, roasted cumin powder on grated beetroot and mix. Add atta.

Mix atta with the beetroot well, initially without water – doing so will help you estimate how much water you need to make a firm dough.

Remember that beetroot gives out water too, and you might make the dough too moist if you add water right in the beginning.

When the dough takes on a crumby texture, sprinkle enough water a bit at a time to get a firm dough.

When the dough balls up together neatly and easily, it is ready.

Let the dough rest covered for 30 minutes.

2. Roll it:

Make ping pong sized balls out of the beetroot paratha dough.

Before you roll, flatten a dough ball and dip it in dry flour.

Roll it out using a rolling pin into a disc of about 5-inch diameter.

To roll out the paratha evenly, apply gentle pressure on the sides to stretch it out – don’t put all your might in the centre! Some experienced rollers make the paratha dough rotate as they press and roll. If you can do that, great – else pick the half-rolled paratha up, adjust its position or turn it over. The end is important – not the means :)

When you have done rolling, you can move to the next step (cook it) with the rolled out dough, and while this one cooks, roll out the next one.

3. Cook it:

Put a non-stick flat pan on heat. When the pan is hot, set the heat to medium and place the rolled-out paratha dough on it. Cook till the heat-facing surface (side A) begins to spot.

Flip the paratha over. Smear ghee on the cooked surface while the surface below (side B) cooks.

Give it another flip, apply ghee to side B and press the paratha with side B down once again to make the ghee sizzle.

Beetroot paratha is now cooked and ready to eat.

Repeat the roll-and-cook process for all the dough balls.

Beetroot paratha has so much flavor of its own that you need not pair it with much else. Here’s my meal of beetroot parathas with homemade yogurt and red stuffed chili pickle.

Notes:

Want to get inventive with paratha shapes? Try triangular parathas, elliptical parathas, square parathas, lachha parathas.

Like beetroot? Try it in juice form: grape beetroot basil juice, watermelon beetroot pomegranate juice, or as a meal side dish: beetroot raita.