Sweet potato rotis - soft Indian bread with sweet potatoes

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Everyone becomes creative in the face of need. This roti is one such recipe from BH's consulting days. I am sure many of you have been or are currently in the same boat with a spouse travelling on work. Eating out may sound fancy but definitely has its health deterrents, especially if you have to do it long term. In the initial days, when I wasn't used to quick cooking and needed time to plan and execute, my cooking was limited to 2-3 times a week. A large scale cooking on Sunday afternoon (some 2-3 curries and rotis/parathas) with idli or dose hittu (batter) ready for the week, supplemented by a mid week cooking on Wednesday or Thursday :-). It was a great confidence booster to come back home after work with a hungry toddler in tow and find something readily available in the refrigerator. I am older, wiser and can cook faster now so I don't do bulk cooking anymore and we sit down for a family dinner most evenings.

But back in the days when BH was travelling, he would be gone most of the week days. While he used to have lunch with colleagues, he preferred to have something light at his hotel room at night. I used to be constantly on the look out for recipes that were healthy, wholesome and had longer shelf life. We both prefer rotis to rice and curries just because of the reduced mess in eating. BH is a totally non fussy eater so pleasing him through food is a no brainer. While stuffed parathas not only taste great but also stay soft, it requires additional work preparing the stuffing. Instead you can get the same delicious (Well, almost :-)) rotis by adding the ingredients into the dough.

I usually get my brand of whole wheat flour for making rotis. Nammamma in the days when she sent cleaned wheat grains to the flour mill would also add moong dal to make rotis nutritious, that is my mom's concept of multi grain flour long before the super market isles exploded with them.

Today's roti is a tried and tested recipe with two key ingredients. Both add to the taste and nutrition value of these rotis. I won't bore you with a wiki like sermon on the nutritional benefits, a quick look up on the all powerful, all invasive internet will give you what you are looking for (and much more of what you are not looking for also). I have added flax seeds powder  - you can get this as flax seeds meal in super markets or just powder flax seeds in a dry blender and add it while mixing the dough.

What do you need to make sweet potato rotis? 
1 big sweet potato (I used the white colored, you can use the pink or red ones)
2 cups whole wheat flour + 1Tblsp for dusting
2 Tblsp milled flax seeds or powdered flax seeds
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 green chili - chopped fine (optional)
2-3 twigs fresh cilantro - chopped fine

How do you make sweet potato rotis? 

• Trim the ends of sweet potato, cut into 4-5 pieces and boil it in microwave or pressure cooker until soft.
• Once the boiled sweet potatoes cool down, peel the skin and mash it into a paste.
• Add chopped cilantro and green chilies (if using) along with salt and mix well. 

• Add the wheat flour and flax seeds powder and mix it into a soft dough. You will not need water as the boiled potatoes generate enough water content.
• Knead for 1-2 minutes and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. 

• Pinch off golf ball sized dough, shape it into a ball and roll it into a circular roti dusting as needed with dry wheat flour.
• Heat a flat griddle and roast the roti on both sides until it is cooked and light brown spots appear. 

• Enjoy warm, soft rotis with any pickle or chutney and a side of buttermilk or yogurt.

Notes: 

• I did not use oil while roasting, you can if you prefer.
• I sometimes add a Tsp of white sesame seeds into the dough which is optional. 
• The dough tends to become softer as you let it rest, take that into account as you do not want a very sticky dough on hand. 
• Based on the quality of sweet potato, sometimes the prepared dough tends to get sticky, add dry wheat flour if needed and knead for a couple of minutes before you roll into rotis. 

Hearty lunch - Gobi Para(n)tha or parotta

In our house, rice & roti are equally respected. Being the south Indians that we are, rice is staple and we covet all our rice varieties and the side dishes that go with it, at the same time all kinds of rotis, parathas, pooris, naans are regular fare in my kitchen. Parottas as we called it were elaborate preparations and nammamma made some really yummy potato parottas. But her repertoire of parottas stopped with potatoes since she didn't use Gobi.

I think Parottas/Parathas make one of the heartiest meals and use different vegetables (some stuffed, some blended into the dough) and lentils/dals depending on what is available in my pantry. Parathas also make for a good cleaning recipe, it has the power to turn stray vegetables lying in your refrigerator into a tasty, filling meal :-).

