MY take on paratha, roti or just flaky pully bread for sopping up curry, stew, soup, eggs, or just eating :)

I love bread with a meal, I love dunking, sopping and scooping with bread or a flaky bread like item, this is MY take on paratha, the flaky, shattered loose flatbread eaten all over the world, but not nearly enough in the usa... cmon americans, let's start dunking, sopping, scooping and enjoying the experience of eating with our hands

This is my take so please don't be haters, I'm just cooking dinner after all.  This recipe makes 4 breads but you'll see there sort of turned to rags so I put them all in a big bowl in the middle of the table and you just reach in and rip off hunks to eat with your dinner.

Hope you enjoy it!!

**There's a link to the youtube video at the end of the post for clarification of the two techniques*

TRACY'S PARATHA (ROTI) FLAKY FLATBREAD

INGREDIENTS

DOUGH
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 TB brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup milk/water combo (or just plain water but use the combo)
dribble of plain oil

FOR ROLLING AND COOKING
2 TB shortening (or 1 each butter and shortening)
plain oil
flour for dusting and rollling

METHOD

Mix dough ingredients, all together, at once. to form a smooth (ish), soft dough.
Divide into 4, roll into balls, cover with damp cloth or put in plastic bag, leave to rest 15 mins

Roll each ball to a 10 inch circle (ish), spread some shortening on each and split from the middle to look like pacman.
Roll into a spiral, tuck in tops and bottoms.
Cover with damp towel, leave at least 1 hour, longer is better

Preheat comal or tawa or giant frying pan to medium.  Coat lightly with oil.  Roll one dough ball out to the size of the pan.  Brush lightly with oil.

Cook over medium heat until brown and cooked through, flip a few times.
Transfer to a flat surface and scrunch with your hands, flip and scrunch again.
Put in a lined bowl with foil, to keep warm.

Repeat with other balls,
tear and eat, tear and eat, tear and dunk and dip and scoop and eat eat eat


PLAY BY PLAY WITH ALL THE PICS AND A LITTLE VIDEO TOO 

Combine all dough ingredients in a bowl, you can do this easily by hand, btw, I was just feeling lazy today.

    

It makes a soft, slightly sticky dough, that's what you want. Give it a little knead on a lightly floured board.

    

Divide the dough into 4 little balls.  Cover with a wet cloth or put in a plastic bag, leave about 15 mins.

    

Mix some shortening and some butter, or just use shortening, or just use lard OR you can use oil but don't, it's better with shortening and butter. Roll the dough on a floured surface.

    

Roll out pretty thin, this is how big I do it. Cover with a light coating of the shortening and sprinkle LIGHTLY with flour.  Cut a slit from the middle to the outside.

    

Take one side and start rolling, follow the slice down, around the corner and back up,  Tuck both ends inside.

    

Flatten on the board, just with your hand and pop the balls somewhere to rest, I throw them back in the bowl, with a wet paper towel and a tea towel and forget about them.

     

AHHHHH, now the best part.  Preheat a frying pan or comal or tawa, whatever you have thats BIG and flat.  Hmmm, I wonder if you could use an electric griddle, I think so...  maybe next time.

Ok here we go, after they've rested, roll the balls, with flour, to the size of whatever pan you have, drizzle a little plain oil

    

lightly oil the pan, I use a comal on medium high heat, if it's browning too fast, turn it down.

    

Flip back and forth until it's cooked through.

    

oh lovely and even, flip back and forth another minute or so then transfer to a flat surface...  this is where it gets weird

  

On a flat surface, use both hands and clap together, squashing the bread between, I am having to do it one handed to take pics hahaha

    

roll it like a snowball, loosely until the layers explode and it almost shreds, oh my how lovely and light and flaky and delicious... use it to dip, scoop or just eat...  so so so so good 

   

so, THAT is how I make my paratha, flaky and light and delicious and pully and stretchy and tender and chewy.  

Make this, let me know how much you love it.

HERE is the video that shows the roll and the cook and the squash :) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE9NT6TXmLk

/enjoy!  

DRIVE BY RECIPE FOR Crispy Crunchy Chicken Wings that you start in the Pressure Cooker, I did them in my Instant Pot

I love chicken wings, I hate guessing when they're done.  I don't like them baked, too much flipping and paying attention to.  I guess I think of chicken wings as bimbo food...pretty to look at but too much of a pain in the rear end to deal with regularly.  THEN I thought to myself, "hey, self, we have electric pressure cookers........." and my chicken recipe was born!

This goes fast, there's not many pictures because I was cooking instead of taking pictures but trust me on this one, go do it...  seriously.  No, there's not amounts here, this is a method!  Use it as a jumping off point!

TRACY'S PRESSURE COOKER CHICKEN WINGS 

(then into the fryer) 

INGREDIENTS

chicken wings
water
salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, seasons of your choice
flour
corn starch
oil

METHOD AND THE FEW PICS I HAVE

Get some whole chicken wings, c'mon they're so much cheaper.
Cut the little nubby end off and put into a bag for stock later, seriously, save them!

PUT 2 cups of water in the pressure cooker liner and a steamer basket above.
Split the wings in half and drop in a steamer basket of your electric pressure cooker. Don't pack them tightly but just drop them in so it's sort of an even couple of layers.
The package I had was 10 wings, so 20 pieces.  You could probably do up to 30 pieces at a time without over crowding.

LOCK AND LOAD and set to HIGH pressure for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl combine a 1 cup each of flour and cornstarch.  Season heavily with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and whatever dry seasonings float your boat.

