Mutter paratha (Peas stuffed Indian Flatbread)

The charm of winter can be seen in the local markets, with veggies and fruits in vibrant colours on the carts.

Fresh green peas, being a very versatile vegetable, are used in preparations in every state of India with not much difference in taste and masalas. My mutter paratha recipe is inspired by our very own Bengali motor shootir kochuri. Kochuri means stuffed deep fried bread.To give it a healthy twist, I made parathas instead which are made on a gridle pan with much less oil or ghee.I made the stuffing in the microwave  and this goes for both kochuri as well as paratha.
Makes 8 parathas

Ingredients for the stuffing(Use normal flatbread dough for the parathas)

1. 200 gms of fresh green peas
2. 1/2 an inch of ginger
3. 1 fresh green chilli
4. 1/2 tsp salt
5. 1/2 tsp roasted and ground cumin powder
6. A pinch of asafoetida
7. 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
8.  1/2 tsp lime juice
9. 2 tbsps oil.

Procedure

For the stuffing

1. Put everything in a blender with minimum possible water and blend coarsely.
2. Pour it into microwaveable bowl and put it in the microwave for 3 minutes. 
3. Take it out and stir nicely.
4. Pop it in for another 3 mins.
5. Mix it well and the leave to rest for a while. 
6. Do not cover it when its hot.Use a fork to mix it well.
7. When you get a grainy texture, your stuffing is ready.

For the Parathas

1. Take your everyday flatbread dough and roll two rotis half the size of normal roti.
2. Keep one aside and the other on the rolling board.
3. Take out two tbsps of stuffing and spread on the roti on the rolling board leaving the sides.
4. Take the second roti and put on top of the stuffing sealing all the sides with your hands.
5. Then roll both the rotis together dusting it with flour so that they dont stick to the rolling board.
6. Put the non- stick tawa on the burner and let it get adequately hot.
7. Keep oil or ghee or melted butter in a bowl with basting brush .
8. When hot, turn the flame to medium and put the paratha on it.
9. Press gently with a spatula to make sure every part of the paratha is cooked uniformly.
10. This should take you around 3-4 mins.
11. Flip it and let it cook on the other side too.
12. When both the sides look cooked(when there are brown spots on both surfaces), brush oil or butter or ghee on both the sides and fry on high.
13. It will puff up, once it is cooked.Take it off the heat and serve or store in a bowl with lid. Make sure to line the bowl with a padded cloth in the bottom and on top.This prevents the parathas from turning soggy.
14. Serve with pickle and potato gravy.

I usually make the stuffing  and store in the freezer .It really helps when I fall short of veggies in the house or guests come over suddenly or even for lunch boxes.When putting in the lunch boxes, I cut them like we cut pizzas(six sections out of a paratha).