Whether you love tofu or absolutely hate it, here’s a recipe that will tickle your interest and your taste buds :). Luscious tofu, crumbled and cooked with shallots, mixed with fresh, crunchy lettuce makes for a delicious filling inside a wheat paratha. Tofu parathas are another one of those lunch box favorites at our place!
Ingredients (makes 8 medium sized parathas):
- Firm tofu (1.5 cups)
- Ginger (crushed) (1 tsp)
- Oil (1 tsp)
- Shallots (2)
- Lettuce (finely cut)(1 cup)
- Salt (to taste)
- Black pepper powder (1/2 tsp)
- Lemon juice (1 tsp)
- Wheat flour (2 cups)
- Water (1 cup approximately – may vary depending on the flour)
- Ghee (for brushing on the parathas)
Method:
Tofu Filling
- Crumble the tofu using your hand.
- In a pan on medium heat, add the oil. Add crushed ginger and the whites of the shallots.
- After a minute, add the crumbled tofu, greens of the shallots, salt and pepper powders.
- Cook on medium until the excess water evaporates from the tofu mixture and switch off the flame.
- Add some lemon juice to the tofu mixture, mix well and keep aside.
- When the tofu mixture has cooled down, add the finely cut lettuce and mix well.
Roti
- Make the roti dough according to the instructions here. Keep this aside for at least half an hour.
Paratha
- Using a rolling pin, make a small circle with the dough (around 2.5 to 3 inches diameter).
- Place the filling at the center of the circle.
- Seal the dough around the filling.
- Now flatten the ball carefully. If you see cracks develop and the filling starts to ooze out, don’t fret. Just dust some wheat flour over that area and continue rolling. This process is bound to be a little messy. You’ll have some filling seep out and such, but that shouldn’t affect the end taste.
- Using the rolling pin, carefully roll the dough from center to the peripheries, making sure that the thickness is even.
- Once you think you’re comfortable with the thickness, place the paratha on a heated tava/griddle (medium heat).
- Once small air bubbles appear, flip the paratha. Brush ghee on the top.
- Flip the paratha after 30-45 seconds, brush ghee on the other side.
- Cook the paratha, flipping it as needed, to fully cook it until it reaches a golden brown hue.
- Serve hot, with pickles and raitha!
Tastes (Rasa):
Sweet (wheat, tofu, oil, ghee), sour (lemon), salty (salt), bitter (shallot greens), pungent (black pepper, ginger), astringent (lettuce).
Doshic Influence:
Wheat is nourishing, heavy, sticky and cooling. It has kapha increasing qualities. Pittas, with strong digestions can digest wheat well. Vatas, with their variable digestive abilities might find wheat hard to digest. Tofu is made by curdling soy milk and pressing the curds into blocks. It is vata pacifying and kapha aggravating. Ghee is tridoshic and improves digestion. Pepper is warming and pungent, relieves kapha and vata. Fresh ginger is tridoshic in general and is a great digestive and anti-inflammatory root. It relieves kapha and vata. Lemon is also a great digestive. Lettuce is cooling, light and refreshing for pittas. The tofu parathas have ingredients with all 6 tastes. Although the main ingredients are kapha aggravating, addition of other kapha pacifying spices makes this dish quite balanced and suitable for all doshas.
Effects on the Mind (Gunas):
Heavy ingredients like wheat and tofu, while being nourishing, may add to the tamas of the dish. But, for vata people and in vata season (fall), heavy foods that are fresh and natural are actually good when balanced with digestive spices. Also, the addition of pungent, digestive spices adds rajas, thereby reducing the tamas.