Put about 2 inches of plain oil (or lard) into a deep sided pan and heat on medium.

When the pressure cooker dings, release the pressure and carefully take the wings out, I just lifted the basket, and leave them to air dry a little bit, while the oil heats to 375, it only takes a few minutes.

Toss the wings in the flour mixture and carefully put them into the hot oil. Cook them in batches, they don't take long at all and you don't want to crowd the pan or lower the temperature of the oil.  IF you have a deep fryer, you can use it, of course, but don't overfill the basket.

Remember, they are completely cooked so this is purely for crunch and beauty.

Don't mess with them in the oil, put them in and leave them till you see brown around the sides, then flip and cook the other side.

Lift out and drain, season again with salt if you'd like then EAT THEM!!!!!!!!!!

They are so tender and juicy and crunchy all at the same time.  They are super fast (for wings), no fuss, the cook is easy and you can do other things while they cook, the fry is FAST and the wings are crunchy crispy delicious.

Go, do it, now!

 

/enjoy

PITA BREAD for every day, 2 hours from idea to eating and did I mention how delicious they are? stuffed with EVERYTHING!

I have a couple of pressure cookers, one Nesco and one Instantpot.  I make mountains of tender fall off the bone fall apart meat in them pressure cookers.

Oh and yes, ALL electric pressure cookers are basically the same, don't fall for the hype, the only thing different is some preset buttons, the numbers of button and on yogurt function that you can recreate in a crockpot.  THAT being said, I make a lot of tender stuff and sometimes, you want something to HOLD the stuff that isn't a tortilla.  No offense to the tortilla fans.

Enter the PITA BREAD, yeah baby, I have been futzing with this recipe for a really long time and now it's ready for it's close up.  I prefer using pita for sandwiches and wraps because I have the choice of opening it and using the pocket OR not cutting it and having a fatter version, more like a naan, which by the way, if you spread these with butter and/or garlic you will think you're eating the best naan on earth.  BUT, as usual, I digress.

Another bread moment is that yes, you DO need to go get a small digital scale.  They are CHEAP and they really do help with consistency in breads.  Flour is scooped differently by all of us and using a scale is just easier, better and go get one.  I have the KAMENSTEIN DIGITAL FOOD SCALE  (NO, they don't pay me for recommendations, no one does) and I love it, I got it at Costco for $10? a couple of years ago, they have great customer service, I think I blogged about it.  THAT is the scale to get if you're looking for my input.

This recipe is fabulous because from thinking about it to eating it, it's about 2 hours and a bit maybe? depending on how warm your kitchen is.  This is a keeper and you need to go make it.

TRACY'S PITA BREAD

INGREDIENTS

375 grams all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
8 g yeast
250 +/- water, slightly better than room temperature
(IF you want to get chefy, you can add some dried flavorings, like onion powder or garlic powder or herbs)

IN a food processor, or large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  Add 1/2 of the water and stir, mix and gradually add water until a soft, supple, slightly sticky dough forms.  Knead with machine (or by hand if you're so inclined) until it's a smooth dough.

Cover, leave to rise till double.  Maybe 45 mins?

PREHEAT OVEN TO THE HIGHEST SETTING with either unglazed quarry tiles in there (that's what i use) OR with a pizza stone OR with an inverted cookie sheet.  SEE, no reason not to make these.

Divide into 8 balls, approximately 80g each, leave to rest about 20 minutes.

Flour counter and roll each ball to 5-6 inch diameter and transfer in batches, to the screaming not oven.
Bake 3 minutes until puffy, remove to a towel.

EAT!

These are soft, chewy, have a great pull and a great flavor, yeah, it's all that.  Pretty easy and rather impressive if you ask me.

THE PICTURES

Mix the flour, yeast and salt together in a bowl.  Add about 3/4 of the water and start mixing on slow

    

Gradually add more water until a shaggy dough forms, turn the speed up to 4 and let it go about 5 minutes.  It will form a soft, smooth, slightly sticky dough. Add 1 TB flour to the bottom of the mixer to coat the dough, it's just a thing I do instead of flouring a board and rolling it :D

    

 See, it's not much flour at all, turn the machine on 1 and let it go 10 turns or so to coat the dough, form into a ball, see how it's not sticking to your hands now !?

    

 Pop the dough back into the bowl, there's a little flour in there still to help it not stick, cover it and leave it to double.  when it's almost doubled, TURN YOUR OVEN  (with the stones or cookie sheet inside) TO THE HIGHEST SETTING TO START IT PREHEATING, YOU NEED IT SCREAMING HOT. Mine goes to 500 so that's where it's set.  It usually takes about 30 mins to preheat so when the dough it almost doubled is a good time to do it.
Ahhh, look at that doubledness!

   

Divide the dough into 8, roughly 80 gm each.  Roll them into balls and cover loosely, leave about 15 mins to relax.

    

I dip the balls in flour then roll them out to about 5-6 inches around. I have a small oven so can only really cook 2 at a time, straight on the tiles.

    

Ooooh, oven puffiness!  I cook them 2 at a time for 3 minutes. They STAY puffy for a while out of the oven too, so exciting, yeah, I love puffiness!
     

AND inside, look at that huge pocket ready for stuffing with whatever you love, hot or cold, any meal of the day, these are soft, tasty, chewy, and absolutely a bread that needs to be on your short list repertoire!

go make them... now!

/enjoy