Sattu Paratha
The paratha puffs on the tawa and steam pushes out at the edge, carrying the smell of mustard oil, ajwain and pickle masala from the sattu inside.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 2 cups (250 g) whole wheat atta, for the dough
- 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp oil and about 3/4 cup (180 ml) water, to knead
- 1 cup (130 g) chana sattu (roasted bengal gram flour), bought from a grocery
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) wooden cold pressed black mustard oil, for the filling
- 1/2 tsp ajwain (carom seeds) and 1/2 tsp kalonji (nigella seeds)
- 1 tbsp (10 g) ginger, chopped very fine, and 1 tsp garlic, chopped very fine
- 2 green chillies, chopped very fine
- 1 small onion (75 g), chopped very fine
- 2 tbsp (30 g) mango pickle masala, taken from the jar
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice
- 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp stone-ground red chilli powder, for the filling
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
- 1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 30 ml) water, to bind the filling
- 4 tbsp (60 g) Gir Cow's A2 Ghee, for roasting
Quantities are scaled up. Taste as you go and adjust the salt and spice.
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A Patna morning, and the tawa is already hot. The sattu is being mixed in a steel bowl with fingers, not a spoon, because you have to feel when it is right, and the mustard oil, the pickle masala and the lemon juice are going in one after another. The filling smells sharp and roasted at the same time. Stuffed and rolled, the paratha hits the tawa and within a minute it lifts in the middle and puffs, and when you press the edge with a cloth a jet of steam escapes with the smell of ajwain in it. Torn open at the table it is filled with hot, loose, crumbly sattu that spills onto the plate. Eaten with a spoon of curd, some raw onion and a green chilli, it will hold you till evening.
Sattu is roasted bengal gram flour. We do not sell it, so buy it from any grocery or online, and get the plain chana sattu rather than a mixed one. Two of our things do the real work here. The filling is bound with wooden cold pressed black mustard oil, which is not a substitution for anything, it is the Bihari way, and because ours is unrefined and cold pressed it keeps its full pungency, exactly what the dry roasted sattu needs to come alive. Then Gir Cow's A2 Ghee goes on the tawa. Ghee browns rather than burns, so the paratha gets those dark brown blisters and a crisp base while the inside stays soft.
The filling has to be crumbly and only just damp. Press a fistful and it should hold together, then break apart when you poke it. Wet filling turns pasty, weighs the paratha down, and tears through the dough while you roll it. Add the water half a teaspoon at a time, and always roll with a light hand from the middle outwards.
How to make it
- Knead the atta with the salt, oil and water into a soft dough, slightly softer than roti dough. Work it for 6 minutes, cover with a damp cloth and rest 25 minutes.
- In a wide bowl, mix the sattu with the ajwain, kalonji, ginger, garlic, green chillies, onion, coriander, salt and stone-ground red chilli powder. Rub it all through with your fingers so the aromatics are spread evenly.
- Add the mustard oil, the pickle masala and the lemon juice. Keep rubbing with your fingertips for a full 2 minutes. The dry sattu will darken slightly as it takes the oil.
- Now add the water half a teaspoon at a time, checking after each. Squeeze a fistful: it must hold its shape, then crumble when pushed with a thumb. Stop the moment it does. It should never look like a paste.
- Divide the dough into 8 balls and the filling into 8 equal portions. Roll a ball into a 4 inch disc, thicker in the middle than at the edge.
- Put a portion of filling in the centre, gather the edges up over it like a pouch, pinch the top closed and twist off any excess dough. Flatten it gently with your palm and let it sit 2 minutes so the filling settles.
- Dust lightly with atta and roll out to about 7 inches, pressing from the centre outwards with even, light pressure. If a little filling shows through, dust that spot with dry atta and carry on.
- Put it on a hot tawa. After about 45 seconds, when small bubbles rise, flip it. Spread 1/2 tbsp ghee over the top, flip again after a minute, and spread ghee on the other side.
- Press around the edges with a folded cloth and the paratha will puff up. Cook 2 to 3 minutes in all, turning twice more, until there are dark brown spots on both sides and the base is crisp.
- Serve straight off the tawa with curd, mango pickle, raw onion rings and a whole green chilli. In Bihar a lump of white butter goes on top as well.
Tips
- Buy plain chana sattu. We do not sell sattu. Look for one that is only roasted bengal gram, not a mixed multigrain sattu, which tastes flat in a paratha.
- Pickle masala is not optional. Two tablespoons of the spiced oil and masala from an old jar of mango pickle is what makes this taste Bihari. Without it the filling is dull.
- Rest the stuffed ball before rolling. Two minutes lets the filling settle and the dough relax, and the paratha will not split at the seam.
- Chop everything very fine. Big pieces of onion or ginger tear through the dough from inside while you roll. Take the extra two minutes with the knife.
- Sattu litti uses the same filling. Stuff it into balls of atta dough and roast them over coals instead, then break them into ghee. Same bowl of filling, completely different dish.
