Kale Paratha
Mar 12, 2015, Updated Jan 02, 2018
Healthy Vegan Kale Paratha - Indian Whole Wheat Flatbread with the goodness of Kale!
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If you are from North India, then you can probably make parathas even in your sleep. No seriously I am not exaggerating! When I was in school my mom would send parathas in my lunch box every single day. It would get to a point where I would request mom to send something else. She would then send sandwiches or noodles for a day or two and then it was back to parathas! I think the reason why parathas are so popular in India for breakfast or for lunch box is because 1) they are healthy flatbreads made with whole wheat flour 2) they are very filling 3) it’s a great way to sneak in all the veggies that kids wouldn’t eat otherwise!
Paratha is a complete meal in itself especially when you fill it with nutritious things like lentils, veggies or in this case – Kale. The kale paratha is not only healthy and nutritious but also very delicious. My husband who doesn’t eat kale otherwise ate 3 of these in one go! See I told you parathas are a great way to make people eat things which they wouldn’t eat otherwise!
Parathas stuffed with green leafy vegetables are quite popular back home like spinach paratha, methi paratha (fenugreek leaves) and that made me try the same thing with kale. I thought that when all green leafy parathas taste so good, kale paratha should also taste as good if not better. And I’m so glad I thought that way and made these parathas because we loved them and had these for breakfast 2 days in a row! Because I wanted kale to shine in the dish, I didn’t add much spices here, actually I never add too many spices in my parathas, I like them simple. For flavors, I added spring onions (scallions), some ginger and garam masala powder.
And hey since these are green, they also might just qualify for St. Patrick’s Day, isn’t it? 😉
Now parathas are made in 2 ways. One by stuffing the dough with veggies/lentils or whatever you fancy and that is the most common way of making parathas like this and the 2nd way my mixing in the ingredients with the flour while kneading the dough like in this recipe. Usually the leafy ones are made in the way shown in this recipe while potato, cauliflower, paneer etc. are stuffed inside the dough and then rolled into paratha,
Making parathas might seem like a daunting task for someone who has never made them before. It is made using Indian atta [durum whole wheat flour] which you can find at any Indian grocery store. The flour is then kneaded using water till it forms a smooth and soft dough and then rolled into parathas. Obviously when I first started my parathas were all over the place, forget the shape they never turned out as soft as I wanted them to. But like they say practice makes you perfect and now after 3 years of rolling them at least once every week, I can finally say that my parathas are nice and soft. Here is what you want to do for making perfect parathas.
1) Add little oil to the flour while making the dough.
2) Once the dough is done, cover and let it rest for 30 minutes preferably in the refrigerator.
3) The tawa/griddle on which you make the paratha should be hot enough before you place the paratha on it. I used to start cooking my parathas with the tawa being only mildly hot and the result would be that the rolled dough will take a lot of time to cook which in turn will result in a hard paratha.
4) Cook the 1st side [the one that faces down when you first place the paratha on the tawa] till you just see some light golden spots on it. You don’t want to overcook it, flip the paratha once you see light golden spots and then let the other side cook for few minutes and then apply oil or ghee or butter on the side facing upwards. Flip again and press to roast the paratha well now. Oil the other side and flip to repeat the process.
5) Some people suggest using milk or warm water to knead the dough for soft parathas. I have never done that and my parathas turn out just fine but you can definitely try it.
I hope this long post about the process of making parathas helps you to make them perfectly. And since you came this far and survived my post you might also want to check out some other paratha recipes on the blog – Broccoli Carrot Paratha, Avocado Paratha, Peas Paratha. Wow I have all the weird parathas on my blog, I mean none of the popular ones!
And now on to the recipe for kale paratha.
Method
Wash kale leaves and dry them thoroughly. Place them in a food process and chop finely. Do use food processor here because we want the kale leaves to be chopped very fine.
To the chopped kale add chopped ginger, green chili and scallions (white part only).
Add whole wheat flour (atta), salt and garam masala and mix everything together.
Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil and mix it well.
Start adding water little by little to the flour mix while mixing it all together.
Knead with your hands till everything comes together as a dough. The dough should be soft and smooth. Smear 1/2 teaspoon of oil on top of the dough, knead it and then cover and let the dough rest for around 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, divide it into 6 equal round balls. Take 1 ball and dip it in some atta. Press to flatten it. In the meanwhile place the tawa/griddle on medium heat.
Using your rolling pin, roll the dough to a 8 inch circle. I made these parathas quite thin, the stuffed ones are usually on the thicker side.
Transfer the rolled paratha on the hot griddle. The griddle should be hot at this point.
Once the side facing down cooks a little and you see some golden spots, flip the paratha. Wait for few seconds for the other side to cook a little and then apply oil on the side facing you.
Flip again and press the paratha with your spatula to cook the oiled side. Now apply oil on the 2nd side as well, flip and repeat the same.
Make all the remaning 5 parathas in the same way.
Serve warm kale paratha with yogurt and pickle on the side!
* You will need to use extra flour while rolling the parathas. Dip the dough balls in dry flour before you begin rolling and then dip again as required.
* These parathas can be made well in advance. They are perfect for your lunch-box!
* You can cook the parathas using ghee (clarified butter) or regular butter but then it won’t be vegan.
Kale Paratha
Ingredients
- 1 cup finely chopped kale [chopped using food processor]
- ¼ cup finely chopped scallion or spring onion [only the white part]
- 1 green chili finely chopped
- ½ inch ginger finely chopped
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour also known as atta in India, some more to roll the parathas
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- 1.5 teaspoons oil some more to cook the parathas
- water to knead the dough
Instructions
- Wash kale leaves and dry them thoroughly. Place them in a food process and chop finely. Do use food processor here because we want the kale leaves to be chopped very fine.
- To the chopped kale add chopped ginger, green chili and scallions (white part only).
- Add whole wheat flour (atta), salt and garam masala and mix everything together.
- Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil and mix it well.
- Start adding water little by little to the flour mix while mixing it all together.
- Knead with your hands till everything comes together as a dough. The dough should be soft and smooth.
- Smear 1/2 teaspoon of oil on top of the dough, knead it and then cover and let the dough rest for around 30 minutes, preferably in the refrigerator.
- After the dough has rested, divide it into 6 equal round balls.
- Take 1 ball and dip it in some atta. Press to flatten it. In the meanwhile place the tawa/griddle on medium heat.
- Using your rolling pin, roll the dough to a 8 inch circle. I made these parathas quite thin, the stuffed ones are usually on the thicker side.
- Transfer the rolled paratha on the hot griddle. The griddle should be hot at this point.
- Once the side facing down cooks a little and you see some golden spots, flip the paratha. Wait for few seconds for the other side to cook a little and then apply oil on the side facing you.
- Flip again and press the paratha with your spatula to cook the oiled side. Now apply oil on the 2nd side as well, flip and repeat the same.
- Make all the remaning 5 parathas in the same way.
- Serve warm kale paratha with yogurt and pickle on the side!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Kale Paratha
