Paratha

The word paratha is from Hindi,^[1] derived from the word para, meaning 'layer'.^[2] In Indian English, the bread is always referred to by the specific term paratha, rather than bread.^[3]

The word for paratha differs across India.^[4] Alternative spellings include parantha, prantha,^[5] parata,^[6] prata, and parotta.^[7] It is spelled as palata (pronounced [pəlàtà]) in Myanmar^[8] and farata in Maldives and Mauritius.^[9] In the Gulf countries, as well as in East Africa, the breads referred to as chapati are more similar to a paratha.^[10]

Like most Indian breads, paratha is wheat-based and unleavened.^[11] The dough is made of atta (whole wheat flour), water, and salt, which is covered in ghee.^[12] Oil may be used instead of ghee, and white flour (maida) may be used instead of whole wheat;^[13] maida is used for more tender, flaky parathas.^[14] Vegetables, herbs, and spices may be added;^[15] ajowan is a commonly used spice in plain paratha.^[16]

The common wheat, the dominant species of wheat in the northern Indian subcontinent, results in the light, spongy texture of North Indian breads such as paratha.^[17] The flour used in paratha is typically of low extraction, although high-extraction flour is sometimes used.^[18] In commercial preparations, potato flakes may be used as a binding agent.^[19]

The dough is kneaded by hand.^[20] It is rolled out with oil or ghee, then folded.^[21] This process of lamination is performed two or more times. This usually forms a triangle with four to six layers;^[22] it may also be folded into a circle or square.^[5] Stuffed versions of paratha are instead made by shaping the dough into balls and placing a filling inside before rolling them out.^[23] Paratha may be rolled out using a dough sheeting machine that may produce thousands of parathas per hour.^[24] Both plain and stuffed parathas are shallow fried on a tava, a type of iron griddle,^[25] until browned,^[13] with or without additional ghee.^[7] Sometimes, particularly among street vendors, paratha is fried in a shallow pan filled with oil, thus containing more fat than a paratha cooked on a tawa.^[26] Paratha may be brushed with ghee after serving.^[27]

While frying, paratha forms distinct layers.^[6] The lamination of the dough results in a soft, flaky flatbread.^[28] Its lamination process and layered texture are much like a puff pastry,^[29] but it does not rise as a puff pastry does.^[13] Frying (rather than baking) results in a slightly crispy outside,^[30] and, in the absence of leavening, the formation of steam is responsible for the separation of crust and crumb.^[31]

Paratha is similar to chapati, with the only difference in physical composition being the use of oil,^[32] while paratha also has multiple layers.^[33] Paratha is slightly thicker^[34] and denser.^[35] The starch properties of the two breads differ as paratha has fat in its crumb as well as fat coverage that causes more thorough heat transfer. Paratha has starch granules in its crumb that are deformed and shrunken compared to those of chapati.^[36] The Gujarati bread thepla resembles a cross between paratha and roti.^[37]

Paratha is the same size as chapati;^[38] a single paratha weighs about 140 grams (4.9 oz).^[39] Both plain and stuffed parathas are about 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in diameter and 3 mm thick, with plain parathas sometimes ranging to as thin as 2.5 mm.^[40] Paratha has a sturdy texture, enabling it to be served with thick foods.^[35] Stuffed paratha has a softer texture than plain paratha.^[41]

Paratha is eaten quickly; a study in the journal Appetite found that it took about 9 minutes to eat a 250-calorie serving.^[42] According to a 2020 study in Delhi, the median portion size of paratha is 60 grams, averaging 1 paratha for women and 2 parathas for men.^[43] According to a 2013 study in the United Kingdom, the mean portion size is 121 grams for children and 100 grams for adults.^[44]

Paratha exists in both plain and stuffed varieties.^[45] Dozens of varieties are commonly consumed.^[38] Regional variations differ based on cooking method or filling.^[7]

Plain varieties

Lachha paratha has circular spiraling layers.

India has two categories of paratha: North Indian paratha, made from atta, and South Indian parotta, made from maida.^[46][35] Both are similarly flaky and layered, but the South Indian version achieves this texture through repeated stretching and coiling rather than rolling and folding.^[47][35]

Some versions of paratha have spiraling layers, forming a circle or square.^[48] Lachha paratha (lit. 'layered paratha') is a kind of North Indian paratha^[49] with many circular layers, formed by shaping a circle of dough into a coil before rolling it out again. It has a crispy texture and is the same size as a regular paratha.^[50] Ulte tave ke paratha is a North Indian paratha cooked on the bottom side of the pan, the same method as rumali roti.^[51]

