Paratha - A common south asian food

A paratha is a flatbread that originated in India. Parathas are made in every house. Every home as its own way or method of making parathas. Basically, parathas are a category of unleavened indian breads made with whole wheat flour or atta. there are also stuffed parathas like aloo paratha, gobi paratha, mooli paratha and paneer paratha which i make oftenIt is still quite prevalent throughout the area. Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta which literally means layers of cooked dough. Alternative spellings and names include paratha, parauntha, prontha, parontay, porota (in Bengali), palata (pronounced: [pəlàtà]; in Burma), and farata (in Sri Lanka and the Maldives).

It is one of the most popular unleavened flat breads in the South Asian subcontinent and is made by pan frying whole wheat dough on a tava. The paratha dough usually contains ghee or cooking oil which is also layered on the freshly prepared paratha.

Usually parathas are served with a rich gravy dish like paneer butter masala, punjabi chole, malai kofta, dal makhani or shahi paneer, non-veg curries, keemas. Parathas also goes well with lemon or mango pickle or you can have them with a cup of hot tea too. Some people like to dip them in tea and then enjoy eating them.

Sometimes paratha are stuffed with boiled potatoes (as in aloo ka paratha), leaf vegetables, radishes, cauliflower, and/or paneer (Cottage-cheese). A paratha (especially a stuffed one) can be eaten simply with a pat of butter spread on top, with chutney, pickles, and yogurt, or with meat or vegetable curries. Some roll the paratha into a tube and eat it with tea, often dipping the paratha.

The paratha can be round, heptagonal, square, or triangular. When it is round, the stuffing is mixed with the kneaded flour, and the paratha is prepared in the same way as roti, but in the latter two forms, the peda (ball of kneaded flour) is flattened into a circle, the stuffing is kept in the middle, and the flatbread is closed around the stuffing like an envelope. The latter two also vary in that they have discernible soft layers, with one "opening" to the crispier shell layers.

References: wikipedia, vegrecipesofindia.com, about.com.