Lauki Paratha (Sorakaya Paratha)

For Day 5 of the Blogging Marathon and I've this healthy and delicious Lauki paratha. I started looking for Roti/ Paratha recipes once I decided to do the marathon and I finalized 7 recipes that I wanted to make. Then I borrowed "Pure & Simple: Homemade Vegetarian Indian Cuisine" by Vidhu Mithal from the library and when I saw the picture of lauki paratha, I wanted to try it for the marathon, so I pushed one of my Puri recipes out and in came this veggie rich paratha.

I had a rocky start while making this paratha. I added a little more than is needed to make the dough and it ended up very sticky. I tried to add more atta, but it was still too sticky. So I divided the dough into balls and rolled them in lot of atta and then made the parathas. The end result was yummy, slight nuttiness from the besan and mild after taste of the lauki, these parathas were just delicious. I served these to my picky 3 yr old with tomato pickle and he gustily gobbled them up, which is unusual because he eats everything with nutella or jam.

What did I learn: Even if you don't like Lauki, you would LOVE these Lauki parathas.

Ingredients:

Atta - 1½ cups

Besan - ½cup (I used brown chickpea flour for some added fiber)

Salt - ¾tsp
Yogurt - 2tbsp
Lauki (Bottle gourd) - ½lb, grated (about 2-3cups)
Carom seeds (Ajwain) - ½tsp
Cilantro - 2tbsp, finely chopped
Red chili powder - ½tsp
Turmeric - ¼tsp

Method:

• Sieve atta and besan with salt. Add all the other ingredients and knead to make regular roti dough. Add water as needed to form the dough. Please note that lauki gives out moisture as it sits, so DO NOT add too much water.
• Keep aside covered for 5 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 12 equal parts. Dust with atta and roll each ball into 6" disc.
• Cook on heated skillet (tawa) with 1tbsp oil until light golden brown on both sides. Serve hot.

Lets see what my fellow marathoners BM#4 have been cooking up today.

Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree
Seven Days of Cakes:Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli