Harvinder Kaur Walia @harveysdreams has shared with us her recipe for veggie packed parontahs, just like the ones Vanessa makes with Dennis Dillydally in Chef Vanessa (written by Dilpreet Kaur Walia). Follow the recipe to try making your very own, Dennis approved, parontahs…

Mama’s Mixed Veg Parontah Recipe

Mixed Veg: 

Use a non-stick pan and add one-two spoons of oil/butter. Add cumin seeds to toast, then add garam masala, salt, black pepper (according to taste), a bit of turmeric, add all your mixed veg, little bit of onion if you want. Then add some coriander leaves, dried fenugreek leaves, mint & half a green chilli (optional). Cover the pan with a lid and cook until veg is soft. Keep stirring so they don’t burn! Once it’s cooked leave to one side to cool down. 

Atta: 

In the meantime, let’s make atta (dough) add two cups of whole wheat flour (approx makes 4 paronteh) in a mixing bowl, make a well in the middle of the flour and add two spoons of oil and add water little by little to make sure your atta mixes well and sticks together. Then, knead the dough until it’s about medium-soft. Then cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave it aside for 5-10mins. 

Making the Parontah: 

Put the tava on medium heat (non-stick pan) then pinch some dough and make some small/medium sized balls from the atta. Make a shallow dip in the middle of the atta, then put two spoons of the mixed veg inside. Then fold the dough from all sides over the veg stuffing it, a bit like folding a dumpling. Once it’s covered then dip this in flour and start to roll out your parontah like a round roti to the size you like either small/medium. Add more flour if required when rolling the parontah because you don’t want it to stick/tear. 

Once it’s ready, place the parontah on the heated tava (still medium heat). Wait for the parontah to cook, this can be told by the colour change of the underside of the parontah sometimes it looks slightly pink this indicates it’s quarter of the way cooked, now it’s time to flip it with a spatula. Then flip the parontah and wait for small brown/black dots to bubble up underneath of the parontah, this way you know it’s cooking well. At this point you can put on some oil/ghee on the top of the parontah. Flip it one more time to cook the other side further. Then flip it a final time, make sure the edges are properly cooked and if it looks ready then remove it from the tava and place the cooked parontah on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. 

Your parontah is ready to eat with some sides like yoghurt/raita, pickle/mango pickle/lime pickle and a little dollop of butter on top of the parontah!