Paratha is the ultimate breakfast pairing with eggs in most Pakistani and Indian homes. Mine was no different growing up. Come Ramadan, it was the only breakfast my family had during Sehri. I always asked my mom to make mine extra salty. But here’s the thing. I don’t recall ever thinking that paratha ought to be flaky, lachhedar and layered. Seeing mom coil the rolled dough on her palm and flatten it before pressing it flat and perfectly round with a rolling pin, I marveled at the process never once stopping to think why she was snaking the dough around like that. At that age, I didn’t realize that she was creating layers. I honestly never paid attention to the flaky layers. I just knew it tasted better than a chapati :p This paratha has everything a good paratha should have–its has the flaky “lachedar” layers, it has the ghee that’s lathered generously in the dough and it has the perfect crispiness. The key to getting the perfect layers in all in folding the dough the right way. My two favorite methods are 1) the chinese fan fold where you pleat the paratha dough and coil. The second method that I have been using recently is simply folding the two ends of the dough over to the center and repeating the steps with the other two corners to make a neat square. Check out my video to see how I make these super flake lachedar paratha!
