Chilli Paratha

April 16, 2018

When I went to Coimbatore to visit my cousin 3 years back she introduced me to this dish called Chilli Paratha. She didn’t explain too much, we just went to the restaurant and had some packs parcelled. Oh Boy! What a nice-filling-tasty dish that was. I just love it when people come up with innovative ways of cooking food and this is one of those examples. It can be categorised under snacks/meal/ starter - anything. For me personally it was love at first taste.

Ever since then, whenever I visit CBE, I make it a point to go to Annapurna and enjoy this little bowl of feast. Then, I’m happy and cheerful and the world is at peace.

It was also my cousin who introduced me to Sharmis passion. Sharmilee is a blogger based in Coimbatore and recommends good restaurants and has listed really nice recipes on her blog. I have been religiously following her blog for some years now and have tried my hand at several of her recipes. It was on her blog that I found this chilliparatha recipe.

Ingredients:

5 Parathas (iD whole wheat paratha)

3 Onions

3 Capsicums

3 Tbsp Tomato sauce

2 Tsp Chilli powder

2 Tbsp Chopped coriander leaves

2 Tbsp Oil

1 Green Chilli

Salt

For the paste :

1 Big onion

1 Big tomato

2 Tsp Poppy seeds

9 Cashews or Almonds

1 Inch piece of ginger

8 Cloves of garlic

2 Tsp Coriander powder

1 ½ Tsp Garam masala

2 Tbsp Oil

Method:

1. For the paste - add 2 Tbsp oil in a pan and heat it. To that, add chopped onion and garlic and sauté till slightly brown. Then add tomatoes and stir till the raw smells leaves. Add all the spices listed under ‘for the paste’ along with ginger and give a quick stir. Once the mixture leaves the sides add cashews (I used almonds and about 20 raisins) and poppy seeds. Mix well and switch off the flame and let the mixture cool. Once the mixture cools grind the same and set aside.

2. Toast the parathas in a pan and tear them into bite size bits.

3. Chop onions, capsicum and chilli into bite size pieces.

4. In a pan heat 2 Tbsp oil and add onions and fry till slightly brown. To this add chopped green chilli followed by capsicum and sauté for a minute. Now add the paste and tomato sauce. Stir well. Then add salt and chilli powder and keep mixing till the veggies are coated with the paste. Ensure that the paste is semi dry.

5. Now add the paratha bits and mix well. Cook for 2 more minutes and switch of the flame. Garnish it with coriander leaves and you are done.

Notes:

· I like substituting cashews with almonds and raisins. You can pick the one that suits your taste.

· I add a little water in the mixer container after emptying the paste. Therefore the paste is a little thick. Ensure you add water only if the paste is dry. You don’t want it runny; it’ll make the parathas soggy!

· I don’t use coriander for garnish because I can’t eat coriander leaves.

· You can add more chillies if you want the dish spicy.

Hope you guys try it and enjoy it!