Mooli Paratha Radish Stuffed Flatbread Punjab

Method

1. 1

   Make the dough: Combine wheat flour, oil and salt. Mix oil in with fingertips. Add warm water gradually and knead 7 minutes to a smooth, soft dough. Cover with damp cloth. Rest 20 minutes.

2. 2

   Grate the radish and squeeze DRY — the critical step: Grate the daikon radish coarsely. Place in a clean cloth and squeeze as hard as you can, repeatedly, until absolutely no moisture remains. Radish is 95 percent water — if not completely squeezed dry, the filling will be wet and the paratha will steam rather than fry, becoming soggy. A properly squeezed filling is almost crumbly.

3. 3

   Season the filling: Mix the squeezed grated radish with chopped green chilli, red chilli powder, coriander powder, ajwain, coriander leaves and salt. Mix well. The radish has a pungent, sharp smell — this is normal and this pungency mellows when cooked inside the hot paratha. Divide into 6 portions.

4. 4

   Divide the dough: Divide the rested dough into 6 equal balls.

5. 5

   Stuff and seal: Flatten one ball in your palm into a 10 cm disc. Place one portion of radish filling in the centre. Bring dough edges upward around the filling, gather and pinch firmly at the top. No filling should be visible outside.

6. 6

   Roll gently: Place sealed ball on a floured surface, sealed side up. Roll gently from centre outward into a round about 18 to 20 cm wide. Roll very slowly — the radish filling is coarser than potato and can easily push through the dough.

7. 7

   Cook on a hot griddle: Heat a flat griddle on medium heat. Place the paratha on it. Cook 1.5 minutes until bubbles form on the surface.

8. 8

   Apply ghee and flip: Apply 1 tsp ghee on the top surface. Flip. Apply 1 tsp ghee on the other side. Press gently with a spatula.

9. 9

   Cook until golden: Cook 1.5 minutes per side after adding ghee until both sides are golden with crispy, charred spots.

10. 10

    Serve with yogurt and pickle: Serve hot with cold yogurt and mango pickle. The cold yogurt softens the pungency of the radish filling pleasantly.

11. 11

    Note: Mooli Paratha is made in winter when daikon radish is abundant and extremely fresh in Punjab. The pungency of fresh daikon inside a hot paratha is a distinctive winter pleasure — the heat of cooking mellows the sharpness somewhat. Like gobhi paratha, this is a seasonal preparation that marks the winter breakfast culture of Punjabi households. The complete squeezing of moisture from the radish is the single most important step.