Comforting Indian flatbreads with green zucchini. Soft, easy to make, and healthy, these zucchini parathas are perfect for packed lunches and quick dinners.
Why this works
1. Easy way to add more vegetables to your Indian diet
2. Soft parathas that are easy to make
I love parathas. I grew up on them. Ate them everyday, twice a day for as long as I can remember.
Now that I am a mother, I am always looking to add more vegetables to our diets. I make all sorts of them with pureed spinach, beetroot, methi leaves, and pumpkin rotis.
There are a few tricks to a perfect paratha. Especially when using a watery vegetable like zucchini. You need to squeeze the water out before adding the zucchini to the flour.
How to make Zucchini paratha
You only need 4 ingredients to make the paratha- zucchini, wheat flour, salt ,and if you like sesame seeds.
If you are serving it by itself, you can also add ginger garlic paste and ground spices like chili, turmeric and cumin. Though I have kept this recipe extremely simple.
Step 1: Prep the Zucchini
This is the most important step of making these parathas. Wash the zucchini and grate it. Do not grate it too thin or too thick. You should be able to see the strands but it must be thin.
Add ¼ teaspoon of salt and mix it up. Let the zucchini sit till you gather all your other ingredients. It will start to leave out water.
Now squeeze the water out of the zucchini by pressing it between your hands.Do not discard the water; keep it for the next step.
Step 2: Make the Paratha Dough
Add flour, sesame seeds, and zucchini in a large bowl. If you want, you can add more seeds and spices at this stage.
Start breaking the zucchini and rubbing it with the flour. If needed, add a little of the leftover zucchini water to make a soft dough. If the dough is not coming together, add more flour.
Divide the dough into small balls. Keep some dry flour on the side. Dip the ball into the dry flour. Flatten it on your rolling surface and start rolling with a rolling pin.
Heat a pan or a traditional roti tawa. I have a cast iron tawa, which I have been using since I started my own kitchen.
Once the paratha is semi-cooked from both sides, spread ghee or butter. Cook till you see blackish brown specs like in the picture.
Serving Parathas
You can serve hot zucchini parathas with Indian pickles, butter, and a cup of yogurt or boondi raita. I love homemade mango pickles. Chutneys like my mother's sweet mango chutney or this green chutney are also great sides to parathas.
Zucchini Paratha
Equipment
- Box Grater
Ingredients
- 2 cups Wheat Flour More for dusting
- 1 Zucchini about 3 cups of grated zucchini
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Ghee for frying
Instructions
- Grate the zuchinni. Season with salt and set aside for 2 minutes till it starts to releave water.
- Squeeze the water out of the grated zucchini.
- In a large bowl, take the flour, sesame seeds and the zucchini.
- Start by rubbing the flour with the grated zuchini , mixing the dough with it.
- Add 1 tablespoon of leftover water that you squeezed out of the zucchini to make a dough. Add more zucchini water if needed. Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes.
- Divide the dough into gold ball sized balls.
- Dip the ball into some dry flour. Place it on a rolling surface. Flatten it with your palm and roll it into a circular shaped disc.
- Meanwhile heat the tawa or pan.
- Once hot, add the rolled paratha.Flip once it turns slightly brown.
- Once it's semi cooked, brush with ghee on both sides, continue to cook till you see golden brown spot
- Serve with pickles.
Leave a Reply