Little Millet and Sattu Parathas

By: Padma Kumar
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6 parathas
In ‘The Story of Our Food’, by food historian KT Achaya, he mentions that dishes using wheat flour akin to our modern day “parathas” were featured in the Manasollasa, a 12th-century encyclopaedic text compiled by a Western Chalukya king, Someshvara. Today, parathas are made with maida or whole wheat flour or a mix of both. Padma’s recipe replaces the wheat flour with little millet and sattu flours, keeping it tasty, but making it more nutritious. The recipe is gluten-free and can be adapted to vegan preferences as well.

Potato, large, boiled and peeled 1 (200 grams, approximately)
Little millet flour ½ cup (80-85 grams)
Sattu (Bengal gram flour) ½ cup (80 grams, approximately)
Salt ½ teaspoon
Ghee 1 tablespoon
Water, for binding the dough 2-3 tablespoons
Sattu flour, for dusting ¼ cup
Oil/ghee 9 teaspoons (1½ teaspoon per paratha)
Water, for dabbing parathas 6 tablespoons

What You Will Need

A large mixing bowl, a wet cloth or kitchen towel, a tawa or iron griddle, a rolling pin, a rolling board or slab, measuring spoons and cups.

 

Instructions

1

Grate the boiled potato and set aside.

2

Place the millet and sattu flours in a large, wide mixing bowl.

3

Add the grated potato, salt, and ghee to the bowl. Mix all the ingredients together with your hands until they begin to resemble wet sand.

 

4

Add water to the mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, to bind it together into a dough. Knead it for 2-3 minutes, or until it appears smooth. The dough should be moist, but not sticky. You might require 2 to 3 tablespoons of water to achieve this consistency.

 

5

Cover the dough with a damp cloth or tea towel, and set aside for 10 minutes.

6

Place a tawa on the stovetop on medium heat.

7

Divide the dough into 6 equal-sized portions. Keep them covered with a damp cloth.

8

Sprinkle some sattu flour on a rolling slab or board. Place a ball of dough on it and sprinkle sattu flour over the dough as well to coat it.

 

9

Spread the ball of dough out gently, with your hand and fingers first, and then with the base of your palm to make a paratha that is about 6-6.5 inches in diameter.

10

Carefully lift it off the slab and place it on the hot tawa.

11

Dip your fingers in some water and gently dab them on top of the paratha, letting the paratha absorb the moisture.

 

12

Cook the paratha on medium heat until the water dries out. This will take 2-3 minutes.

13

Gently flip it over. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil or ghee and cook on the other side for another 1-2 minutes.

 

14

Flip again, very gently, and drizzle some oil or ghee on this side as well.

15

Serve with chutney, raita, or a dip of your choice.

Tips

While kneading the dough, add one tablespoon of water at a time. The dough should be moist, but not sticky.

Variations

  1. Besan can be added to the dough mixture instead of sattu flour.
  2. You can add minced garlic, green chilli paste, or finely chopped coriander to the flour while making the dough to add more flavour to the parathas.

Padma Kumar is an early-years education entrepreneur who blogs at MyGoodFoodWorld. She divides her time between Manchester and Chennai.

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