Paratha (Flaky Layered Flatbread)

Dough

For Laminating

For Cooking

Pantry swaps

Method

1. Place a bowl over a scale. Add 500 g all-purpose flour, 10 g salt, and 30 g vegetable oil. Mix coarsely with your hands.
2. Add 300 g room-temperature water. Mix with your hands until no dry flour remains.
3. Slide a lid over the bowl and rest the dough for 15 minutes to relax it.
4. Knead in the bowl for about 5 minutes. Do the gluten window test: cut off a piece and stretch it until you can see a translucent window. This confirms the gluten network has formed, giving elasticity and chew.
5. Divide the dough into 8 pieces of about 100 g each (or 10 pieces of 80 g). Place on a sheet tray and rest for 15 minutes before rolling and folding.
6. Roll each piece out very thin – until basically translucent. Spread softened ghee all over, add a light sprinkle of flour, then fold. This is where the layers are created. Choose one of three folds (below).
7. After folding, rest the folded parathas for at least 15 minutes before the final roll.
8. Roll each folded paratha out into an 8-9 inch circle.

Fold Option 1 – Triangle Fold (Madhur Jaffrey)

1. Roll the dough into an 8-9 inch circle.
2. Brush with softened ghee and sprinkle with a little flour.
3. Fold in half, spread more ghee on that half, and fold once more to form a quarter-circle triangle.
4. Roll out to final size – the layers will open up as you roll.

Fold Option 2 – Fold and Coil (Accordion)

1. Roll the dough very thin and spread ghee on it.
2. Fold it over halfway back repeatedly to create accordion folds that layer the dough all the way up the circle.
3. Roll the folded rectangle up into a coil and pinch the tail end into the bottom.

Fold Option 3 – Pinched Log (Kunal Kapoor)

1. Roll the dough out as thin as possible and spread ghee on it.
2. Pick up one end and pinch it into a log with your hand, creating many tiny layers.
3. These yield the lightest and flakiest layers of the three, but all three turn out well.

Cook Option 1 – Fry Immediately

1. Place a pan over medium heat with a little oil or ghee.
2. Once hot, drop the paratha in and fry one side until golden brown, pressing down and circling it for even heat.
3. Flip and repeat, flipping multiple times to avoid over-browning one side. Use more oil/ghee as needed.
4. When fully cooked, scrunch the paratha up (many people do this) to release steam and expose the layers.

Cook Option 2 – Dry Cook, Freeze, Fry Later (Serious Eats method)

1. Place a pan over medium heat with no oil or ghee.
2. Dry-cook the paratha for a couple of minutes per side until light browning appears and the wet spot disappears. Do not crisp fully.
3. Set cooked parathas on a cooling rack. Place parchment paper between them so they don’t stick, then transfer to a freezer bag.
4. When ready to eat, fry one from frozen with a little ghee using the process in Cook Option 1.

Notes

Servings: 8 (per paratha, ~100 g dough). Per serving (estimated): 330 kcal, 45 g carbs, 6 g protein, 14 g fat, 2 g fiber. Macros estimated from ingredients; actual values depend on ghee used in laminating and frying.

Parathas go great with any Indian vegetable dish, or make excellent kathi rolls. The video author’s favorite way: sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon over the top while warm. Dough ingredients and ratios are similar to a flour tortilla, but the lamination technique gives puff-pastry-like layers.

Source: Ethan Chlebowski, “Paratha, the flaky flatbread everyone should know how to make” – folding methods reference Madhur Jaffrey, Kunal Kapoor, and Sohla El-Waylly’s Serious Eats article.