Cornmeal, atta, palm sugar, ajowan, and green chillis are used to make makkai paratha,^[52] while ginger and chillis are used for adraki mirchi paratha.^[38] Sattu, a type of chickpea flour, is used to make sattu paratha,^[53] a breakfast dish eaten in Bihar, Jharkhand, and part of Uttar Pradesh.^[54][55] In the Eastern Himalayas, the legume gahat is crushed into a paste that is added to paratha dough.^[56] Paratha has been made with atypical ingredients for nutritional value.^[57] For example, it may be made with mulberry leaves as a nutritional supplement,^[58] which also increases shelf stability of the flour.^[59] Other ingredients that may sometimes be used in the dough include amaranth,^[60] flaxseed,^[61] sorghum flour,^[62] and buckwheat flour.^[63]

Paratha may be served for any meal.^[13][95] Like other flatbreads in North Indian cuisine, it is served as the central component of a typical meal;^[33] the bread is eaten by using the hands to tear the bread and pick up the accompanying food.^[96] A stuffed paratha may be a full meal.^[97]

A wide range of foods may be served with paratha.^[95] Common accompaniments include curries, sabzi, pickle, and dahi (curd).^[98] Likewise, stuffed parathas such as aloo paratha are commonly served with curd or pickle.^[99] When served by vendors, paratha often comes with dahi or pickle included.^[74] A paratha may also be served with tea or raita, with which it can be rolled up and dipped.^[14] As a dessert, paratha may be eaten with brown sugar.^[95]

Although rice is the staple in Kashmiri cuisine, parathas paired with kofta are a common dish served to guests.^[37] In the cuisine of Odisha, paratha is eaten with egg curry for dinner.^[100] In the cuisine of Haryana, it may be eaten with mung beans.^[101] Parotta served with beef is a culturally significant dish in Kerala.^[76]

Paratha is frequently part of a breakfast in North India.^[102] A common breakfast in India and Pakistan consists of paratha, butter, and tea,^[103] and it may also be eaten alongside eggs.^[104] In Karachi, breakfast the phrase "chai-paratha" is synonymous with breakfast, and a 1987 survey found that paratha is the most common breakfast food.^[95] Paratha with pickle and curd is also a common breakfast.^[51] For example, in the cuisine of Uttarakhand, this may use a chutney made from bhangjeera.^[105] A typical breakfast in Uttar Pradeshi Hindu cuisine may pair paratha with a vegetable dish or sweet halva.^[106] In Hyderabadi Muslim cuisine, paratha may be paired with eggs or minced meat for breakfast or with a meat dish for lunch.^[107] Stuffed parathas such as aloo paratha, as well as plain parathas, are commonly eaten for breakfast in Punjabi cuisine.^[108]

Paratha may be used for wraps, commonly with kebabs.^[109] The kathi roll, originating in Kolkata, is a wrap with a kebab served on an egg-covered paratha;^[37] other versions use various toppings.^[110] This egg-covered paratha in a kathi roll differs from anda paratha, with the egg being scrambled on top of the paratha as it cooks.^[75] In Pakistan, particularly in Karachi, a kebab wrapped in paratha is known as a paratha roll.^[111] In Lucknow, ulte tave ke paratha may be served as a crispy cone, and is the typical pairing with galouti kebab.^[74] The frankie is another wrap using paratha, with various fillings, served as street food in Indian cities.^[112] In the United Arab Emirates, paratha is used to make a wrap with potato chips of the brand Chips Oman.^[113] The paratha burger—a hamburger using paratha rather than a hamburger bun—originated in Dubai, at the restaurant Klay by Karak House.^[114]

Paratha contains wheat, which provides calories, protein, and minerals^[119] and is a major source of carbohydrates.^[120] As parathas are fried in oil, they have a higher fat content than other flatbreads,^[121] The fat content of aloo paratha is about 3.3%, while that of leaf vegetable stuffed parathas has been measured at 5%.^[122] The sodium content may be high, based on the amount of salt added according to consumer preferences.^[123] A 2018 study in Malaysia found high amounts of added sugar in restaurant paratha.^[124]

The average commercially produced paratha provides 306 dietary calories per 100 grams. This portion contains 44.97 g carbohydrates (including 3.41 g sugar), 11.37 g fat (including 5.23 g saturated fat), 6.92 g protein, 3.96 g fibre, and 371.28 mg salt.^[125] A 100 g serving of a homemade paratha—using the recipe published by the Ministry of Health of Oman—has 394 calories and 13.8 g fat.^[126] Parathas have a high trans fat content of about 7.8%.^[103] The fat content of paratha may contribute to a lower glycemic index than other breads. The aforementioned homemade paratha has a glycemic index of 32,^[127] while methi paratha made with curd and oil has a glycemic index of about 60, lower than that of roti.^[128]

Paratha contains a high amount of the vitamin retinol, in part due to the use of ghee.^[129] It is also high in iron and vitamin A;^[39] the use of palm oil has been shown to increase vitamin A content.^[130] The micronutrient content, based on samples from the United Kingdom, is as follows:^[131]

