Mooli Paratha Recipe | Oil-free Radish & Whole Wheat Flatbread | Whole Food Plant Based Recipes

Vegan Mooli Paratha Recipe

If you love Mooli Paratha, you'll love this recipe! 

Soft, Melt in the Mouth Whole Food Plant Based and Vegan Mooli Paratha with Zero Oil or Butter. Learn the Secrets to Delicious and Healthy Cooking for Your and Your Family.

Whole Food Plant Based Mooli Paratha Recipe

Course: Course 3: Grain Dishes for Lunch & Dinner Meals, Breads
Cuisine: North Indian Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 2 People

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour Coarsely Ground
2. 3 tbsp Flaxseed Powder
3. 1/2 Radish
4. 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
5. 1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
6. 1/2 tsp Cumin / Jeera Powder
7. 1/2 tsp Coriander Seed / Dhaniya Powder
8. 2 tbsp Coriander Leaves Chopped
9. 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
10. 2 tsp Miso Paste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Grate Radish.
2. Mix all ingredients except with 1/4 of the whole wheat flour in a large bowl and knead into a dough, adding water little by little while kneading. Since the radish has water in itself, you will not require as much water as you do for plain whole wheat rotis. Once the dough has come together, stop adding water and knead to a stiff dough. The dough should be soft to the touch, but not sticky. If sticky, add more flour. If too hard, add more water.
3. Take a ping-pong ball sized piece of dough and roll it into a ball between your hands. Flatten into a thick disc.
4. Dust with the remaining whole wheat flour and roll it out into a mooli paratha with a rolling pin.
5. Heat a thick bottomed pan or tawa. It is hot enough when a bit of water dropped on the pan dances instead of evaporating immediately.
6. Dust off any extra flour from the mooli paratha, place it on the tawa and reduce flame to sim or medium. Close with a lid. After 30 to 60 seconds, once cooked, flip over. It is cooked on the first side if light brown spots have begun appearing. If the spots are large or dark brown, the mooli paratha has been overcooked. Tear off the dark parts and consume only the unbrowned parts.
7. After 20 to 30 seconds, take the mooli paratha off the tawa. By now, small, light brown spots should have appeared on both sides and the mooli paratha should have been fully cooked.
8. Wait for a few minutes until it cools down, then serve fresh with a side dish containing mustard seeds or some raw radish! (See Nutrition Science Highlights to find out why!)

Nutrition Science Highlights for Whole Food Plant Based Mooli Paratha Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. Maximum recommended salt intake is 3.75 grams per day per person. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why Whole Grains? Whole grains are healthier than refined grains such as white rice, refined flours, maida, rava, etc., as the bran layer is intact, with all its vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Whole grains have been found to be protective against a whole range of chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and lifestyle-related cancers.
   
3. Why Cool Grains? When cooked grains are allowed to cool on the counter or in the fridge, its starch crystallises to form resistant starch. This can be eaten by our good gut bacteria and also reduces the glycemic index (the rate at which glucose is absorbed), making the whole grain even healthier. For the same reason, parboiled whole grains can be used as well.
   
4. Why Intact Grains? Whole grains are super healthy foods, but whole grain flours, not so much. Because of a smaller particle size, the starch from ground up grains gets absorbed much faster than from intact whole grains, causing a glucose spike and insulin spike in the blood. This is why we recommend coarsely ground whole grains as against finely ground whole grains. When we cook dishes using whole grain flours, it is wise to add an ingredient that makes the dish sticky and slows down absorption. Flaxseed is a perfect addition for making rotis. For the same reason, eating grain flour dishes with pulses and legumes, such as roti and dal, is a great idea too.
5. Why No Browning? The brown color we get on roasting whole grains, tubers, legumes, or nuts is due to the formation of carcinogenic AGE compounds. We can reduce the formation of these compounds by roasting on a low flame, adding spices and herbs, and removing browned portions of rotis / flatbread before serving and enjoying them.
6. How to Preserve Enzymes in Cruciferous Vegetables? When cruciferous vegetables such as knol kohl, cauliflower, cabbage, radish, and broccoli are cooked, an important enzyme called myrosinase gets deactivated and the cancer-fighting sulforaphane does not get synthesised in the body. By adding raw or slightly roasted mustard to the dish after cooking, we can add myrosinase back into the dish and regain the powerful anti-cancer functions of cruciferous vegetables.