A great street side food famous in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Flaky, fluffy, soft circular breads made with plain flour or Maida. First of all, this item literally takes a bath in oil, so people who are health consicous better avoid making this dish. The other thing is , it takes atleast a couple hours to make these parottas, most of which is kneading the dough, beating and shaping. (Parota / Layer Parotta / Layer Parota/ Layer Paratha / Kerala Parotta / Flaky Parotta )
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 4 cup | Maida |
| 1 tsp | Salt |
| 1 cup | Water (approx) |
| 5 tsp | Oil (for dough making) |
| ¼ cup | Oil (for kneading) |
| ½ cup | Oil (for shapping) |
| ½ cup | Oil (for toasting) |
Dough making and kneading.
Mix maida, salt, 5 tsp of oil and water. Knead to make a soft dough, like how we make for chappattis and puris. Put it in a bowl and close it with a plate, let it stay for 30 minutes. Meanwhile clean your kitchen counter to make a big work surface. Granite countertops works well , mica also is equally good. Now press the dough and knead it by slowly adding oil (1/4 cup) little by little. Repeat the process until the dough becomes very soft (20 minutes approx). Beat the dough , which ofcourse need expertise, but the same can be done by using a rolling pin. (10 minutes approx). Now make ten equal portions (4 cups maida yeilds only 10 parottas) and put them under a damp cloth or kitchen towel, this helps it from becoming dry.
Stretching the dough
Take one portion and roll it as much as you can with a rolling pin, the funny part is, you can watch as you stretch, it rolls back, so apply oil say about a tsp for each parotta and stretch it to paper thin size. It might tear in some areas... thats ok. Stretch using your hands or use the rolling pin, oil makes the work easier.
Shaping the dough
Again apply little oil on the stretched surface of the dough. Now using both your hands try making pleates and fold as you do that. Just like making a paper fan. Start from one side and finsih on the other end. Tap it a couple of times on the conter real fast inother to stretch it lengthwise. Start rolling it backwards from both ends to form a little heart shape. Keep on half of the heart on the other and press it with the center of your palm. Repeat the whole process for each parotta and store them back under the damp towel.
Last stretch and toasting the parotta
Keep a tawa hot and ready while you do the last stretch. Flame should be on meduim high throughout the frying process. Now take one portion of the shped dough and slightly roll it lenthwise and widthwise with a rolling pin, just one side only. The other side should be the firm on the bottom do not flip while doing this. Transfer it straight to the tawa and let cook for few minutes, now flip on the other side and a tsp of oil, you will see it becoming fluffy, flip one more time and then put it back on the counter. Using both hands, try to beat it once, just like clapping, to seperate the layers. Serve hot with Chicken kuzhambu or kurma.
Can be refridgerated and reheated in a microwave.
Leftover parotta can be scrambled with hand or with help of a food processor pulse it and make kottu parotta or muttai parotta.
Some use egg in the dough to make parotta, but original recipe does not include egg. Whether you make kottu parotta or muttai parotta, you have to first make plain parotta and proceed from there.