Paratha with additional ingredients can be more nutritionally balanced.^[132] Methi paratha is high in fibre and carotenoids, while bathua paratha is especially high in iron and carotene.^[133]

The moisture content of paratha is over 40%.^[132] Due to its short cooking time, paratha experiences low loss of moisture^[134] and low deterioration of protein.^[135] It loses about 40% of its weight during cooking.^[134] The use of composite flours has been shown to produce acceptable parathas with increased nutrition.^[136]

Parathas, including stuffed parathas, are very perishable due to a high moisture content.^[137] Stuffed parathas experience mold growth in twelve to twenty-four hours.^[138] Thermal processing has been shown to increase the shelf life;^[139] however, this may result in hardening, discoloration, and loss of shape. Irradiation has been shown to preserve paratha for over six months.^[138]

Historian Pushpesh Pant writes that there is no evidence of paratha in Ancient India,^[2] while historian Chitrita Banerji writes that it "has probably been around in some form or another since antiquity."^[5] A theory that paratha originated in Punjabi cuisine is commonly held among Punjabis.^[76][7][b] Banerji writes that, despite its association with Punjabi and North Indian cuisine, paratha is often said to be related to poli, a flatbread in Maharashtrian and Gujarati cuisine.^[5] According to Megha Kohli in The Bloomsbury Handbook of Indian cuisine, paratha originated in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.^[47]

Trade routes to India, such as the Silk Road, may have introduced flatbreads from Persia and Central Asia, as well as the scallion pancake of Chinese and Uyghur cuisine, which resemble paratha.^[76][7] The book Whose Samosa Is It Anyway? by Sonal Ved suggests that paratha was adapted from the Persian waraki, a milk-based flatbread with separating layers.^[76] A theory supported by Pant states that paratha was invented after the arrival of Arabs in India, who merged flatbreads introduced by the Arabs, like rumali and khamiri, with the local puri.^[2] Culinary anthropologist Kurush Dalal stated that South Asian parotta came from Central Asia—through maritime trade routes with the Malabar Coast—rather than from North India. Paratha also entered Sri Lankan cuisine from South India.^[76]

Recipes for various parathas are mentioned in Manasollasa, a 12th-century Sanskrit reference work compiled by Someshvara III, a Western Chalukya king who ruled from present-day Karnataka. According to historian K. T. Achaya, the parathas listed in this book were more similar to the modern manda roti.^[141] These included purana, which Achaya describes as the modern-day puran poli, as well as stuffed parathas called manda, vestika, and pahalika,^[142] the latter being a sweet version.^[143] In Bengal, food historian Jayanta Sengupta attributes the introduction of wheat breads like paratha to the thirteenth-century Turkic conquest.^[144] During the Islamic era, parathas were common with the Muslim nobility and Hindu aristocracy in Punjab,^[145] and paratha was also eaten in the Delhi Sultanate.^[143]

The Mughal Empire introduced more complex ingredients to the cuisine of the era, being used for foods such as paratha.^[146] Mughal cookbooks included recipes for paratha;^[140] it does not appear in the Nushka-e-Shahjahani, indicating that it was not yet present.^[147] Banerji states that the Mughals were introduced to parathas during their conquests of Punjab.^[148] Banerji states that the paratha was popular among Mughal leadership, and it later became popular in Islamic Indian cuisine.^[5] It and other flatbreads spread to Dhaka, in Bengal, during this time.^[149] Sweet parathas were also eaten during the Mughal era.^[150]

People from India were sent as indentured workers to Southeast Asia, Mauritius, the Maldives, and the Caribbean, where they introduced paratha.^[76] This included the British colony in Trinidad, where Indians sent as workers began using white flour for paratha and other flatbreads as a result of European imports.^[89] On migrant ships to the Caribbean, cooks began using tavas to make large parathas portioned for several people, originating the variation known as paratha roti.^[151]

In 19th-century British India, North Indian snack foods such as paratha were eaten as tiffin snacks as part of an early form of Indian fast food.^[152] A similar flatbread, sheermal, is said to have been created as a type of paratha in Lucknow in the 19th century, although it may have originated in Persia.^[153] In Bengal, wheat-based foods such as paratha and luchi were primarily for special occasions (such as Ekadashi) before wheat became a staple food, alongside rice, during the 1943 famine.^[154]

