Parotta is one of the popular food in madurai or rather I should say South TN. You can see parotta corners every where and I can keep watching the way they flatten it and spread it. (Veechu) One thing about parotta is that it requires more oil and it takes time to prepare also. So obviously this is a weekend recipe. Kneading is the key thing in this parotta. The more you knead the softer the parotta is. A minimum of 20 minutes kneading is required. (Its a great workout for your hands). This kneading helps the dough to get stretched and you get softer and flaky parottas. You can also prepare this with wheat flour or also with half maida and half wheat flour. I went with maida and kneaded well to bring out the gluten content. I didn’t do the veechu(வீச்சு) though. Here is the recipe, Ingredients:
Maida / All purpose flour – 2 cups Salt – 1 tsp Sugar – 1 tsp Baking Soda – a pinch Oil – ¼ cup ( I should rather say as required.) Water – ½ to ¾ cup
Steps:
Add the sugar, salt and baking soda to the maida and mix well. Microwave the water or just boil it to luke warm temperature. Slow mix the water to the maida mix and start kneading. Once you have formed a ball starting your 20 minutes kneading. Add pressure while kneading and this process makes the dough soft too.
Now apply 2 tsps of oil on the dough and wrap it up with cling wrap and let it sit for 3 hrs in fridge. After 2 to 3 hrs remove the dough and let it come to room temperature.
Now make even sized balls from the dough. Roll the balls into thin roti by applying 1 tsp of oil. You can dust it with the flour also but I spread it across with the oil itself. Please don’t mind the shape. Somehow I only get triangle shape while rolling out roti. ;-)
Roll the dough as thin as possible and like paper fan start folding them. (Inside and outside folds like in the picture)
And roll this again and apply a tsp of oil and set aside. Do the same for all the balls.
Now take the layered balls and roll it out again into small circles as like below.
Now heat the tava and cook the parotta. Spread the oil around and on top. Let it brown on both sides and that’s it the parottas are ready.
What I did I serve this with? Stay tuned for one more street food recipe tomorrow. :-)
📖 Recipe
