Paratha is a popular Indian bread. In north India it is most popular (in Punjab, Haryana, UttaraKhand, Himachal & UP) and people like it not only as a breakfast food but also they like to have this as main course food. In Punjab people usually have this with curd (dahi), raita, pickle (aachar) etc. Punjabi dhabas are very famous for paratha (or parantha) and delicious paneer dishes. But do you know – “How many types of parathas available in India?“
But nowadays across India it is preferable. Parathas are stuffed with various other vegetables and Indian spices to make it more delicious and spicy. Here is a list of popular ten parathas.
How many types of parathas in India? Do you know?
Plain paratha
This is a normal paratha without any other ingredients or stuffing items. You can have this with any curry, shahi paneer, kadai paneer, paneer masala, aloo jeera, paneer bhurji, paneer butter masala, non vegetable dishes with gravy etc. This is one of most popular types of parathas. Most people often try this at home because it is very simple and needs less effort to make. Normally it comes in circular shape but in some places (like West Bengal) it is triangular in shape. Plain paratha is very popular breakfast on weekends in Indian households.
Aloo paratha
Aloo paratha is popular Indian bread. People have this paratha with raita, curd, pickle etc. Spicy potato stuffing is added in paratha to make it delicious and heavy. Another popular stuffed paratha and one of the most preferred types of parathas in North India. It does not need any curry, vegetable dishes or non vegetarian dishes along with this paratha because you can enjoy this with pickle, sauce or even with any types of raita.
Preparation of aloo parantha is very easy. Though nowadays people do a lot of experiments to make different types of aloo parantha but I love alu paratha which is prepared in traditional way. It needs mashed boiled potatoes, finely chopped onion, garam masala, chaat masala, green chili powder, cumin powder, finely chopped coriander leaves and salt to make stuffing for this paratha. You need to cook that stuffing item in vegetable oil before adding to flour made dough and roll to give circular shape and finally fry in oil or ghee.
Gobi paratha
Gobi paratha is made with either cauliflower or cabbage along with some spices. It is also very popular paratha in North India. I love this paratha in winter because during those days fresh gobi is available in the market. People normally love this paratha because of nice flavor what you can not get from cauliflower which was stored in cold storage for several months.
Aloo parantha & gobi parantha, these are most common paratha and very easily available in dhaba (local roadside restaurants). There are very few people who did not try gobi parantha in North Indian states like Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, UP etc. I hope that you have already tasted this yummy Indian bread. If not then you should try this very soon. You can visit any restaurant to try this. But for those who love cooking and enjoy homemade food with all family members, they can prepare this at home with little effort.
Dough for making any parantha is almost same but preparing the stuffing item is tricky. You will need grated cauliflower, ginger paste, garam masala, dry mango powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and salt to make awesome stuffing item for gobi parantha.
Methi paratha
Do you like flavor of fenugreek leaves? The nice aroma of methi (fenugreek) brings water in to your mouth then you will definitely like this methi paratha. Anybody can make methi paratha at home with any serious practice. It is that easy. But those who do not like methi itslef for those people it is not a good choice. Because the taste of this food is based on nice flavor of methi. So if you do not like fenugreek then check out other types of parathas.
You need methi leaves, turmeric powder, ginger paste, garlic paste, cumin seeds, red chili powder and salt to make stuffing for methi ka paratha. This Indian bread is really delicious and I just love this during winter.
Methi paratha is favorite in Punjab, Delhi & Haryana. Methi paratha with curd or pickle and a glass of lassi are favorite breakfast of many people.
Paneer paratha
Paneer paratha is the king of all paratha, haha.
Once people tasted this paratha then definitely he will try this paratha next time. You can have it with onion raita, curd or mixed pickle.
Not only adults, kids also love this awesome paratha. You do not need any other side dishes to enjoy this. You can enjoy this with just pickle also. Raita is something what always works great with any types of parathas. The flavor of this paratha is always mouth watering. I often used to eat this at roadside dhaba near Signhu border, Delhi. It is very soft, so you can tear it with the help of just two fingers. That is why I prefer to call it as king of all paratha. Do you agree with me?
Preparation of its stuffing is not that hard what you are thinking. Many North Indian families make this dish traditionally on weekends and enjoy it with all family members. You just need fresh paneer, garam masala, green chilies, turmeric powder & salt to make stuffing item of paneer ka paratha. Some people even add grated ginger (adrak) to make awesome according to their taste. But not all people add ginger to make its filling item.
Palak paratha
In winter it is often made in Punjab, Haryana & Delhi’s common households. It is tasty, delicious and full of nutrition value.
Not all people love this paratha when you have option to pick any other parathas. But believe me, once anybody tasted perfectly prepared palak paratha with any potato based dish then he will not try any thing else. This is really an awesome, super delicious and healthy dish. I never enjoy this paratha with just pickle or raita rather I need a side dish to enjoy this paratha. The flavor of palak is not too strong but in case if you want to get strong flavor of palak (spinach) then you will definitely do not like such paratha. It looks green because here palak is not used to make stuffing item or filling item rather finely chopped spinach is added to flour to make this paratha. That is why it will look greener. AND you always need something to serve with this paratha.
Ginger paste, finely chopped spinach leaves and green chillies are needed (apart from all purpsoe flour) to make perfect palak ka paratha. I like to have this paratha with dry spicy potato or mushroom curry along with vegetable raita.
Lachcha paratha
It’s not a stuffed with any other ingredients. It has multiple layers and very soft paratha. You can easily scramble this paratha with your hands.