My daughter had a long day today with after school clubs and sports practice lined up and since it was busy at work for me too, I planned to make Gobi/cauliflower parathas for her lunch. Lunch is referred to the before sunset meal she has after school which is any time between 3 - 5pm depending on her activities. She has 'the lunch' whenever she gets home from school. As we were going to be driving, I wanted to make something she could easily chomp off without it getting messy in the car. So the Gobi in the refrigerator came to the rescue. I wrapped the hot parathas in aluminium foil, mixed the curd & pickle in a small container and she finished it as we drove to the practice field.

Though roti making seems time consuming, a little bit of planning goes a long way and parathas are very good make ahead recipes too. They tend to remain soft and delicious even if you were to eat it after they cool down. There is a lot in this recipe that can be made ahead and you can prepare fresh, hot parathas as needed if you have prepped it, so go ahead and give this delicious recipe a try for a quick meal or a leisurely one.

What do you need to make Gobi parathas? 
Paratha stuffing: 
1 medium sized cauliflower - florets separated and grated
1 medium sized potato - boiled, peeled and mashed (optional)
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp red chili powder
1 Tsp garam masala powder
1/2 Tsp amchoor/dry mango powder(optional)
1 Tsp dry kasoori methi

Roti Dough: 
2 cups wheat flour
1 cup water (adjust to get the consistency described below)
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp cooking oil

For the parathas: 
Wheat flour to dust
2 Tblsp cooking oil

How do you make Gobi parathas?
Stuffing preparation:

• Heat a pan, put the grated gobi, salt and cook it covered on medium heat for about 5 minutes
• Add the spices, mashed potatoes and let it all cook until the water evaporates and the gobi is cooked. 
• Taste and adjust the spices, switch off and let it come to room temperature.
• Make lemon sized balls from the mixture, cover and keep it aside until needed.  

Paratha dough preparation: 

• Take the wheat flour and salt in a wide bowl, mix it dry to incorporate the salt. 
• Add water little by little to make a soft, pliable dough
• Knead the dough for a couple of minutes, smear oil, cover and set it aside for 15-20 minutes. 
• Make lemon sized balls from the dough, remember you will need as many dough balls as you have the stuffing balls. 

One on top is already stuffed, the bottom 2 rows are ready for stuffing

Paratha preparation: 

• Smear a drop of oil on the palm of your left hand, take a dough ball and spread it out to fill your palm.
• Put the stuffing in the middle and pull the dough gently on top to cover the stuffing completely. 
• Roll this gently between your palms and set it in a plate, seam side down. 
• Repeat the process until you have used up the dough & stuffing. 
• If you have extra stuffing, plop it into the mouth and enjoy the veggie goodness. If you have extra dough, you can roll them into plain rotis/chapathis. 
• If I am making all the prep at the same time as preparing the paratha, at this stage I usually cover the prepared paratha balls and put them in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes, so they firm up and not open when you roll them. 
• If you are prepping ahead like I did today, you can do all the steps upto this stage and put them in the refrigerator until needed - Make sure you have wrapped the balls completely in plastic wraps so they don't dry. 
• Roll the prepared paratha balls, dusting with wheat flour as needed to a 1/2 inch thick, uniform circle.
• Transfer the rolled paratha to a hot tawa or griddle and roast both sides till golden brown by dropping a few drops of oil on top. 
• Serve hot Gobi parathas with Yogurt/curd and pickle or your choice of side dish.  

Variations: 

• I like to preserve the natural taste of Gobi in the parathas, so I usually go easy on the spices. You can add/change the spices to suit your taste. 

Tips: 

• The gobi mixture needs to cook well for best taste in addition to becoming dry, do the cooking on medium heat. 
• I make the paratha dough slightly more pliable than regular rotis for easy handling. Use warm water to get a softer paratha. 
• As I mentioned before, this is a great make ahead recipe and you can keep these ready in the fridge for upto 24-30 hours. 
• Addition of potato to the stuffing helps bind the mixture and makes it easy to handle, you can skip this if you want to. 
• Making a stuffed paratha is a skill but you don't have to shy away from trying it, keep the dough pliant, the dough ball a slight bit bigger than the stuffing and use oil as needed to close the stuffing.