Peas Paratha

I found it interesting that although we consider green peas as vegetable but botanically it's actually a fruit. Arguably, the most popular English dish is 'Fish and Chips' which is basically one whole fillet of fish, battered and deep fried, served with deep fried potato wedges or chips. Sometimes this dish comes with steamed or boiled mushy peas. Either way, it tastes great because the sweetness of the mushy peas balances the saltiness of the fried fish and potatoes. 

In India we get to see peas only during the winter, when they are in season. The Indian peas are not as sweet as the European/American ones. I guess, that's why I don't get the exact taste that I used to get back home with peas based Indian dishes. 

I made some peas parathas (in Bengali we call it motorshuti-er-kachori) with the English garden peas. There was a distinct hint of sweetness to the parathas which I never got while I had the same dish in India. Both the versions do taste very nice, so no matter which peas you use, you will have an an easy and delicious dinner with this recipe. 

Ingredients:

For the filling:

100gm Peas (fresh or frozen) 

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp oil / ghee

Salt

For the dough:

250 gm of flour

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp salt

Water

Some extra flour for rolling the parathas

Oil for frying the parathas

Method:

Mash the peas  and keep it separate, don't worry if its not a silky smooth mash (well I didn't!!). In a pan heat the oil for the filling, then add all the spices listed, fry for few seconds then add the mashed peas. Mix it well and cook till the mixture becomes dry. stir continuously so that it doesn't get burned or stuck at the bottom. Once done, take it off the heat and let it cool. 

Now for the dough, mix the dry ingredients first i.e. flour and salt, then add the oil and mix well again. Now add sufficient water to make a soft dough. Divide the dough in small balls and keep it separately. Now roll the small dough balls a little and place a spoon full of peas mixture in the centre. Seal the mixture by closing the rolled dough from all sides. Cover the balls in dry flour. Repeat the same procedure for all the balls. 

Take each stuffed ball and roll them out. Heat a frying pan, cook the parathas for 1-2 minutes on each side and cook till you see the brown spots forming on each side, then brush some oil on both side, cook for another 1 minute and remove from heat. Serve hot with pickle and Greek or plain yoghurt.