Warqi Paratha

Before you start

• The layering paste (sata) is 3 tbsp soft ghee beaten with the rice flour until it is white and fluffy. Do this first and keep it at room temperature.
• Rest the dough a full 30 minutes covered with a damp cloth. Unrested dough springs back and the layers tear.
• Work in a cool kitchen if you can; warm ghee melts into the dough instead of separating the leaves.

Method

1. Rub 2 tbsp ghee into the maida with the salt and sugar until the flour looks like damp breadcrumbs and holds when squeezed.
2. Add the warm milk, then water a little at a time, and knead 6-8 minutes to a soft, smooth dough that is slightly stickier than chapati dough.
3. Cover with a damp cloth and rest 30 minutes.
4. Divide into 4 balls. Roll one out into a thin round about 22cm across, as even as you can get it.
5. Spread 1 heaped tsp of the ghee-and-rice-flour paste right to the edges, then pleat the round into a narrow fan, folding it back and forth in 1.5cm concertina folds.Spread the paste thin and to the very edge. Bare patches glue the layers shut.
6. Stretch the pleated strip gently, then coil it into a spiral like a snail shell and tuck the end underneath. Rest 10 minutes.
7. Press the coil flat with your palm and roll it out to about 15cm, using the lightest pressure you can. Repeat with the rest.Roll from the centre outwards and stop while it still looks thick. Pressing hard crushes the layers you just built.
8. Cook on a medium-hot tawa 1.5 minutes a side until pale brown spots appear, then brush with ghee and press the edges down with a cloth as it puffs.
9. Lift off and immediately clap the paratha between your palms once. The leaves separate and fan out.

Storage

Best within an hour. Cooked parathas keep a day wrapped in a cloth in an airtight box; revive on a dry tawa for 40 seconds a side. The dough keeps 24 hours refrigerated.