Lachcha (lachchedar) paratha means mulit layered paratha. From north to south and east to west, everywhere across the country you can see different versions of lachcha paratha. Lachcha paratha in Malabar region is very famous. They have their own traditional way to make make shallow fried lachchca paratha. Whereas in Eastern parts of India, people use to make triangular shaped lachcha paratha. It need to roll dough several times to create multi layered. In south India, it is much more rigorous process to create several layers. People fold circular flat dough in both direction and again give it round shape to roll again. This way it becomes lachchedar and then fried in very less oil and finally once it is cooked then press with hands from both sides to scramble lachcha paraha, so that it becomes more soft and it needs very less effort to tear with two fingers. So did you ever try this at home? It actually need little practice and once you gain that practice then it won’t be a difficult to make. No stuffing or filling item is needed to make this parantha.
You can serve this with any vegetarian or non vegetarian dish. So try this paratha at home and share your experience by leaving a comment below.
Mooli paratha
Another winter vegetable what is used for paratha stuffing. It’s tasty and flavor of mooli (daikon radish) makes it unique.
Mooli or radish is used to make various types of salad. In North India white sweet radish is used to make such salad dishes. Radish has different flavor what make it unique. It is also used to make various types of vegetarian dishes too. In Eastern India, radish is added to dal (lentils curry).
Radish is also used to make delicious Indian bread which is called as mooli paratha. It is a traditional dish of North Indian people. Specially Punjabi style mooli paratha is more delicious. Actually, paratha and all those stuffs are very popular in North India. Many love to start a day with paratha breakfast. If you have ever tried a mooli paratha in Punjab then you will definitely want to try this again and again. I love to have this mooli paratha with dry potato vegetarian dish and mixed pickle. Boondi raita will also work with this Indian bread.
If you want to make this at home in traditioanl way then you will need fresh white radish (grated), carom seeds, cumin seeds, dry mango powder, red chili powder, green chili powder, ginger paste and salt. You just need to mix all ingredients to make stuffing material. Then make dough with all purpose flour. Make small balls with that dough. Now put stuffing material inside flour made small balls and roll to create circular shape and then you need to fry.
This most simple & traditional way to make mooli ka paratha at home. This method is also followed by mom to make it. I just loved those parathas.
Onion paratha
It’s not so popular as others. But some people like this paratha too. Did you also try this?
I have tried this paratha at home as well as at many restaurants too. But I never liked this with just pickle or any other sauce. Even I do not like this with raita too. I do not know why? Many people also can enjoy this without any vegetarian or non vegetarian dish but always need some potato or paneer or mushroom based dry dishes to enjoy onion paratha. That is why I hardly make onion parathas at home. So how many times did you try this at home? There are also a few restaurants you may find in your locality where such parathas are served. Is it not true?
I tried such onion parathas in Mumbai as well as in Sonepat, Haryana. Both were absolutely different in taste. Onion parathas in Mumbai were very hot, they added too much red chili to that. But a green mango & coriander leaves chatni was served along with that. That chatni was awesome but again they have added too much green chili there. The conclusion I made that time that Marathi people prefer extra chili in each dishes. More particularly, Kolhapuri dishes, those are like out of this world.
If you are thinking about the ingredients to make stuffing item for those parathas then here I can share some ingredients what my mom use to add to make those. Finely chopped onion, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala and salt are added to the stuffing item of those parathas. You need to make soft dough of all purpose flour and put some stuffing item inside small balls of flour made dough. Rol those ball and fry in vegetable oil.
stuffed paratha
All other parathas are stuffed with various ingredients. So what is a stuffed paratha separately mentioned here. Stuffed paratha is called what is heavily stuffed with other vegetables & spices. Only one stuffed paratha can be sufficient for breakfast. Almost every paratha is stuffed paratha (except a few one like plain paratha, lachhcha paratha, palak paratha etc) but people used to say those parathas are stuffed paratha where extra stuffing item is used. Mostly nowadays cheese use to be added, so kids also love those very much. There are so many ingredients what can be added to make various stuffed parantha. How many types of stuffed parathas did you try till now?
So now if somebody will ask you “how many types of parathas are available in India?” then you can easily remember a few of those. You can even ask others about various types of parathas in India and check their knowledge. You can share your experience over here by leaving a comment below.
Here I have shared some parathas which are popular and I have also tasted several times. Buy apart from this list, there are many other types of parathas. Here is the second list of paratha
Delicious matar (green peas) parantha, yummy dal (lentils) parantha, kid’s favorite cheese parantha, special ajwain parantha, masala (spicy) parantha, hara bathua paranthas, beet root parantha, winter special lauki parantha, plain jeera parantha, shardi ka special gajar (carrot) ka parantha etc
* In Delhi, Punjab, Haryana paratha is also called as parantha or paramtha
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Side dishes for paratha: Pickle (mango, mixed, chili etc), raita (mixed raita, vegetable raita, onion raita, cucumber raita, boondi raita etc), plain curd, tea, masala chaas etc.
Traditionally most people enjoy this with pickle or raita or sometimes even with raita too. Mostly it does not need to something else to serve with paratha. But still for some paratha (like plain parantha, jeera paratha etc) you may need some other vegetarian or non vegetarian dishes along with parantha. Mostly I would prefer dry potato, paneer or mushroom based dishes. Apart from that you also should try this with a cup of hot tea. I love to have aloo paratha with a cup of hot milk tea. It is just awesome, it creates happy feeling in the ambiance. The first time I have tried this at a tea stall in Rohini, Delhi. Chat with your friends and enjoying aloo paratha with hot milk tea is just perfect moment to enjoy.
So now your turn : Tell others – which one did you not taste? or Which one you like most? Is there any other types of parathas that you have tasted but not mentioned in this list?
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