Lachha Paratha (Tandoori)

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Lachha Paratha (Tandoori)

Lachha paratha is a multi-layered Indian flat bread prepared with wheat flour. Lachha Paratha is quite popular in North India and you can find them in most restaurants. The meaning of ‘lachha’ is a ‘loop or coil’ whereas ‘paratha’ is a combination of two words ‘parat’ and ‘atta’ meaning layers of cooked dough. The texture of this paratha is crispy, flaky yet soft.

Indian bread are so diverse that you will find many varieties of ‘parathas’ in different parts of the country. Tandoori Lachha Paratha is one of my favourite bread and and I love to eat it whenever we venture out for an Indian meal. The lachha paratha that you get at restaurants is usually made with mixing plain flour (maida) and whole wheat flour, however I am only using wheat flour to make it healthier.

The signature layers of the ‘lachha paratha’ are achieved by rolling the dough into a circle. Adding ghee/oil on the rolled paratha and then pleating it like a ‘fan’ and bringing the layers back into a swiss roll and finally rolling it again.
This paratha is quite appetizing to look at, and even more interesting to bite into, because the layers separated by ghee/oil give a crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture.

The secret of making perfect ‘lachha paratha’ lies in rolling it the right way. Although it might initially seem difficult, it becomes quite easy once you’ve made one or two laccha parathas. So, out with the rolling pins. Once you have learnt the trick of rolling them, this will surely become one of your favourite breads to make. You can either cook this paratha in an aluminium cooker (see pictures) or in the oven to get the crispy flaky parathas.

Ingredients

Directions

Step-1

In a bowl, add whole wheat flour and salt and mix well. Slowly add warm water and mix into a soft dough. Knead for a few minutes and allow the dough to rest for at least 30 minutes. This helps in gluten formation and helps in making paratha soft.

Step-2

Pinch out 6-7 lime sized balls off the dough and roll them into a smooth balls. Place one ball of dough on the working surface and dust the working surface with flour.

Roll out the dough into a 7″-8″ diameter flat circle as thin as possible and drizzle one teaspoons of oil or ghee and smear it all over. Sprinkle a little flour all over. (The greasing and dusting will make the paratha even more flaky)

Step-3

Starting at one end of the circle, begin folding the rolled out flat bread into 1 cm pleats like a fan.

Then begin at one end to twirl it around to form a spiral/coil like a Swiss roll. Make sure to secure the ends by pressing gently.

With the rest of the remaining dough, make more spirals and set aside.

Step-4

Rolling the paratha

Gently roll the swiss disk into 4-5” diameter circle using rolling pin and some flour for dusting if it sticks to the work surface.

(If you want to flavour the paratha, take some dried and/or finely chopped mint and spread the mint before rolling- see pictures)

Step-5

Cooking paratha in an aluminium cooker

Put your aluminium cooker upside down on high flame and warm it. The cooker needs to be really hot for this paratha. It would take approximately 2-3 minutes on high flame for it to be that hot. Please be very careful while handling it.

Spread a few drops of water with the help of your fingers on one side of the rolled paratha. This side needs to stick to the cooker’s wall and water will do the trick.

Once cooker is hot, paste the paratha on its wall (as shown). Keep it on high heat.

Turn the cooker upside down and keep the heat on medium You will have to keep checking the paratha’s by turning the cooker over to make sure that the paratha’s are cooking evenly. Upside-down is to help accumulate heat inside the cooker and cook the paratha like in a Tandoor.

Let it cook until your paratha turns light golden brown in colour.

If by any chance, the paratha is uncooked from any of its corner, just simply cook it on the flame directly. Paratha is ready!

Brush with some butter or ghee before serving!

Step-6

Bake in oven

Preheat your oven to 275°C/ 530°F.

Line a baking tray with a parchment paper/ aluminium foil.

Arrange rolled paratha on the prepared tray.

Bake them in a preheated oven for about 8-10 minutes or until parathas are golden brown in colour. Flip them halfway to cook both sides evenly.

Remove them from the oven. Paratha is ready! Brush with some butter or ghee before serving!

Tips & Variations

Kneading dough well is the key in making soft parathas. The dough can be made in food processor too, just make sure to add warm water slowly while kneading to get the dough of right consistency.
You can flavour the paratha with spices like carom seeds, chaat masala or even finely chopped mint, spinach, fenugreek leaves while making the dough for added taste.
You can also use half whole wheat flour and half plain flour.
The dough should be pliable, not elastic and/or dry. While kneading the dough, remember that the quantity of water can be adjusted according to the flour. After kneading the dough, cover it with a wet cloth/cling film and allow it to rest.
Always rest the dough for atleast 30 min as it helps in gluten formation.
If the dough is too sticky sprinkle some flour and mix it into the dough.
Do not roll the dough too thin as layers wont separate otherwise.
Do not press a lot while rolling or the layers wont separate as much.
If you find difficulty in rolling, dust some flour on rolling board and that should make it easy to roll.
Also, avoid flipping it multiple times. Allow one side to cook well and then flip it to cook the other side.
Always serve them immediately as these parathas taste best when eaten hot.
You can apply butter, ghee on top and slightly crush the parathas to separate each layer. Simply hold the paratha in a kitchen towel and bring all the sides together in your palm.