The Importance of Having the Proper Tools of the Trade
I didn’t expect to be posting here again, but since what happened today at home is directly related to my last stay in Rishikesh, I decided to post anyway.
Perfect Aloo Parantha Puffed Up on Tawa (pan)
I just made the perfect aloo parantha…thanks to the new rolling pin I brought back with me from Rishikesh and the practice in Seema’s kitchen…you can see it is perfectly round (which I never accomplished in the past) and beautifully puffed up here…and it was SOOOOOOOOOOOO yummy!!
Preparing Parantha in my kitchen
I’ve been making parnathas for several years now (paranthas are made from dough – the same used for chapattis, which is filled with various fillings, rolled out flat, and then cooked over a high flame on a cast iron pan to insure that they puff properly and are cooked through by steam), as well as chapatti, and although they have always tasted good, they have never been round, and rarely puffed up to be properly steam cooked. While in rishikesh I asked Seema again why this happens and she invited me once again into her kitchen. When I rolled out paranthas in HER house, they were perfectly round, with no problem, and the filling did not come out all over the place. we tried to figure out what was different, and came to the conclusion that I was using the wrong type of rolling pin and because of this, they also were not coming out round, and not puffing. If the dough is not rolled out exactly evenly all over, it will not puff on the pan, or when placed directly over the flame, and then will not be cooked properly inside.
So I bought a rolling pin exactly like seema’s and a couple of days ago it arrived in a parcel. You can see it in the photo above.
Today I made my dough, as usual, my potato filling, as usual, and the only difference was the rolling pin. And to my great amazement, as well as that of my daughter, the paranthas came out as perfect as perfect can be!
Lovely Round Aloo Parantha Cooking on Pan
Which only goes to show that we can make every effort possible to make sure things are done properly, and insure the best outcomes, but without he proper tools, are efforts are very often in vain.
Shalom
Jane
