Today was a surprise day off, thanks to the ‘Red Shirt Rally’. Back home we have rallies every alternate day and we have learned to live with it. But, in faraway Thailand, its an event which gives us an extra day off and may cause a coup if not handled properly. A 50,000 strong armed security force has been deployed all around the city.

We woke up at 8:30 (which is a privilege cause my babies usually wake up with the sun). Late wake up was followed by a porridge and fruits breakfast for Little A and me and cold cuts sandwich for darling S, who screws up his nose at the mention of oats. We had already planned on going for a swim but I had also planned on doing away with my weekly cooking – fridge stocking routine by today. That’s the only way I can relax for the next couple of days.

Finally we settled on swimming first and cooking later, which I gave in to after a hurried arrangement for a simple lunch. Little A was ecstatic that he was going ‘supping’ (swimming) again. But, it turned out to be a flop show as the water was cold and he was out of the water in half an hour, shivering. He made quite an effort to stay put, but, finally gave in. We have decided to hit the water early tomorrow morning to catch the sun.

The hurried swim session got us all hungry and sleepy. Lunch was followed by a 3 hour long nap for both daddy and sonny. I was left to do my own thing.

I do love to cook and experiment while I am at it. The big packet of frozen peas sitting in the freezer looked very inviting. I thought of using it in the kheema or making a polau. Again those were old stuff. Suddenly I thought of the lovely ‘Karaishutir Kochuri’ they make back home. My MIL is specially gifted in this one. So I knew experimenting on those grounds would mean filling some really big pair of shoes. But its more fun when its a challenge.

By 5:30 in the evening I was done with the whole weeks cooking and the star dish of the week. I couldn’t stick to the recipe provided. As is my habit, I pick and choose from 10 different websites and call home in intervals to cook anything special. In the end, I had made karaishutir porota or green peas paratha (also called Indian bread stuffed with green peas filling).

The critic tried it the first thing after his refreshing nap. Frowned a little, chewed some more and finally declared ‘mmmm its good’. I am happy with the verdict and hence, refrained from prodding any further.

Here’s my recipe for those of you who may be interested…

Ingredients for filling:

200 gms Green Peas

1 Green Chili

1 tsp Cumin Seed (Gota Jeera)

1-2 tsp Ginger paste (Aada Baata)

1/2 tsp Asafoetida powder (Hing)

1-2 tsp Red Chili powder (Shukno lonka guro)

2-3 tsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Ingredients for dough:

1 cup Wheat flour (Atta)

3/4 cup White flour (Maida)

1 tsp white oil for Moin

Salt to taste

Prepare the filling first and leave it aside for cooling. Preparation time 30 mins.

1. Make a puree of the peas by adding just enough water. Make sure the puree doesn’t become too watery. Add the chili while making the puree if you like your parathas hot.

2. Heat oil in a thick bottom pan.

3. Add the cumin seeds followed by ginger and fry for a minute.

4. Add Asafoetida powder.

5. Add the pureed peas as soon as you get the aroma of Asafoetida from the oil.

6. Mix in the chili powder.

7. Let it cook till there are no lumps in the puree. The peas will get separated. Add the sugar and salt at this time. It will give the mixture a dark green look.

8. The pur or filling is ready now. You can keep it aside for cooling while you prepare the dough.

To prepare the dough mix together the flours followed by the oil and salt. Add enough water to knead it into a soft dough. Be careful not to add a lot of water together. It can turn into a disaster. I keep adding a little water at one time and knead till the water vanishes.

Making the paratha:

1. Make small dough balls. Shape them like cups keeping the center thick and thinning the sides.

2. Put the filling inside these cups and seal them. Roll them back into balls taking care not to break the skin.

3. Roll out these balls into flat discs using the rolling pin. Be careful while you roll so that the filling may not break and spill out.

4. First dry fry the rolled out discs on a flat thick bottomed fry pan (Tawa). When both the sides look  slightly cooked add a little oil and fry both the sides again till they are done.

This paratha is best eaten with the Bengali Alur dum which S is cooking right now under my supervision. If you are too lazy to do that just whisk a little sour yogurt with chaat masala or just eat it with some pickle of your choice. Most people like this as kochuris where you make the discs smaller in size and deep fry them. But we tend to feel better with less oil. Thus my choice of paratha.

Hope you enjoy!