Missing Puja and Mughlai Paratha

This is the second year running I have missed Durga Puja. All in all, that makes three times in my whole life when I was away from my parents. For the non-Bengalis it means nothing, but for us, Durga Puja is all about home-coming. It is that period of the year when the children come back to their parents just like the Goddess does. Well, a lot has been written and said about the greatest festival of the Bengalis and I am not going to repeat that again. Just one thing to add is that, my Durga Puja had never been complete without having the roadside food which sells like anything during these five days. And what tastes better than the mughlai paratha or moglai parota or just moglai as we Bengalis will pronounce it.

Mughlai Paratha is a stuffed paratha which has a filling of egg and minced meat essentially, though the toned down versions have egg and breadcrumbs. I do not know the origin of the paratha and cannot vouch for the fact that it is essentially mughlai (from the Moghuls), but the fact that it is very popular in Bengal can somehow prove that it is mughlai as we all know how mughlai cuisine has been loved and relished by the Bengalis since ages.

Typically served with a plain potato curry and ketchup and some onions (because the paratha is so heavy, rich accompaniments are not necessary), the dish makes a important mark among the street food that you get in Kolkata. It can taste from heavenly to like leather, but that depends on where you eat it of course.

Since I was missing the streets of Kolkata for the second time in a row, this Shasthi I decided to recreate some of it in my own kitchen. And here goes the recipe.

Ingredients

• For the stuffing

• Minced meat : 300 gm (I used chicken)
• Onion: 1 large (finely chopped)
• Garlic: 5 big cloves (make paste)
• Ginger: 1 inch (make paste)
• Green chilies: 4 (chopped)
• Garam Masala powder: 1/2 teaspoon
• Dhaniya/Coriander powder: 1/2 teaspoon
• Whole Jeera/cumin seeds: 1/2 teaspoon
• Egg: one for each paratha
• Turmeric/ haldi powder: 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt: to taste
• For the paratha
• Plain flour/ Maida: 2 cups (this will make about 5)
• Oil: 2 tablespoon
• Salt: a pinch
• For the curry
• Potatoes: 3 large
• Green chilies: 3 (slit in two)
• Onion seeds/ kalonji: 1 teaspoon
• Jeera powder: 1/2 teaspoon
• Dry red chilies: 2

Preparation

• Marinate the minced meat with salt, turmeric, ginger and garlic paste. If you are using mutton/lamb meat, you can boil and drain a little or add raw papaya juice which will make it cook easily.
• Sift the flour and add two large spoons of oil and then mix it well with your hand until no lumps are felt. This is called giving "mayan" in Bengali and is essential for parathas.
• Then add warm water in the flour and make a soft dough. Keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds to splutter, add green chilies and finely chopped onions. Fry until brown.
• Now add the marinated minced meat. Mix for a while.
• Then add the ground spices that is garam masala and dhaniya.
• Cover and cook, until it looks like scrambled eggs and has attained a dark colour. Also the fat from the meat will separate out. Keep aside and cool.
• Make 5 big balls from the dough. Add ample oil in the top and roll into big parathas.
• Beat one egg and one spoon of the cooked meat and put in the centre of paratha.
• Fold paratha from north-south first, closing in on the stuffing. then fold from east-west sealing it completely.
• Heat a lot of oil in a pan and carefully place the paratha inside it.
• Fry till golden and then drain and place on paper towels.
• For the curry, cut potatoes in small pieces.
• Heat little oil in a pan, add kalonji seeds and dry red chilies.
• Once they are fried and gives nice smell, add the potatoes and green chilies.
• Cook for some time. Add little water if needed.
• Add turmeric and jeera powder and salt to taste.
• Cover and cook till potatoes are soft.
• Serve paratha with this curry and with tomato ketchup and chopped onions.

Note: Pseudo-vegetarians can use breadcrumbs instead of minced meat. Just add breadcrumbs to the beaten egg, and all masalas to it.

My parathas came out soft as I shallow fried them, but they were tasty nevertheless.

Until next time, eat and be happy!