Creating a blog was out of the question for a long time for me, as measuring everything in the kitchen was like biting into an eggshell. I enjoy cooking and don’t want to waste even a slightest bit of enjoyment in that small world of mine. But little did I know that everything will change, when my husband came home with the Oscar nominated film ‘Julie and Julia’( a real life story) where Julie Powell (part played by Amy Adams) challenged herself to make all the 524 recipes from Julia Child's cook book ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ and blogging all her experiences (The Julie/Julia Project). It was an inspiring movie. A few days later when we were discussing this casually with a friend of ours over tea…everything changed dramatically…..” How about you making at least half of it in one year? Not French but your own. 262 recipes that will inspire others and present it as a blog?” For a minute my mind traveled faster than light… With an experience as a helper in my mother in laws kitchen for 6 years followed by a three year everyday struggle to satisfy the palate of my foodie husband, if I cannot do it then why should I cook? But on the other side with an experience in English literature extending no more than expanding outline stories in English grammar class when I was 18 and two small kids that come in handy at times, will a commitment for the next one year work? Anyway my ‘cook's ego’ didn’t allow me to say no...

So my friends …here I am opening my recipe book, trying to perfect and present 262 recipes in the coming 365 days….A Challenge that will of course tastes good. Come.. Have a walk with me along my journey.. Cheering and inspiring….Forgiving and tolerating…Testing and tasting….for ‘A Tasty Challenge’

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Sunday, November 7, 2010

Kerala Parotta/ Porotta/ Borotta

Recipe No: 115
After ‘God knows  how many times’ I got my favorite ‘thattukada’ food, the one thing that is responsible for my 7 kg increase in weight on our last Kerala visit, right. Somehow many people like Parottas from roadside shops (Thattukada) better than what you get from a rather high class restaurant. May be I am one among them…This is an entirely different thing from the North Indian Parathas, but from the information in the internet, I come to know that variations of this can be found in some other countries (like Singapore) too..

Ingredients                                                Makes 10-12
  • Maida………………4 Cups (I don’t prefer All Purpose Flour)
  • Sugar……………….2 Tablespoons
  • Salt………………….3/4 Teaspoon
  • Water……………...1 ½ Cups (Distilled or Spring Water preferred)
  • Oil………………...…1/3 Cup + 2 Tablespoons
Method of Preparation
  1. Mix together Maida, Sugar and Salt and make a dough using Water. Dump it onto a flat surface (Marble, counter top or a large cutting board will do) and knead thoroughly into soft, elastic dough. If you are kneading by hand it will take at least 20 minutes but if you have a stand mixer, knead it for about 8 minutes on speed 2.
  2. Towards the end of kneading add two tablespoons of Oil and knead well. Don’t use flour to reduce sticking. Use only Oil. At the end of kneading the dough should be smooth, elastic and soft.
  3. Spread some Oil on top of the Dough; cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest for 20 minutes.
  4. After resting, divide the dough into 12 equal parts. For this, smooth the surface of the dough and detach the amount of dough for the ball from the rest by pressing with the thump and the index finger. This will give a perfectly smooth ball of dough.
  5. Rub the ball with Oil and arrange them on an oiled tray covered with a damp cloth. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
  6. On a large working surface (Marble, counter top or a large cutting board will do) roll each portion as thin as possible. The dough may tear in between but that is perfectly okay.
  7. Spread a tablespoon of Oil on the rolled out dough.
  8. Now you can either pleat or just raise one side of the dough with one hand and let the rest form a pleat with some help from the other hand. This will result in a long piece of pleated dough.
  9. With a circular motion roll it as concentric circles on itself. Tuck the end of the dough on the under side of the pleated ball.
  10. Let this sit under a damp cloth while you work with the other pieces.
  11. Heat a pan on medium high heat. Rub the surface with Oil.
  12. Roll each piece again into 5 or 6 inch circles and place on the heated pan. When the under surface starts to cook turn it over and let the other side also cook. Turn it once more and start pressing. This will reveal the layers.
  13. Once cooked and slightly browned on both sides, take it from the pan and place it on a board.
  14. Once two of them are ready, layer then on top of each other and press with both hands from both sides. This will partially separate the layers, which is a characteristic of Parottas.
  15. Serve it hot with desired Curries.
Notes:
  • Don’t use more Maida than mentioned in the ingredient section and use only Oil to prevent sticking.
  • If the kneading is not done properly the Parottas will be tough to tear. I should confess that it happened to me a lot of times, but since I have a stand mixer now, kneading is a breeze and the Parottas are as soft as store bought ones.
  • Parotta makers at the roadside shops won’t roll out the Poratta dough but they will stretch it  by holding with two hands on one end and throw the other side in the air and let it hit the work surface (Veeshal). This needs experience and a big work surface. But this way of rolling and pleating is perfect when you make this at home.
  • I like to use Indian Maida in this recipe over All Purpose Flour as in my experience the former one gives a much similar texture of Parottas.
  • Tap water may change the behavior of the dough slightly. So I prefer Spring or Distilled water from bottles.
 





Make it, enjoy the deliciousness and
serve it to your family with love…

11 comments:

sojo said...

i love parottas...even I make it the same way.. loved ur blog.... happened to come across it 2 days back through a fren's facebook page... will try out some of ur dishes and let u know...

Sangeetha Nambi said...

Love it :)

http://recipe-excavator.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

oru 10 porotta ingottu ayachu tharamo???
Ranji&Deepthi

ann said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ann said...

All the dishes i tried from your site came out really well.Which model food processor do you use?Wanted to buy one which does all these tough tasks..

Asha said...

Ann..
Actually I don't have a real food processor. But I do have a 2 cup 'Cuisinart Food Prep Plus' which is kind of a very small food processor. (That is the one I had shown in the Cheese Puffs recipe.)It is good for dry grinding n chopping.. To coarsely grind for Avial, Thoran etc:, chop veggies like Carrots, Cabbage for Thoran and also to grind Urad Dal for Vada n Jalebi...(It is small but I do all these stuff in that) As you wrote the comment under this post, I want to mention about the 'Stand Mixer' I mentioned in this recipe. It is standing 'hand mixer' (n hence the name) that is used to make all sort of doughs... Chappathi, Parotta, Naan, Pizza,Tart and Batters ... Cake, Cookie and to whip stuffs cream, egg whites etc. Mine is a 'Kitchen Aid' brand. If you are thinking about buying one of these I will say buy Kitchen Aid... and don't even think of buying cheaper ones (I had a cheaper one at first, but then I replaced it realizing the foolishness...It has a huge difference).. Go for the good one if you are serious in buying one..
I hope this helps... but do ask if you have more doubts...
Thanks a lot...

ann said...

thanks i will go for kitchen aid....I have a small handmixer for cake and cookies but need one for pizza and porotta...As of now my husband is my stand mixer for pizza base and porotta...And one more thing ...Indian style chicken wings was a great hit with all of my guests.

sojo said...

You know what Asha...when my husband went to Morocco, parottas were one of the buffet items for breakfast everyday. He doesnt remember the name they call it but he says it is exactly the Kerala parotta. I will ask him to get the name when he visits next time.

Unknown said...

Nice one Asha.. will surely try it since I couldn't eat Borotta for the last three years.. I am in Zambia(Africa) so here kerala food is not available..!!!

-Dhanoop

vibrantindiatours said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Nimmi said...

Hi Asha. I thought Maida is not good for health so parotta is also an unhealthy food. But currently I saw a blog http://www.surabhifoods.com/atta-maida-sooji-secret-good-health/ . Now I made parotta from your blog. All my family members are very happy, Thank you for your blog.

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