Tofu-kale/spinach paratha wraps are a creative way to include tofu into your diet, if you don’t enjoy its taste and texture, but still want to enjoy its health benefits every once in a while. The parathas can be served as is or as an Aachari ‘n Crunchy Lettuce Wrap, or just with some jam/jelly, as described below.
Ingredients (makes about 10-12 wraps/parathas):
- Whole wheat flour (2 cups)
- Grated tofu (3/4th cup)(I used extra-firm, but you should be able to use soft or medium as well) (this can be substituted with paneer as well)
- Finely cut kale/spinach leaves (3/4th cup)
- Grated carrots (1/2 cup)
- Water
- Salt (to taste)
- Red chilly powder (1/4 tsp or per taste)
- Black pepper powder (1/4 tsp or per taste)
- Asafetida (hing) powder (a pinch)
- Cumin (jeera) powder (1/4 tsp)
- Coriander (dhaniya) powder (1/4 tsp)
- Turmeric (haldi) powder (1/4 tsp)
- Dry mango mango (amchur) powder (1/4 tsp)
- Sugar (1/4 tsp)
- Oil (1 tsp)
- Ghee (to apply on the paratha while cooking it)
Method:
- Grate the carrots and finely cut the kale/spinach leaves.
- Grate tofu and add it to the whole wheat flour and grated vegetables.
- Add all the dry spice powders, salt, sugar and water (if needed) to form a pliable dough. Refer to instructions for making dough in the roti/chapati recipe, if necessary.
- Let the dough sit covered, for at least half an hour.
- Follow the instructions in the paratha recipe, in order to roll and cook the parathas. I made mini versions of these by taking less dough for the kids’ lunch box and normal sized ones for the grown-ups’ lunch. The remaining steps are needed only if you are following the recipe for the wrap.
- Apply some of your favorite pickle on each of the parathas. Again, this is optional.
- Top it off with fresh, lettuce leaves and cucumber sticks. Roll it up and voila, your crunchy, aachari tofu-kale paratha wrap is ready!
- Optionally, you can just apply some of your favorite jam/jelly to the paratha and roll it up to get a sweet version of the same parathas!
- This is a good lunch box recipe, with or without the jam or lettuce and a great way to include the vegetables and tofu into your kid’s diet! In this lunch box, I’ve paired the wraps with jhatpat coconut laddoo!
Sweet (wheat, tofu, ghee, oil), sour (amchur), salty (salt), bitter (kale/spinach), pungent (chilly, pepper), astringent (asafetida).
Doshic Influence:
Tofu is kapha aggravating. Wheat is kapha aggravating. So, we have added light, sour, pungent, digestive, warming spices like chilly, pepper, cumin, amchur to counter the heavy, cold, sweet, difficult to digest qualities of kapha, making it quite suitable for kaphas, in moderation. Wheat is difficult to digest and can be vata aggravating. So, we have added digestive spices like cumin, asafetida to aid in digestibility of this dish. To balance the effect of the overly warming spices, we have added coriander which is a cooling, yet digestive spice and cumin, which is a pungent, yet not heating spice to the mix here. Ghee is tridoshic, nourishing and good for digestion. For kaphas, use moderate amounts of ghee.
Effects on the Mind (Gunas):
Tofu-kale parathas are as such, pretty sattvic, especially if made using fresh ingredients, to bring about a mild, flavorful end taste, without overusing the sour, salty and pungent ingredients. Tofu is processed and hence tamasic to some extent. But you can ensure that the tofu is organic and fresh (not refrigerated for too many days before use) to minimize the tamas.