Day 4: Spicy sundried tomato paratha

DD2: amma I am hungry.
Me: give me a few minutes ...a I will be right there.
DD: are you blogging for your marathon?
Me: yes!
DD2: never mind I am not really that hungry. I can wait.
DD: amma do you want me to take the pictures?
Me: that would be great.
DH: Don't worry, I can get dinner for her.

This recipe marathon thing has now become a family affair. They get to taste some creative and usually tasty stuff over the holidays like this spicy sundried tomato paratha and I am happy. Win Win all around. Don't miss Nupur's excellent recap of the marathon every day over at One Hot Stove.

I am a sucker for spicy foods as you all know and pickles are way up there and there is absolutely no surprise that the sundried tomato thokku caught my eye. I have had this box of sun dried tomatoes sitting in my pantry for a while now bought for the express purpose of making pasta sauce but after a single usage lying listlessly. This thokku was the perfect way to finish them.

The thokku did not turn out well like thokku, it was grainy and looked more like bacon bits. The tomatoes were not getting mushy however long I blended, needed more moisture perhaps but they tasted just fine. I should have soaked the tomatoes longer probably over night. They would be used for flavoring what else pasta of course and stir fries too but not before they were used for something tasty and good.

Thus was born the speckled parathas with inspiration from those green flecked mint or coriander naans ordered in restaurants.



Holiday Reading: Masala Dosai the national dish and Rasgolla the national dessert? and essays by C.Y Gopinath, Arun Jaitley, Ritu Dalmia, Monica Bhide and many more representing each state/cuisine on the recent issue of Outlook. Thanks dear bro for pointing them out. They are a great read indeed.

pinch out a small lemon sized dough and roll it out to about 4 inches in diameter


sprinkle the sun dried tomato mixture


fold and sprinkle some more



fold again



roll it out in the shape of a tear drop


transfer to a hot tava and cook on both sides

hot off the stove and off to One Hot Stove

Original sun dried tomato thokku recipe here.

Spicy sundried tomato paratha

For the sundried tomato mixture
Ingredients
1. 15 pieces of sun dried tomatoes
2. 5 red chilies
3. a small pinch of asfoetida
4. salt to taste
5. 1 tbsp sesame oil

Method
1. Soak the sun dried tomatoes and red chilies for about 20-30 minutes
2. Whirl them in a blender along with salt without addition of water. Let them be finely minced but not mushy (you will need mushy if you are making thokku)
3. Heat the oil in a pan and when hot add the asfoetida, add the blended mixture and cook for 15 minutes till you start to see oil leave the sides. Cool and set aside


For the Paratha
1. 2 Cups Wheat flour
2. salt as needed
3. 1 tbsp whey water
4. Water for kneading

Make dough like you would for chapatis or parathas. Add water a little by little to the wheat flour and knead to make a pliable dough, not too loose and not too tight.

Method
1. Take a small lemon sized ball of dough and shape it like a lemon.
2. With a rolling pin roll it to about 4 inches in diameter.
3. Sprinkle the sun dried tomato mixture on one half. Fold over to a half moon shape.
4. sprinkle some more and fold over to form a triangle.
5. Now roll it as thin or thick as needed.
6. On a hot tava cook on one side till brown spots appear, flip and cook on the other side.
7. Smear a bit of oil on the paratha if required, the oil from the sun dried mixture is enough.

Serve with a mild side like dal or just yogurt.