Punjabi Mooli Ka Paratha with Quick Safed Makhan
मूली का पराठा·(moo-lee kah pah-rah-thah)
Sunday Nashta: The Weekend Punjabi Breakfast Tradition
The genius of the Punjabi kitchen lies in what is never thrown away. A lesser cook tosses the pungent water wrung from grated winter radish, leaving a bland filling and a brittle dough. The grandmothers of the old country knew better, using that sharp, salted liquid to knead the wheat itself, ensuring the flatbread is infused with flavor before it ever hits the hot iron. Cooked aggressively in ghee and smothered in freshly churned white butter, this is the definitive taste of a Sunday morning, engineered to work flawlessly in a suburban American kitchen.
Before you start
Do not grate and salt the radish in advance.
If left sitting for hours, the radish turns into an unrecoverable puddle of water, so grating and squeezing must be done immediately prior to cooking.
Ingredients
- daikon radish2 cup
- kosher salt1 tsp
- traditional Indian atta2 cup
- oil or melted ghee1 tsp
- serrano chili1 med
- ginger1 inch
- cilantro leaves1/4 cup
- ajwain1/2 tsp
- red chili powder1/2 tsp
- amchur1/2 tsp
- dry-roasted besan1 tbsp
- heavy whipping cream1 pt
- plain yogurt with active cultures1 tbsp
- ice water1/2 cup
- ghee1/4 cup
Method
- 01
Salt and relentlessly squeeze the grated radish to extract its water.
Toss the grated radish with the kosher salt and rest it in a colander for twenty minutes. Squeeze it by the handful as tightly as humanly possible, reserving every drop of the extracted liquid in a bowl, leaving the radish nearly dry to the touch.
- 02
Knead the flatbread dough using the reserved radish liquid.
In a wide bowl, combine the atta, a teaspoon of oil, and the pungent radish water, adding a splash of plain water only if necessary to form a soft, supple dough. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for twenty minutes to relax the gluten, preventing the bread from tearing later.
- 03
Churn the heavy cream into fresh butter using a food processor.
Pour the cold heavy cream into a food processor and run it on high speed until the fat suddenly separates from the milky liquid. Pulse in the ice water to seize the butterfat into a solid mass, gather it with your hands, and squeeze out the remaining buttermilk.
- 04
Fold the bold aromatics into the dry radish just before rolling.
Toss the squeezed radish with the minced chili, grated ginger, cilantro, crushed ajwain, chili powder, and amchur, adding the roasted besan as insurance against any rogue moisture.
- 05
Stuff and roll the parathas using the pleated pouch method.
Pinch off a golf-ball-sized piece of dough, roll it into a four-inch circle, and place a heavy spoonful of filling in the center. Gather the edges into a pouch, pinch to seal, flatten it gently with your palm to distribute the filling, and roll it out into a six-inch disc with light, even pressure.
- 06
Roast the flatbread on a blisteringly hot skillet until deeply charred.
Cook the paratha on a dry cast-iron pan until tiny bubbles appear, then flip and smear the surface with ghee. Flip again, pressing the edges with a spatula until both sides are golden-brown and crisp, and serve immediately with a massive spoonful of the fresh white butter.
Notes
Culturing the cream is an entirely optional but deeply traditional step.
If you have the time, stir the yogurt into the heavy cream and leave it covered at room temperature for twelve to fifteen hours before chilling and churning to replicate the slight tang of village butter.
The dough improves with an overnight rest.
The radish-water dough can be kneaded up to two days in advance and stored in the refrigerator, which deeply relaxes the gluten and makes it remarkably easy to roll out on a busy weeknight.