Mooli Paratha Recipe, How to make Mooli Paratha

Mooli Parathas is another favourite paratha recipe from the land of Punjab. Parathas or Paranthas are served as breakfast with butter and lassi in North India.

As a homemaker, I only knew making aloo parathas before marriage. But now I can boast of making gobhi paratha, onion paratha, methi paratha, paneer paratha and all kind of parathas.

To make Mooli Paratha, you will need:

• 1 mooli (radish) with or without leaves
• 1 green chilly finely chopped (optional)
• chilly powder
• garam masala powder (optional)
• salt
• wheat flour dough
• ghee
• white butter

Method for making Mooli Paratha:

1. Prepare the dough and keep it aside. Here is the link, with step by step pictures, which will explain the basic method of making the dough from wheat flour: Making wheat flour dough
   
2. The method of making any stuffed parathas is the same. To get help with the exact method of making stuffed parathas, check this link where I have made aloo parathas (stuffed potato parathas): Aloo Parathas. The pics are not so good, but it does the job of illustrating the method
3. Grate the mooli and keep aside. Many people add salt to the mooli and keep it for some minutes and later squeeze the water from it. This is done so that the mooli parathas do not break while rolling the dough. I do not do this technique as the salt extracts the water from the mooli and many water soluble vitamins and minerals are lost in the process.
4. Just grate the mooli. Add chopped green chili to it. Do not add salt to it.

• Now take a medium sized ball of dough on the rolling board dusted with wheat flour.
• Roll the dough in to a disc of 5-6 cms diameter.

• Take 3 tsp of grated mooli in a small bowl or plate. Add a pinch or two each of red chili powder, garam masala powder, salt.

• Mix well and put this stuffing onto the rolled dough .

• In the meantime, heat the griddle or tava.
• Now quickly cover the bring together all the edges of the dough and join them.

• Roll the dough into the size of a paratha or roti. Care should be taken while rolling the dough as the paratha may break. We added salt to the mooli and thus as a result water will start oozing out from the mooli.

• To make mooli parathas by this method is a little tricky but with practice you will be able to make excellent parathas. One has to be quick enough while using this method.
• Still if this technique is difficult, you can add salt to the mooli, keep if for half an hour in an air-tight box, as the odour of mooli which is too pungent starts to release and your whole kitchen will smell of mooli. After 30 minutes or so, squeeze the water from the mooli and then use it in making the parathas. This way your mooli paratha will not break, however nutrients are lost.
• Now place the mooli paratha on the tava. Ensure that the flame is medium.

• After a minute, turn it over and cook the other side of the mooli paratha. Apply ghee on the top and sides. The quantity of ghee to be used depends upon you. If you like the mooli paratha to be less oily, then use less ghee.

• Flip the mooli paratha and now apply ghee on the second side. The side which we applied ghee the first time goes down facing the tava.

• Flip for the third time. Press the edges of the mooli paratha with the spatula while frying the paratha.  This is to make sure that paratha edges are cooked well.

• Flip once more so that the paratha gets cooked evenly from all the sides. Remove  from the griddle when the mooli paratha looks cooked, crisp and well fried.

• Serve the mooli paratha hot with butter/makhan and with a tall glass of lassi.