Rajgira Paratha is a tasty, gluten free, Indian flatbread made with rajgira flour (amaranth), aloo (potatoes) & few spices. It can be enjoyed with pickle, chutney, yoghurt or paired with curry for a wholesome meal.
Rajgira or Amaranth is a type of pseudocereal known to be rich in fiber, protein and minerals. These look like tiny round grains and are actually seeds extracted from Amaranth plant. They can be popped & eaten as snack or milled to make flour.
Amaranth is a great option to include in gluten-free diet and can even be consumed during Navratri fast (vrat). There are so many sweet & savory recipes that can be made with it like paratha, poori, roti, cheela (pancakes), dosa, porridge or halwa (pudding).
Ingredients you’ll need:
Flour: You can easily find amaranth flour (rajgira atta) in Indian grocery stores or online. To make sure it is completely gluten free, check the packaging label as it should not have any wheat flour mixed in it.
I prefer to make it at home from scratch by first roasting whole amaranth seeds for 4-5 min, to bring out their nutty aroma and than grind them to make fine flour.
Potatoes: It gets little tricky to make paratha with rajgira as it has no gluten which makes it difficult to bind and roll the dough. To solve this issue, we add mashed potatoes while preparing its dough. The starch & moisture from potatoes make the dough soft, pliable & easy to work with.
Spices: I like to lightly season the paratha dough with simple cumin and salt. If you like spicy food, feel free to add other spices like red chilli powder, black pepper or even some garam masala.
Herbs: Some fresh coriander (or cilantro) enhance the taste and aroma of paratha with its bright citrusy aroma. If you don’t have it, add some kasuri-methi or if its winter time as some fresh methi or spring onion greens to the dough.
Ghee / Oil: Hot crispy rajgira paratha cooked in desi ghee taste so satisfying and comforting. However if you wish to keep the recipe vegan (dairy free), use cold pressed oils like olive oil, avocado or canola oil for cooking the paratha.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- Rajgira Aata / Amaranth flour – 1 cup
- Boiled Potatoes – 1 large or 2 small
- Green Chilli (finely chopped) – 1
- Coriander (chopped) – 2 tbsp
- Jeera / Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp
- Rock Salt / Salt – 1/2 tsp (to taste)
- Water – 4 tbsp (as required)
- Cooking Oil / Ghee – For cooking
Directions:
Step 1:
Peel and mash the potatoes. Add them to a bowl along with rajgira flour, green chilli, coriander and spices (If you wish you can also add grated ginger & red chilli powder). Knead to make a smooth dough while adding water gradually as required.
Step 2:
Divide the dough in 5 parts and roll into smooth balls. While rolling if cracks appear in balls, apply water on your palms. Keep them covered with damp cloth.
Step 3:
Spread a plastic sheet on kitchen counter (or cut any ziploc bag). Grease it well with oil. Place a dough ball on one side, gently flatten it with you palm and cover with other half of plastic sheet.
Step 4:
Roll it into a circle with a rolling pin or press it with your fingers while giving it circular shape. It is fine to get some cracks near the edges. Remove the top layer of sheet and dip you index finger in water. Smother it over the cracks and along the edges to join them as much as possible.
Step 5:
Heat a pan or tawa and apply oil on it. Lift the sheet carefully, transfer the paratha on your palm first and then on pan. Cook on med-low flame till the side (touching the pan) gets golden brown spots. Flip and cook other side too.
Step 6:
Apply oil or ghee on paratha and flip again. Press it lightly for 1-2 min. Repeat on other side & cook till paratha gets crispy golden on both sides.
Enjoy these rajgira paratha with curd, greek yoghurt, potato curry or this navratri special no onion no garlic paneer gravy.
More Indian flatbread recipes :
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(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Mamta
Your food makes me feel hungry….it is looking so yummy
Divya Jain
Thank you so much 🙂
Unknown
What is this amarnath floor is it available onine
Divya Jain
Amaranth is also known as Rajgira (or Chaulai) in hindi. It is a gluten free flour & easily available in grocery store these days. You can check it out online on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2BtxDn6