Whole wheat flatbread stuffed with a spiced cooked horse gram filling — a hearty, protein-packed stuffed bread unique to Uttarakhand made on cold winter mornings.
Ingredients
For the dough:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ghee
Warm water to knead
For the gahat filling:
1/2 cup gahat (horse gram) — soaked overnight, boiled until completely soft, drained and mashed coarsely
1 tsp ginger — finely grated
2 green chillies — very finely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp amchur (dried mango powder)
Salt to taste
Ghee for cooking
Method
Make the dough: knead wheat flour with salt, ghee and warm water into a soft smooth dough. Cover and rest 20 minutes.
Prepare the filling: drain boiled horse gram completely.
Mash coarsely with a fork — it does not need to be smooth.
Mix with grated ginger, finely chopped green chillies, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, amchur and salt. The filling must be completely dry — any moisture will tear the paratha during rolling.
Divide dough into 8 balls and filling into 8 equal portions.
Flatten a dough ball into a 10 cm circle.
Place 2 tbsp filling in the centre. Gather the dough edges firmly around the filling and seal completely at the top.
Press gently flat. Dust with flour. Roll into an 18 cm circle using gentle even pressure.
Cook on a hot tawa 1.5 to 2 minutes until bubbles appear.
Flip. Apply ghee generously. Flip again. Apply ghee on the second side.
Press gently with a spatula. Cook until golden-brown spots appear on both sides.
Serve immediately with bhaang ki chutney and yogurt.