Quote from: madmatt on July 21, 2011, 12:31 AM
Hi all,

I hope I dont get shot for this, but with Parathas, I dont feel its worth the effort making them at home, when the frozen ones from the supermarket are so good.

I believe its like puff pastry, even chefs dont make it from scratch.After speaking to an Indian lady in my local sainsburys they really are as good ready made.

Saying that, I have tried 3 different brands, and by far the best in my opinion is Shana brand.(My kids also love em!)
See link:-

http://www.nivala.co.uk/shana-plain-paratha-167-p.asp

The plain, or the onion are both just as good.

I admit, I have never made them myself(was going to until I saw the work involved) but the ones I have had from my local BIR, are inferior to the bought ones cooked in a dry frying pan at home.(on the other hand I have a cracking recipe for Naan that I will post soon)

I agree.  Typical BIR parathas are very stodgy compared to the Shana ones (and similar), and having eaten a lot of both, I definitely prefer the Shana style.  Mind you, you need twice as many of them to fill you up, but if you buy them in the catering-size pack (20 parathas/pack), they're dirt cheap !

** Phil.

Sadly our local Asda don't stock the Shana paratha, or any other frozen brand.  I have always made my own and they are a pain to make.  I only have one recipe taken from an old indian recipe book by Khalid Aziz. 
350g Chapati Flour
1 tsp salt
170ml water
100g ghee
plus ghee for frying

The dough is rolled out very thin, coated in ghee and rolled up and the roll spun into a spiral, and then repeated.
This makes 6 and the book says 15 mins preperation.  But it takes me at least 30 mins

The result is good, but I am always open to improvements.  Any suggestions?

They are a bit fiddly to make, but you need to get in to a rhythm, rolling out and oiling while another is cooking. I'll pass on the way my grandmother made them, tried other methods but always come back to this one.

Once you have a nice springy dough, a ball a bit bigger than a golf ball, and roll quite thinly into a circle. Spread a thin layer of ghee or oil onto the disc, then cut a line from the centre to the outside edge, like the radius of the circle. Put your finger over the centre and roll  the dough up from the outside edge, pivoting from the centre. You should end up with a cone shape.

Squidge the cone down flat vertically, twisting as you go, pat down to a squishy circular shape, then dust in flour and roll out, a little thicker this time.

Cook on a hot pan, but not too hot until done. Secret is not to cook for too long or they go a bit stiff and hard. I sometime add a little milk when making the dough. Brush with ghee or oil whilst cooking. Use the same technique for stuffed paratha.

I find this way very quick and easy, and will make twenty or so in a session, then freeze in bags for later. 

Not sure about the pre-made parathas Bob, but i've read loads of good reviews about Pillsbury chapati flour.
I saw they sell it in Tesco.
I was tempted, but 3 quid for 10kg of Elephant atta... . . how could i resist.
Pillsbury for next time 

Frank.

Hi Guys

Well I've now made Paratha thrice in the last week, was it worth the effort? Yes it was. when I lived in the UK not far from Tooting / Croydon so plenty of Asian fooderies I ate plenty of Paratha but never the quality / Taste that these had, light and flaky and soooooo moreish, I feel the secret is in the kneading of the dough at least 10 minutes by hand (I cheated, Kenwood Chef for 5 minutes)  the dough should be really smooth and soft then rested for 10 / 15 minutes before taking a ping pong ball size of dough oiling and rolling out really thin almost see through, coat with oil, now the folding ( how do I explain this?) *VVVVVVVV*  this is the fold, the * is the TOP and Bottom to achieve this lift from one edge to roughly the center then lower the dough flapping it backwards and forwards so that you end up folding the dough back on its self, press down gently then lift folded dough lifting the dough off the table and repeat the process the dough should like a concertina now gently stretch outwards a little, open your left palm (if right-handed) and curl up dough on your left palm squeeze the last bit under the dough place on work surface and roll out not too thin this time cook on a tawa or heavy frying pan leave till you see the dough changing colour flip over and put a tsp of oil around Paratha cook 1 minute flip again add oil again keep flipping till it looks cooked take from pan and rest a minute before devouring, eating this one will give you inspiration to do the rest    You do get better with practice

Hope this makes sense

No chance of getting anything like this where I am in France even in the couple of Indian restaurants that are around but the nearest is almost an hour away and they are total yuck!!!! the french don't do hot!!!!!