Kitchen Experiments: Stuffed Soya Paratha

Today saw a successful invention take form in my kitchen – with necessity as its mother, of course. :)

Stuffed Soya Parathas
These are healthy and nutritious (the soya granules do the trick!), apart from being yummy!
Here are the ingredients: (for 4 parathas)

Stuffing:
2 handfuls (1 wati/katori) soya granules
1 medium boiled potato, mashed
1 small onion, chopped fine
½ teaspoon garlic paste or 2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon jeera (cumin) seeds
1 handful coriander leaves, chopped fine
1 green chilli (or to taste), chopped finely
1 teaspoon Rajwadi garam masala (any garam masala will do)
1 teaspoon chaat masala
1 teaspoon red chilli powder (adjust to taste according to the heat of the fresh green chilli)
1 teaspoon oil
½ teaspoon sugar
Juice of a quarter lemon
Salt, to taste

For the covering of the paratha, use normal kneaded dough, the same dough you use for chapattis.
(For the uninitiated: Combine wheat flour, a touch of oil, a pinch of salt and water and knead to form a soft dough, enough to form 4 plum-sized balls. Keep aside, covered, for at least half an hour)

Here’s how you make the parathas:

Stuffing:
Boil a cup of water, pour over the soya granules. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes. Drain excess water (if any) and cool.
Take 1 teaspoon oil in a kadhai/frying pan/ wok and heat it.
Add the cumin seeds. Once they splutter, add the chopped onion, chilli and garlic. Saute for a minute.
Add the soya granules and mashed potato. Mix well.
Add the garam masala, half the coriander leaves, red chilli powder, sugar and salt and mix well for 5 minutes.
Once the mixture has combined well and piping hot throughout, take it off the stove.
Add the chaat masala, lemon juice and the rest of the chopped coriander leaves and mash well. Spread out the mix (in the kadhai itself) to cool. This is how the stuffing looks like, when it’s done:




Assembly:
Take a lemon-sized or plum-sized ball of the kneaded dough and roll it out thinly (like a chapatti). Put a tablespoon of the cooled stuffing in the centre and spread it out slightly. Fold the four sides of the chapatti over the stuffing to make a square envelope.

Cook a hot tawa (griddle) till both sides are flecked with golden-brown spots. Use of oil/ghee while roasting the parathas is optional!

Serve piping hot off the tawa with tomato ketchup or a sweet-and-tangy mint-coriander-jaggery chutney