Sunday, September 17, 2006

Kheema Paratha


Sunday, September 17, 2006
First of all, the name of this bread makes me think of Hakuna Matata, so that everything I think about making it, I start humming that song, which is one of those Disney songs that's hard to get out of your head, like It's a Small World After All, which is the very worst. So it had that strike against it.
Then, just reading the directions made me tired. The dough itself is easy--just mix up half whole wheat, half white flour, add a little powdered dry milk, salt, and water, and let it rest. No yeast, no sourdough, no nothing. But then you have to cut it in eight pieces, roll each piece out in a circle, brush it with clarified butter, fold it, brush it again with clarified butter, then roll it out again, put the ground meat filling (which you've already made, and which has about 42 ingredients) on it, top it with another rolled out circle, crimp the edges, turn it over, roll it out again, then cook it in a special pan, which I don't have.

I just used my griddle that I bought to bake English muffins and crumpets, and it worked just fine.

And, by the way, while the dough was resting and the ground meat filling was cooking, you make a Yemenite green sauce that has lots of cilantro, garlic, hot peppers, and olive oil.
At one point, I seriously thought I was still going to be rolling out these paratha at midnight, which would be two days in a row of late-night bread making. But, like so many things, once you get in the rhythm of it, it goes much more smoothly.
They turned out to be crazily delicious. They're a little like pita and a little like naan, but not really like either one. The ground meat filling is satisfyingly spicy, but it's flavorful, not just hot. The Yemenite green sauce, a sort of middle-Eastern pesto, is the kind of sauce that makes you think of other foods it would go with and improve.
I made four of the paratha. Jim ate two for dinner, and I ate one. I'm zealously guarding the leftover one, which I plan to have for lunch tomorrow. I feel that I'm getting fanatically food-centered. Last night I went to bed thinking about eating pumpernickel bread for breakfast, and tonight I'm going to bed thinking of kheema paratha for lunch.

11 comments:

Pam said...

Hi Marie, I can't wait for every Monday morning (Australian time) to log into your website to see what you've achieved with your weekend back. I have Rose's book, and whilst not as ambitious as you, I would dearly love to back all of the recipes in it, at least before I'm too old to do so. Your stories and pictures are a real delight and I'm going to miss your project once completed. Regards from Oz.

Pam said...

Whoops...sorry about the typo...I meant to say "bake" not back, although I'm sure your back must be feeling it after all of your hard work.

Anonymous said...

WOW! The Kheema Paratha both look and sound delicious. Both the bagels and the baquettes will be a day at the beach compared to the process you went through to make them. Good luck as you continue your project.

Anonymous said...

I love Indian breads...

Marie said...

Pam,
Let me know next time you bake something from the Bible, and we can compare notes.

Pam said...

Will do Marie. I've never had any success with the pugliese, so I'm going to persevere with that this weekend. Mine always comes out the size of a hamburger bun! Still tastes good though.

Pam said...

Hi Marie, I finally made the pugliese and itlooks at least half decent. Step by step posts on my blog if you're interested. Maybe you could give me a few pointers as to how it can be improved. Looking forward to your next edition tomorrow morning.

Marie said...

Pam,
You can't possibly be disappointed in that Pugliese! If you are, you're too much of a perfectionist to be reading my blog. It looks beautiful!
I don't have a banneton. I just use Rose's second choice: the colander with a cardboard circle. If it's hard to transfer the bread from the banneton to the oven, you might want to look at her directions for the cardboard circle cut to fit the colander (or banneton). It makes the switch really easy.

Pam said...

Marie,
Thankyou for your kind words; that was my best effort at pugliese yet. I guess I was determined to follow the recipe very closely, as I knew you wanted to compare notes. Perhaps I took more care because of this. I actually find the most difficult part is getting the shaped dough, after the major rise, into the banneton. I then use a small wooden pizza peel with a sheet of parchment on it to transfer the bread from the banneton to the oven. That's when the deflating usually occurs. I'll get there eventually. Thanks again for the encouragement.

pinknest said...

i adore paratha!! i'm so glad you made it. my favorite paratha is one with saag (spinach) and paneer (cheese).

Anonymous said...

Pretty different from what you get in Singapore. Down here, the paratha made tastes like a denser kind of Danish or puff pastry. Eaten savoury.. but teens are ordering their's with ice cream and the works ;P