The Humble Food...... Rotis

Well, lets begin with the introductory to the humble homely food of my native place... Punjab......

The land of joy, happiness, and celebration... In a place like Punjabi, of for that matter in a Punjabi household, there is no word called enough , when it comes to food. Be it the simple Lassi or the rather lavish feast of a dinner, Punjab never fails to intrigue me any lesser every time i go there (which i make sure that i go once a year)

I still have horror memories of my first ever Amritsar breakfast, The Butter laden kulchas, the Lassai with malai .....and yes JALEBIS........

Well, if u haven't gone to Amritsar , u cant imagine how the rising prices of amul butter seem to make no difference to the people in dhabas.....infact they would be more than happy to give u an extra blob. Known as the cereal bowl of India, Punjab hos a lot to do with breads

enlisting some would be:

The king of them all, Kulchas, stuffed leaved bread baked in the tandoor(clay oven)

well dont be surprised.... that is just a little butter..... u want more.... u'll get more

available in various stuffings, Aloo, paneer, daal, masala, mix, gobhi, being some of them

Would love to tell u that the streets of Amritsar are lined with such vendors wou wod not only feed u but even treat u like a king.

Next we come to my favourite Bhatoora

This bread is much like a Puri, but made with a super leavened and well kneaded refined flour dough. the dough needs to be well risen and even better kneaded to get the best results

Knead the dough doth some sugar and yogurt, and knock back for almost 20 minutes

( a tsp of yogurt for every 100g ) rest the dough covered for a few hours till it rises and fry....

the rather chewy dough when fried can yield huffs and puffs of joy......

And lots not forget the mother of all these above the PARATHA.

a staple at all houses, served in various shaped and sises, from breakfast to dinner.

give a Punjabi any food ingredient and he will some how be able to make a Paratha with it .....

much like its humble cousin, the chapati, the paratha can however be, Bigger, heavier, Stuffied and totally satiable and insatiable at the same time......

Available in varies shapes , sizes and forms all over the county, the Punjab version is made with whole wheat flour, stuffed with anything, eg. potato. cauliflower, paneer, spinach, daal, the paratha is the canvas and the punjabi janaani ( the lady of the house) is the artiste, i have not seen any chef make faster rotis than a head of the house in a punjabi joint family.

As racist as this may sound, i don't think u get better parathas anywhere but in north india. You don't need fancy ingredients to make a decent paratha, a whole lot of simplicity, technique and the heart to sum it up all is what it needs.

when ever u wish to make a paratha ... make sure u do so with lodas of love .... fresh ingredients and yes.....ounces of butter on each .....

with a warm welcome ...... Jee Aaya Nu.....