During the 1947 partition of India, Punjabi refugees propagated various stuffed parathas, including aloo, gobhi, mooli, methi, and matar, with paneer and keema stuffed versions appearing later. Pant writes that tandoor-baked paratha was introduced to India during the partition, out of a desire for roti to be less chewy and cold, and that it originated from Amritsari kulcha. Parathas became a common item at dhaba establishments; Pant writes that roadside dhabas invented lachha and pudina parathas.^[74] Some state that the paratha was popularised in Delhi after the partition. However, O'Brien suggests this item was prevalent among Punjabis in Delhi before then, and paratha vendors at the Paranthe Wali Gali claim to have been present since the 1880s.^[148] In the Caribbean, paratha was one of several dishes from Mughlai cuisine to be widely popularised in the late 20th century.^[88]

The world record for the largest paratha, as recognised by the Guinness World Records, was set in February 2024 in Amritsar, when chefs from the Taj Swarna hotel created a methi paratha weighing 35 kilograms (77 lb).^[155][156]

Paratha is one of the most common flatbreads in India—alongside chapati and naan^[157]—and is the most common that is shallow-fried.^[158] It is associated with North Indian cuisine, in which wheat is the predominant staple^[159] and atta is particularly common.^[51] A 2022 study in the South Indian city of Hyderabad found that the average adult consumes 1 paratha, or 40 grams, per day.^[123]

Like chapati and puri, paratha is often homemade,^[160] as tavas are a common household item.^[97] Ready-to-eat parathas, sold as a convenience food, are a common product in India,^[161] including several types of frozen stuffed paratha.^[162] Stores also sell ready-to-cook parathas from brands such as Fingerlix.^[163]

Paratha is frequently sold by vendors at marketplaces, roadsides, and transit stations, as a consistently affordable meal.^[74] It is served by vendors next to mosques in North India to break the fast on Eid-al-Fitr; they prepare very large parathas that are served as slices with halwa.^[164] Paratha is also a typical offering at Punjabi dhabas, a type of establishment on highways.^[165] It is less common among chefs, except for unusual stuffed versions, according to food writer Vir Sanghvi.^[166]

In North Indian Hindu traditions, paratha is classified as pukka, a type of food that is made with ghee, which is associated with purity, and is served when hosting guests or during festivals.^[106] Historically, orthodox Hindus adhered to a pukka diet; those who wanted to limit oil (for health or financial reasons) would cook parathas like rotis, with only a very thin layer of oil applied using a cloth wrapped around a coin.^[74] In Uttarakhand, aloo paratha is seen as an energy booster and, when cooked without oil, a cure for a sore throat.^[167]

By region

Paratha is commonly included in meals in both Indian and Pakistani Punjab,^[168] but it is not as common in Gujarat^[169] or in North India east of Kanpur.^[170] According to Banerji, stuffed parathas are associated with North Indian cooking but have spread to every Indian city.^[171] Aloo paratha is served across India between Punjab and Bengal.^[172] It is also common in parts of Pakistan, except in the highlands.^[173] Mooli paratha is common in North India and Kashmir.^[174]

Paratha is served by many establishments in Delhi.^[49] The city has parathas that are baked, then fried, which are large enough to serve multiple people.^[175] Old Delhi houses the Paranthe Wali Gali (lit. 'Alley of Paratha Makers'), a small lane primarily dedicated to paratha restaurants,^[176] where parathas are always stuffed,^[5] using ingredients including tomato, lemon, peppers, and papad inside the parathas. They are deep-fried in ghee,^[74] more similar to stuffed puri or bedmi than typical parathas.^[177]

Dhabas of Haryana on the Grand Trunk Road are famous for their parathas, including Sukhdev Dhaba and Gulshan Dhaba in Murthal.^[178][179] These dhabas serve Murthal paratha, a version that is deep-fried.^[76][179] In Agra, Uttar Pradesh, an establishment called Ramababu Paratha Bhandhar serves very large parathas, weighing 35 kilograms.^[37]

In Mauritius, paratha (Morisyen: farata) is eaten across all ethnic groups and is known as a homemade comfort food, particularly as a warm food during rainy weather.^[9] In Myanmar, paratha is served at Indian tea shops.^[8][92] People in Myanmar eat it on Martyrs' Day, as it was known to be a favorite food of Aung San, whom the holiday celebrates.^[180] In the Caribbean, paratha, particularly aloo paratha, is among several Indian fast food dishes in the region.^[181]

Many Pakistanis in Norway and in Denmark shift toward eating parathas as a special breakfast on weekends, rather than daily, upon immigrating, in part due to health concerns amid changing lifestyles.^[182] Pakistani migrants to the United Kingdom also eat paratha for breakfast, though some members of the community view it as a holdover from Pakistan.^[183] Among Indians in the United States, store-bought parathas are common due to busy lifestyles.^[184] Aloo paratha is commonly served at South Asian dining establishments in the United Kingdom^[185] and Pakistani restaurants in South Africa.^[186]

• Indian bread
• Paratha roll
• Bolani – a similar stuffed bread from Afghanistan^[187]