Kerala Parotta

Kerala Parotta is a must to order while at a Kerala restaurant. Both of us love it. But while in US, we never got a chance to have it at any of the Indian restaurants. Its just the frozen ones that we used to get at the Indian store that we heat up and have. Thus, we thought of giving it a try at home. And guess what it came out so good.

Layered, fluffy and soft Kerala parotta made for a yummy lunch. We literally went back to those old days when we used to visit the restaurant and without giving any second thought or even drifting through the menu would blindly order it. We have tried making it couple of times, but this recipe was the best out of all.

Ahh, there are so many dishes that we miss out on when not being at your home town. To make some of them, we don't even get the raw materials for it. So the story is different. You just end up craving and there is no end to it unless you make a visit to India or home town. But Kerala Parotta can be easily made at home. Just get a bit lenient while you use oil and I bet you can't get wrong here. Try it and give an end to your craving if you too are a Parotta lover like us :).

Ingredients

1. 3 cups of all purpose flour
2. 1 egg
3. 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
4. 1 tsp of baking powder
5. 1 1/4 tsp of salt
6. Water as required

Method

• In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together to form the dough. Knead for a couple of minutes untill you get a soft and non sticky dough. Cling wrap it and let it rest for about 3 hrs.
• After 3 hrs, divide them into 8 equal size balls of dough.
• Take a ball of dough. Oil the counter top and start rolling out the dough untill it is paper thin in thickness. It would look like a very thin translucent membrane.
• Starting on one end, make very thin pleats as you layer them up. You would end up with a long string of layered dough. Now start rolling from one end of the dough untill you reach the other end and secure it in the middle of the rolled dough. Keep it aside. Repeat the same with the rest of the balls of dough.
• After you are done making the layered balls of dough, roll out each of them into 6 inch discs. 
• Heat up a pan and spread a tsp of oil. Cook the parotta in it, flipping it as needed untill the parotta get brown patches and cooked thoroughly. Once cooked, remove it from the pan. 
• Once you are done making 3-4 parottas, stack them and using your palm bash them up quickly, a couple of times, from the sides to separate the layers.
• Serve it hot with any curry of your choice. Some of our favorites are Beef ularthiyathu, Egg curry, Chicken curry, Green Peas curry, Mutton Curry, Mutton Stew or Kadala Curry.

Tips

1. I have tried making Parotta a couple of times, and all the time it lacked softness and was dry. The reason being me trying to cut down oil that was supposed to go into it. So please be generous with the oil that you use while rolling out the dough. Infact, I feel I myself should have been a bit more generous while oiling it.
2. If you have too many Parottas to make or there is delay in cooking the Parottas after you have formed the layered ball of dough, then cover it with a kitchen towel to avoid drying out.

Recipe Courtesy : Adapted from Ria's Collection