Gajar / Carrot Paratha.

Gajar / Carrot Paratha …… A delicious and healthy whole wheat parathas with the added goodness of grated carrots ….. Simply awesome to have with a blob of butter or thick homemade curds …… Yumz …..

The addition of grated carrots imparts and beautiful orange-red colour to the paratha which is appealing and tastes yummy too. Carrots is an storehouse of good nutrients and should be consumed by young and old alike. I am sure all of you here are fully aware of the benefits of carrots. But many a time we are reluctant to eat carrots unless they are prepared in appetizing manner. Children are more reluctant to eat carrots in salads etc. But ready to eat the gajar ka halwa. So actually the problem is not carrot but the dish that bothers them. It has to be appealing or else we just cant make them eat. It’s always a delima for parents as to adapt new ways of making the child eat nutritious veggies. Here is one such method where you can relax and enjoy one dish with whole family. Gajar / carrot ka paratha. I am sure you kid will eat this without a murmur if served hot. Go ahead and give it a try.

Peel off the skin of 2 medium sized gajar / carrot and grate it on medium sized grater. Now add 6-8 less spicy green chilly finely chopped or coarsely ground, 1 tsp hing / asafoetida powder, salt to taste along with a pinch of ajwain / oam. Mix all slightly. Now add in 3 cups of wheat flour and mix all ingredients. Add in 1 large tablespoon of oil and mix in well to form a crumble sort of texture. Now add about 1 cup of luke warm water. and knead to a semi soft dough. Add in more water as and if needed. You may need about another half cup of so. The amount of water depends on the flour texture and its quality too so also the water content in the carrots. So be careful in adding the water. Sprinkle and knead as and when necessary.The dough should be smooth and tight. 

Cover and keep this aside covered for about 30 minutes. Remember to always cover and keep aside the dough for about 30 mins as the gluten in the wheat gets released and the dough also become softer. Remove the dough and knead it again. Divide the dough into large lemon sized portions and roll into into smooth balls and keep them aside. Roll the prepared balls in wheat flour, seeing to it that it is fully dusted with flour and roll it out into a round shaped roti / chapati / paratha. You can dust in more flour as your roll the ball if you find it difficult to roll the paratha. Do not roll the roti very thin like chapati, keep it a little bit thick. You will get a round paratha of about 6-8 inches in diameter.

Heat a tava on high, when hot, lower the heat to medium, spread some ghee / oil on the tava and gently place the rolled paratha. There should be no creases. Apply ghee / oil on the top surface and spread it with the back of the spoon. When paratha gets cooked on bottom side, ie you will be abble to see some bubbles on the top, then flip over and cook the top side too till you get brown spotted crispy paratha. Remove and keep it aside. Repeat the procedure with the remaining prepared dough balls, by rolling into paratha and frying them on tava on medium heat in similar manner. Parathas are ready. Serve them hot with any side dish curry or bhaji of your choice. You can relish this roti with only chutney or pickle too. You can also enjoy this paratha simply with a blob of butter as I do. It tastes yummy.