CRISPY PRATHA IN 5 WAYS

Paratha is made from a simple dough of flour, salt, oil, and water. The dough is divided and each piece is rolled out and smeared with a generous amount of ghee, butter, or shortening, and sprinkled with flour to help provide definition between the layers. The fresh, handmade paratha my grandmother would make was buttery and flaky, with tender inner layers and crisp outer layers that would shatter as you tore it. The way it’s smeared with ghee or butter (or, in my grandmother’s case, Crisco!), layered, and rolled by hand creates a distinct taste and texture, unlike that of its store-bought counterpart. And unlike the round paratha from the grocery store, hers were always square. Seeing that plate of square paratha meant we were going to be eating well.