Chitol maachher Moghlai paratha

Some things about the Pujas never change. One of my earliest memories of visiting a pandal was the sight of a big paratha-like object being fried in a kadhai. I was told that it was a Moghlai paratha — a much-loved savoury that the Puja festivities just can’t do without. A couple of years ago, when I was browbeaten into visiting one of Delhi’s most popular Pujas, a familiar aroma wafted in the air. I craned my neck and found a small Kumbh Mela-like crowd assembled before a man wielding a slotted spoon. And I knew what was sizzling on the tawa in front of him — a Moghlai paratha.

“How can you eat this year after year,” I asked a brother-in-law, who is particularly fond of the Moghlai paratha. “Like this,” he replied, dunking a piece of the crisp paratha into a dish of keema masala and popping it into his mouth.

You can call me a rebel, but I think the time has come to give the dish a makeover. I asked some chefs how it could be tweaked, and Joymalya Banerjee of Bohemian and Sushanta Sengupta of 6, Ballygunge Place gamely rose to the occasion. The basic idea of the Moghlai paratha remains the same, but the chefs have thought of innovative ways of overhauling it.

Chicken Moghlai paratha with murgir tramfado

The trickiest part of the process, chef Sengupta tells me, is the making of the paratha. “It requires a lot of practice,” he says. Chef Joy suggest that we lightly sauté the paratha keeping our health in mind. “Instead of deep frying it we should cook it on low heat on non-stick pans, making it light and tasty without sacrificing the essentials,” he holds.

The old order can be introduced to various new ideas. Instead of the usual keema stuffed paratha, you can prepare, a la chef Joy, Chitol Maachher Moghlai Paratha — by de-boning some boiled fish, marinating it with garlic, ginger, green chilli, blending it with eggs and then using that as the filling. Or, as chef Sengupta suggests, you can have chicken Moghlai paratha (served with murgir tramfado) with a filling of minced chicken cooked with garlic, crushed black pepper, fish sauce, coconut milk, lemon leaves and roasted peanut.

You can let your imagination go wild with the fillings. Chef Joy has thought of a Chicken and Bagane Mashla Moghlai Paratha — where the chicken is cooked with a mix of garden herbs — parsley, celery, mint, coriander and shulpo (local dill). “These are mixed in equal proportions and chopped together so as to release their flavours and creating a new one,” says the chef.

I can sniff change in the air. So, let’s ring in the new — without ringing out the old.

Cottage Cheese and Green Peas Stuffed Moghlai Paratha (serves 6)

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1kg maida 30ml white oil for shortening tepid water as required salt to taste

For the stuffing:

250g chhaana 50g green peas 1 tbs green chilli paste 2 chopped onions 2-3 chopped green chillies 2 tbs poppy seed paste 1 tbs black mustard paste 20ml mustard oil sugar and salt to taste 1 tsp turmeric powder 1 sprig chopped coriander leaves

Method:

Make the dough by sprinkling salt on the flour and then rub the flour with the oil for shortening. Make a well in the middle and gradually add water and knead for 10 minutes until soft and elastic. Let the dough rest for an hour covered with a wet muslin cloth. Portion out the dough into 15-18 roundels and keep on a tray after rubbing them with oil for a minimum of 60 minutes. For the filling, sauté onions and then chopped green chillies with turmeric powder. Add the chhaana, green peas and the remaining spices and freshly chopped coriander.

For the paratha, roll out each roundel into a paper-thin sheet. Put the stuffing in the middle and fold the edges of the rolled sheet like an envelope so that the paratha has the shape of a square. Shallow fry the paratha on a tawa. Serve hot with lachha salad and dry potato sabzi.

Prawn, Coriander and Pickled Lemon Moghlai Paratha (serves 6)

Ingredients:

450g de-veined prawn 30g ginger juice 35g chopped green chillies 40g chopped coriander salt and sugar to taste 12 eggs 35g kobiraji lemon pickle

Method:

Chop the cleaned prawns, apply ginger juice and refrigerate for 15 minutes. In a mixing bowl, blend eggs. Add the prawns and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. To make the paratha, spread a portion of the prepared prawn and egg mixture, make an envelope fold (see other recipe). Apply egg wash to seal in the filling. Heat a lightly oiled non-stick pan. Grill the paratha on low heat till the filling is cooked. The outside crust would become golden and crispy. Serve with potato bhaji, salad and mint tamarind chutney.