Sattu ka Paratha

Before you start

• Sattu is sold already roasted, so it goes straight in. If you are standing in besan, dry-roast it over low heat for 8-10 minutes until it darkens a shade and smells like roasted grain, then cool it completely — unroasted besan tastes raw and pasty. Either way it must be cold — warm flour steams inside the paratha and turns it gluey.
• Knead the dough and rest it 20 minutes so it rolls out without tearing over the filling.
• Chop the onion as fine as you can; coarse pieces puncture the dough while rolling.

Method

1. Knead the atta with 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp mustard oil and enough water to make a soft, pliable dough, about 6 minutes.
2. Cover with a damp cloth and rest 20 minutes.
3. Mix the sattu with the garlic, ginger, green chilli, onion, ajwain, nigella, amchur, coriander leaves, lemon juice, 2 tbsp mustard oil and 3/4 tsp salt.Squeeze a fistful — it should just clump and then fall apart. If it is dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time, not more oil.
4. Divide the dough into 8 balls. Roll one into a 10cm disc, mound 2 tbsp of filling in the centre, gather the edges over the top and pinch shut.
5. Flatten the sealed ball gently with your palm, dust with flour and roll out to about 18cm, pressing lightly and evenly from the centre.Light hands. Bearing down forces the filling through and it sticks to the rolling pin.
6. Cook on a hot tawa for 1 minute until pale spots appear, flip, and cook the second side 1 minute.
7. Brush both sides with mustard oil and cook another minute a side, pressing the edges with a cloth, until brown blisters form.The tawa must be properly hot before the paratha goes on or the bread dries out before it browns.
8. Serve straight off the tawa with plain yogurt, chokha or a spoon of pickle.

Storage

Best eaten hot off the tawa. Cooked parathas keep 1 day wrapped in a cloth at room temperature; reheat on a dry tawa for a minute a side. The filling keeps 3 days refrigerated.