Can be a bit laborious to make, but totally worth it. So make a day of it and get a batch part-cooked in the freezer. Your future self will thank you for ever, when you smugly pull a paratha out of the freezer and cook it fresh to order. Also I've borrowed a technique USEd in Chinese and Japanese baking to make the dough easier to work with/roll thinly, and supporting the layers (the boiling water gelatinises the starch which is magical!).
Ingredients
Makes 6
300g plain flour
9g salt
20g oil (veg/sunflower/CPR)
40g boiling water
135g tepid water
6 TBSP softened butter or ghee for rolling
4-6 TBSP oil/butter/ghee for frying
Method
Mix flour and salt in a bowl to combine. Add the oil and rub in (like you would for pastry or crumble).
Pour in the measured boiling water, just into the flour in the middle. Leave it to sit for 5-10 mins without mixing / disturbing.
Now add the tepid water and mix to form a dough. Knead briefly (I just work the dough in the bowl for a few minutes) and then rest in the bowl for 30-60 mins.
Divide the into 6, roll into balls and rest 10-15 mins further before rolling out.
Now one at a time, roll the dough balls out as thin as you can. The boiling water gelatinises starch so you should be able to stretch them too. So thin you can see the worktop through it. You may get a little hole or two, don't worry, all will be rolled up and it won't matter in the long run!
Once rolled, spread over 1 tbsp of room temperature butter or ghee, then roll the dough into a sausage, longer rather than fatter. Then roll into a coil, tucking the edges underneath. 7. Once all rolled and coiled, cover with a cloth and rest for 30-60 mins.
Roll the dough out into 3mm thick rounds. Preheat a dry heavy pan on a medium heat.
Cook each paratha 2-3 mins each side, no colour/browning. This is just the first cook. At this point, you can separate with paper, wrap well and freeze to do the second and final cook later.
Final cook: over a med-high heat in the same heavy pan, heat 1 TBSP of ghee or oil. Cook each paratha for 1-2 mins each side, until characteristically covered in deep brown spots, steam is bursting from the layers and it's all puffy and crispy but soft on the inside. Once cooked, scrunch them to release steam so they don't go soggy.
If you can resist inhaling them straight away, wrap in a clean cloth and keep warm in a low oven whilst you cook the rest!
