If you like flatbreads or flaky bread, then you’ll love this garlic lachha paratha. Like naan, lachha paratha is of Indian origin, but it’s a flakier, more layered version of it made mostly from whole wheat flour. Full of garlic and ghee, this delicious paratha goes well with so many dishes, Indian or otherwise!
Story time
So when I went to India for work back a few years back, I got to try so many locale cuisines. As a hodophile (travel lover) and a foodie, I absolutely loved being surrounded by so much culture rich with amazing food! Since I also LOVE bread, my team introduced me to lachaa paratha, which is a flaky layered flatbread. I was immediately hooked! I actually prefer it over naan.
When I got back to the States, it was very hard to find a place with good lachha paratha, even in Fremont where I live where there’s a big Indian community. After looking at several recipes on the internet, and developing my own version of it with lots of failures, I finally got to a recipe that satiated my cravings! Fair warning, it’s a labor of love, so there’s going to be significant effort involved. But don’t worry, I think it’s worth it đŸ˜‰
Don’t know what to pair it with?
Well, if you’re a bread fiend like me, you’ll be perfectly satisfied just eating this by itself. However, as my husband likes to remind me, bread by itself is not a sufficiently balanced meal, haha. Obviously, you can eat this lachha paratha with Indian food like butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, etc. But if you’re not a fan of Indian food, I won’t judge. You can still eat this with other dishes! This pairs pretty well with stews (like my chicken lentil tomato stew), or any thick soup (like my roasted cauliflower soup or butternut squash soup). Alternatively, you can make a faux wrap or faux burrito with it and add whatever protein and veggies you want. Parathas are very versatile!
Tools you’ll need
Ingredients
Paratha
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp ghee (divided + more ghee for cooking)
- 3/4 cup warm water
Garlic ghee filling
- 5 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and sugar. Mix with clean hands.
- Make a little well in the middle, and slowly add the warm water as you slowly incorporate the flour into the water. Knead until there are no more scraggly bits coming off. Add 1/2 tbsp of ghee and knead. If the dough is too wet, feel free to add just a bit more wheat flour. Keep kneading until the dough is smoother and bounces back when pressed.Â
- Brush the dough with the remaining 1/2 tbsp of ghee and put back in the bowl. Cover with a warm towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Once rested, roll the dough into a log onto a clean flat surface. Divide it into five even dough balls. If you want slightly smaller lachha parathas, feel free to divide it up into more pieces.
- Roll a dough ball until thin. Get it as thin as you can manage, as this will define how fluffy and tender your flaky layers will be. After testing out this recipe a couple of times, I realized every time that I needed to get these really thin.
- Brush some of the garlic ghee mixture on the thinly rolled-out dough. Then fold the dough like an accordion. If you're not sure how to do this, refer to the video above in the post! Once folded like an accordion, start rolling the dough into itself like a spiral while slightly stretching it out as you go. Start with one end of the accordion and roll it inwards, and tuck the other end underneath the now spiral dough. Sprinkle each side of the spiral dough with a bit of wheat flour and set aside. Repeat this step with the rest of the dough balls.
- One by one, press down the spiral dough with your fingers. Then, carefully roll out the spiral dough flat and thin (although not as thin as the first roll out). Repeat with the rest of the spiral dough.
- Cook each paratha on hot pan (medium-heat) with ghee until you see spots on each side. Make sure to brush each side with ghee every time you flip the paratha. I like to cook each side for about 30 seconds before flipping it over and repeating this until I feel like the paratha is cooked enough. Don't cook it too long or it'll come out tough. You can kinda tell it's close to cooking once you see certain part of the lachha paratha puff up as it cooks, and the surface of each side starts to feel crispy.
- Eat by itself or serve with other dishes!
// ON THE SCENE
- Bottom backdrop: Woodville Workshop — Delhi
- Props: wooden chopping board, ghee, chutney
1 comment
Looks good! I love Naan, so I bet this is delicious. And always fun to learn a new word. Hodophile. Who knew?! đŸ˜ƒ