“Moringa Leaves (Mashinga Pallo/ Drumstick Leaves/ Nugge Soppu) Spicy Parathas” … here is a highly nutritious and delicious spicy paratha, a meal in itself that tastes awesome served with simple curds/ raita/ salad and pickle … Yummilicious ….
** Parathas the spicy flat breads as known in other parts of the world are actually roti rolled thick and fried on hot tava using ghee sparingly. The ones that include finely chopped leaves and spiced are always a favorite with almost everyone and simply dunked in curds its a delight to relish maybe with some pickle as accompaniment. You really don’t need anything much with the spiced parathas as they are a complete meal in themselves.
** I have posted quite a few parathas before so will curtail writing more. However, I must mention that this particular parathas became highlighted round the country when our dear PM N.D.Modiji mentioned his love for these in a public speech. After that the humble Moringa leaves that were more used in southern parts of India have become more famous and the need of the day to build on immunity levels all round the country.
** Moringa ie Drumstick leaves had already been in the nutritionists list for over a decade now, but somehow I guess for people to understand its importance or let’s say to follow on you always need a public figure to endorse the same. Our ancestors always knew what is the best and had always included these in dry chutney form, or added them on in preparation of spiced idlies etc. Let’s go on with the recipe and build on a healthy lifestyle.
** Here is my simple recipe for a very delicious “Moringa Leaves (Mashinga Pallo/ Drumstick Leaves/ Nugge Soppu) Spicy Parathas” … My Style ....
** For Moringa Leaves (Mashinga Pallo/ Drumstick Leaves) : Choose fresh green tender leaves always for preparing any dishes. Pick and clean the leaves, discarding the stems as they are not edible and do not really get crushed well. We need to add only the leaves for preparing of parathas. Wash well, strain off excess water, and chop them finely. Squeeze out as much water as possible and keep it ready aside. I have used about ¾ to 1 cup of finely chopped moringa leaves.
** Masala to be coarsely crushed : In a mixer grinder add in 4-5 green chillies (tarni mrisanga/ hari mirchi), 1 inch pieces of ginger (alle’/adrak) cut into pieces, 2 tblsp of slightly roasted coriander seeds (kothambari/ dhania), ½ tsp of ajwain (carom seeds/ vonvo), ½ tsp of hing (asfoetida) powder, 1 tsp of turmeric (haldi) powder and grind them into coarse powder without adding water. The ingredients needs to be just coarsely powder and there is no need to grind it to fine powder.
** To Prepare the Dough : Add in 2 cups of wheat flour (atta/ gonva peeta), salt (namak/ meeta) to taste, 2-3 tblsp of besan (chana peeta/ Bengal gram flour), the ground powder, the chopped moringa leaves and mix all well to get a crumbled texture. Now add water little by little to get smooth but stiff dough. Add a tablespoon of any edible oil (tela/ tel) and further knead the dough well and lastly rub a little bit of oil all over the dough, cover with a wet cloth or tight lid and keep it aside for 20-30 minutes for the dough to settle.
** Note : Always allow resting period for kneaded flour for at least 20 minutes before rolling out for preparation of roti/parathas etc. This helps in releasing the gluten content in the wheat and there by not only making it more digestible on consumption but also turns the dough softer and also keeps the roti softer after cooking.
** Note : You can also add one large sized onion (kanda/ piyavu) finely chopped to the parathas. It does taste awesome, but as I prepared this on no onion- garlic- rice day I avoided the addition of the same. Again you can add 1-2 peeled garlic (losun/ lehsun) along with the ingredients while crushing to powder. Addition of both garlic and onions add on to the taste and increase the nutrients of the parathas, so if you like do add them.
** Knead the dough once again and then divide them into equal portions, say each about the size of a small orange and keep them all ready aside. Dust them with wheat flour and roll out evenly into a thick round shaped paratha of about 8 inches in diameter with the help of a rolling pin/ lattoni in konkani. Keep the rolled parathas slightly thicker than normal roti.
** For Frying the Parathas : Heat an iron tava on high, when hot, lower the heat to medium, wait for a second and then gently place the rolled paratha taking care to see that there are no creases. When it is cooked and you see small bubbles appearing on top surface, increase the heat and with the help of spatula flip it over. Spread some oil/ ghee on the surface and let fry and once again flip over and apply oil/ ghee on the other side too. Both sides of the parathas should be cooked well, the indication are brows round specks on the surface.
** Remove and keep it aside and repeat the procedure with the remaining prepared dough balls, by rolling into paratha and frying them on tava in similar manner. Here I must mention that you should be careful with the heat given to the tava for frying. Do not burn the parathas, keep lowering and increasing the heat to maintain a level of even frying. The parathas when first placed on the tava should be fried on low till you see the bubbles appearing after which only they should be flipped and the heat increased and then kept constant.
** Note : You can also roll the parathas as triangular way or the square way which is another way of preparing of the parathas. For preparing it, just roll into 4 inches of round circle, apply melted ghee, sprinkle some wheat flour, fold into half once again apply ghee, dust and fold over to triangle and then dust it and roll retaining the shape. For square ones fold over twice after applying ghee then fold over from sides again twice, and roll. These methods have been blogged before and you can browse through the link given at the bottom for the same.
** “Moringa Leaves (Mashinga Pallo/ Drumstick Leaves/ Nugge Soppu) Spicy Parathas” are done and ready to be served. Always serve parathas hot from the tava whenever possible with any side dish of your choice. It always tastes the best when served hot from tava with some curds, pickle or simple potato bhaji as side dish, though you may serve with curries too. These parathas are spicy enough and do not actually need any accompaniment dish as such and also can be easily carried in lunch box as they are not messy. Being a upwas/ fasting day, I served it with pineapple raita, chunda and fresh green peas potato bhaji, for extra taste and satisfaction as it was lunchtime.
** Do try out various types of “Roti or Parathas” included in the Blog and enjoy with your family and friends. All you need to do is use the search option for the same and you will find a list of the same. However, for the sake of easy access, I am sharing in a common link below, which can be used too if need be …
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