Shallow-fried bread Paratha
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A Paratha is very similar to a chapatti except it contains ghee, which turns the chapatti mix into a kind of flaky pastry.  Parathas are much thicker than chapattis and are lightly fried as opposed to dry cooked.  Most people find them tastier although it has to be said they are very much heavier than chapattis.  This recipe makes approximately six parathas.

350 g/12 oz chapatti flour (I used unbleached all purpose wheat flour)
1 tsp salt
170ml / 6 fl oz water
100 g/4 oz ghee or 120ml/4 fl oz cooking oil (I used a melted stick of butter)
ghee for frying

Preparation time: 15 minutes plus 3 hours chilling
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Sift the chapatti flour and salt together in a large bowl, gradually add the water and knead into a hard, elastic dough.  (I find it easier to add all of the water and gradually add flour until the dough is the right consistency.)  Cover the bowl with cling film or aluminum foil and leave to chill for 2-3 hours in a refrigerator.  (I just cover it with a dish cloth.)

Then, break off a lump of the dough and form into a ball about 9 cm/3.5 inches in diameter, sprinkle a little chapatti flour onto your work surface and roll the dough out into a thin circle.  The dough should be as thin as possible at this stage.

Heat the ghee in a small saucepan and as soon as it has melted, use a pastry brush to spread some of it on the dough.  Now roll the dough from one end to form several layers.

Hold one end of the dough with your thumb and first finger and wind the other end round and round to form another ball of dough.  Flatten the ball that you have now made, roll it out again and coat once again with ghee.


Roll it up once more and wind it round and round to form a ball.  Then roll the whole circle out to about 20 cm/8 inches in diameter, about 0.5-1cm/0.25-0.5 inches thick.  Repeat the process.

Heat a little ghee in a frying pan and fry the parathasd for about 2-3 minutes on each side until crisp.  Serve immediately.