Cabbage and Carrot paratha

Cabbage-carrot paratha, this will surely put a smile on your face

A paratha/parantha/parauntha is an Indian flat-bread that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta which literally means layers of cooked dough.  I also came to know that in Burma, it is known as palata while it is known as farata in the Maldives.


It is one of the most popular unleavened flat-breads in Indian cuisine. It is made by pan frying rolled whole wheat dough on a tava or flat surface griddle. Parathas are usually stuffed with vegetables and/or Paneer (Indian cheese). You need to be very careful while rolling these parathas as you do not want the stuffing to come out. There is one more style of parathas popular in western part of India in which vegetables are finely grated or chopped and are mixed with dough and spices. This way the rolling becomes little easier. But again, this works with specific kind of vegetables like carrots, cabbage, spinach, methi leaves, coriander, dudhi (bottle gourd) or muli (white radish) etc.

Sizzling hot paratha with a chunk of butter on top

Whichever way you make, parathas are all time favorites. They are good as snack or light lunch. You can serve it with ketchup, chutney, Indian style pickles or roll it and eat it along with tea or coffee. I think this is the best way to feed different veggies to kids.  Kids love it with a dollop of butter or with generous amount of ghee on top. (Ghee is widely used in Indian cooking, it is also called clarified butter) This is a healthy dish for breakfast and a lot filling too. Vegetable parathas can be made in advance and stay fresh for 2-3 days at room temp. Paneer parathas maybe will stay for a day outside then need to be refrigerated.

Specks of green and white can be seen on the golden-brown parathas

Today we are making cabbage and carrot parathas. This recipe will make around 12-13 parathas.


Ingredients :-

1/2 cup cabbage, grated fine
1    carrot, grated fine
4-5 cloves garlic
3-4 green chillies (or acc. to taste)
1 inch piece of ginger
Handful of coriander leaves, chopped fine (optional)
Salt (acc. to taste)
1 - 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp gram flour or besan
2 tbsp rice flour
3 tbsp plain yogurt or dahi
Oil/butter/ghee for shallow frying

Process :-

1.  Make a fine paste using green chillies, garlic and ginger. You can also use store bought paste but i encourage on using fresh ingredients and believe me it takes just a couple of mins. of your time and the food tastes excellent.

Cabbage, carrots and green-chillies, ginger and garlic paste

2.  Mix the rest of the ingredients except oil to make a soft pliable dough. You must have noticed that we substituted yogurt instead of oil while making the dough. The reason is yogurt is a healthy ingredient and it does the same task as oil - keeping the parathas soft. The dough has specks of orange, green and white due to the veggies.

Dough ready to get rolled

3.  Heat the tava or flat surface griddle on medium high heat.

4.  As this dough is soft, you need to be careful while rolling it. Use a lot of flour on the rolling pin as well as on the surface. Divide the dough into 12 or 13 equal parts and shape them into balls. Take one ball and roll it gently into a 6-7 inch diameter.

Paratha ready to hit the hot griddle

5.  Place the paratha on the tava. After 15-20 secs. u will see bubbles forming on it, turn the paratha using a spatula and smear it with a tsp of oil/butter/ghee. Turn the paratha again and let the buttered side cook for 1-2 mins. till golden brown spots start appearing. Meanwhile smear a tsp of oil/butter/ghee on the other side and repeat the process. Serve them sizzling hot with a dollop of butter/ghee on top.

Golden brown spots appear on the paratha, get ready to plate it

Isn't this a fabulous way to start your day :)