A tasty dose of Haemoglobin and protein!

Beetroot-Dal Paratha

Parathas! The word immediately brings to my mind mouth watering memories of the many different kinds of parathas I've eaten over the years. Stuffed parathas, plain parathas, colorful veggie parathas! Nothing can beat the fulfillment of having a hot paratha with some raita/curd and pickle! :) <drool drool!>. Parathas- made with whole wheat flour and a variety of veggies are a healthy one-item-meal option. Definitely one of my favorite lunch box items back in college! Not one of your easier dishes to make though, as it involves some work from kneading the dough to rolling out the parathas.

Since parathas are made with practically all kinds of veggies on this earth (palak/mooli/onion and the list goes on..), I'm sure beetroot paratha must have been made/eaten by many of us. I do not recall having eaten this however. My hubby is not a big fan of different kinds of vegetables and its always a challenge to make him eat them- veggies being healthy is secondary, primary concern being, I love veggies and I want to eat them ;)

Beetroots are great sources of haemoglobin. So I thought of making parathas outa them. I used some masoor dal along with beetroots in this recipe, which I think made the parathas really soft and added a slightly different and pleasant fragrance and taste to the parathas. Turned out really tasty, hubby happy, me happy! :D

What you need :

2 medium sized beets

1/2 cup masoor dal

Whole wheat flour

1/4 cup finely chopped coriander/cilantro

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp grated garlic or use ginger garlic paste

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp cumin coriander powder

2 tsp kasoori methi 

Red chilly powder 

Salt

Oil 

Method :

Wash the beets and dal and cook them together in a pressure cooker with some turmeric and about a tsp of sugar for about 3 whistles.

Once it cools down, peel the beets, check how soft they are. Accordingly, mash/grate the beets.

Add ginger, garlic, spices, cilantro, salt. Mix well.

Now add flour and knead. Add as much flour as the mixture will hold to make a pliable dough.

The dough should be on the softer side. (This dough can be stored in the fridge for 2 - 3 days)

To make parathas: Take desired quantity of dough and roll it into parathas. Roast them on a tava with some oil. Serve hot with yogurt and pickle! Enjjjoooyyyy!!! :D

P.S: Have some kind of layering/folds while rolling the parathas. For eg: triangular fold, square folds, roll and coil like a laccha paratha.