Chilli parotta is an amazing dish that is a worthy contender to its non vegetarian counterpart, Kothu parotta. Chilli parotta is a vegetarian entree made with shredded parottta and masala (in a paste form).
My earliest recollection of chilli parotta are those family outings where my dad used to get me chilli parotta to be had at home – only for me to finish it off on the way home:). I don’t recall having chili parotta of similar taste since then, of course, except for the one I make ;). Also, my HB is a very big fan of my recipe that he had declared that he has never tasted this good anywhere else!!!
There is a healthier version of chili parotta too where you don’t deep fry the parotta but just add it as is. Restaurants deep fry the parotta and to be honest, deep frying the parotta makes a huge difference in the taste. Normally, you don’t need a side dish for chili parotta but onion raitha goes well with it.
Try this awesome dish at your home and let me know your comments.
- All purpose flour – 1 cup
- Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
- Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
- Chicken 65 masala – 1 tsp
- Salt – ½ tsp (couple of pinches)
- Red food color – a pinch
- Coconut – 3 tbsp (1/2 cup)
- Cashews – 1 tbsp
- Poppy seeds – 2 tbsp
- Oil – 2 tbsp
- Whole spices – 4 cardamom, 1” cinnamon, 4 cloves
- Onion, medium, chopped – 1 no
- Curry leaves – ½ a sprig
- Tomato, medium size, chopped – ½
- Ginger – Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
- Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
- Chicken 65 masala – 1 ½ tsp
- Water – 1 cup
- Salt as required
- Red food color – a pinch
- Oil – to deep fry
- Parottas, cut lengthwise – 4 nos
- Cilantro – for garnishing
- Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
- Mix all the batter ingredients given above with enough water and make a thick batter – Batter should not be too thick or too thin. The right consistency is the bajji batter.
- Grind the above ingredients to a thick paste and keep it ready.
- Heat a wide pan with oil and add the whole spices. When they start to sizzle add in the chopped onions and curry leaves together.
- When the onions turn translucent add in the chopped tomato and sauté well for a couple of minutes.
- Now add in the ginger – garlic paste. Sauté until the raw aroma disappears. Add all the powders give a quick stir and add a cup of water. Add salt and food color and bring them to boil.
- Add the ground coconut paste to the masala and sauté well. cook until they blend together and ooze out on the rim.
- Heat oil in another pan to deep fry the parattas.
- While the oil is getting hot, cut the parottas lengthwise.
- Dip the parotta pieces one by one to the batter and deep fry them. Repeat for all the parotta pieces – Do not soak the parottas for more than a second. Just dip it and deep fry it right away. Otherwise the parottas become more soggy and it would be hard to hold while frying.
- Drain on a plate lined with paper napkin and allow them to cool.
- Cut the fried parottas to the desired size pieces.
- Heat the masala that is made in step 2. Add in the fried parotta pieces to the masala and mix well.
- Switch off the flame when the masala is well blended with the parottas.
- Garnish with cilantro. Drizzle few drops of lemon juice on top and serve it hot. Enjoy the chilli parotta with onion raitha on the side!
