members recipes

This is the latest Asian Fusion recipe from Mango Ginger: www.mango-ginger.blogspot.com Paratha is a warm flakey bread, pan-fried and mercifully simple to make.They are often served with channa masala, a chickpea curry, so the pairing with a Bangladeshi version of hummus feels quite natural. Time: 45 mins - 1 hour (depending on whether you use a food processor or mortar and pestle) Rating: much easier than you would expect! Serves: 4-6 as a starter/snack

Ingredients
Ingredients

For the parathas/flat breads:

100g plain flour + 2-3 tbsp extra for dusting your surface
100g whole wheat flour
½ tsp salt
Water to make the dough
A few tbsp vegetable oil

For the hummus:

1 tin chickpeas, drained
40g sesame seeds
2 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger finely grated
1 fresh green chilli (seeds and all)
10g fresh coriander leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
Juice of 1 lime
5-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Small handful of pistachio nuts and a drizzle of olive oil to garnish

Method
1. First make your hummus. Toast the sesame seeds in a pan on low heat until they brown lightly. Then grind them either in a food process or pound them with a mortar and pestle until they make a fine powder.
2. Put the ground sesame in a food processor/blender with the chickpeas. Finely chop the coriander leaves and add these.
3. Very finely chop the garlic, chilli and ginger, or pound with a mortar and pestle. Add these to the chickpeas along with all the remaining hummus ingredients.
4. Blend in a blender/food processor until smooth. Taste and add more spices, salt, oil, lime juice if you want to adjust the flavour or texture. Transfer to a plate or small bowl to serve.
5. Toast some shelled pistachios on a baking sheet for 5-6 minutes, shaking about half way through. Allow to cool and coarsely chop and set aside.
6. Next make your flatbreads. Combine the two flours and salt in a bowl. Add water a little at a time, kneading with your hands until you have a firm dough. It should be soft enough that it’s easy to manipulate but not so sticky that it sticks to your hands.
7. Continue to kneed well for 5-6 minutes
8. Divide the dough into 6 equal portions and roll them into small balls about the size of a ping pong ball. Allow to rest for 10-15 mins.
9. Dust the surface you will use for rolling with some plain flour. Roll one of the balls out slightly so it’s about the size of a lemon. Pinch it in the middle so it looks like a figure of 8. Dab some vegetable oil in the centre of both circles and fold the dough over so you have a single ball again.
10. Smooth the dough back into a neat circle and roll out evenly to a thickness of about 2-3mm and a diameter of about 10-12cm.
11. Heat a heavy bottomed pan. When it is really hot lift the rolled-out dough onto the pan. Brush one side with a little vegetable oil. Using a spatula, turn it over and brush the other side too. If you don’t have a brush, use the back of a tablespoon. Cook on each side for about 1-2 minutes until the parathas start to turn brown on both sides and go crispy.
12. While one paratha is cooking you should be rolling out the next one. As one comes of the heat, you should be ready to put the next one on. Repeat until all six parathas are made.
13. Sprinkle the pistachios on top of the hummus and drizzle with olive oil when you are ready to serve.

Cooking ahead? The hummus can be made several hours in advance and kept in the fridge. Though the parathas are best served fresh, you can make them in advance, wrap them in tin foil and reheat in a microwave or oven when you are ready to serve.