Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Ajwain Paratha
Ajwain Paratha (Layered Flatbread with Carom Seeds)

Ajwain Paratha

Layered Flatbread with Carom Seeds
VegetarianMakes around 8 parathas

Ajwain paratha is a layered Indian flatbread flavoured with carom seeds. It cooks up crisp and flaky at the edges with a soft interior and a warm, slightly peppery aroma.

Carom seed for the dough

3 gMixed into the dry flour mixture (step 1)
01
Carom seed · Ajwain
3 g1½ teaspoons
spice
Keep whole: they go into the dry flour mix.

Everything else

01
Whole wheat flour · Attaplus extra for dusting
250 g
flour
02
Vegetable oil · Tel
40 g3 tablespoons
oil/fat
03
Salt · Namak
~0.3 gpinch
salt
04
Water · Paani
169 g170 ml
liquid
05
Ghee or butter · Gheefor layering and frying
to taste
oil/fat

Method

  1. Mix 250 g chapatti flour, 40.5 g vegetable oil, 0.3 g salt and the carom seed for the dough (3 g) in a bowl.
  2. Add 169 g water in small splashes, stirring with a spoon or your fingers, until the mixture starts to come together.
  3. Knead well until the dough is smooth.
  4. Cover the bowl tightly and leave the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
  5. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions and shape each into a ball.
  6. Roll each ball into a circle about 17 cm across.
  7. Brush one circle with a little melted butter or ghee and dust with extra chapatti flour.
  8. Fold the circle in half, brush with more melted butter or ghee and dust with extra flour.
  9. Fold into a quarter, dust with extra flour and roll out to a circle about 20 cm across.
  10. Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat.
  11. Cook one paratha for 1 minute, until it puffs and takes light colour, then turn it over.
  12. Cook for 1 minute more, until small brown spots appear across the surface.
  13. Drizzle ½ tsp melted butter or ghee over the top, flip the paratha, add a little more butter or ghee to the second side and cook for 5–6 seconds.
  14. Cover the cooked paratha with a tea towel and keep warm while you cook the rest.
  15. Repeat with the remaining dough portions.

Don't have something?

Whole wheat flour
  • Wholemeal flour

    Use the same weight; it is very close, but add water slowly as it can be coarser and absorb more.

  • Plain flour

    Use the same weight but reduce water by about 10%; the dough is softer and the flavour less nutty.

  • Flour

    Use the same weight as a plain-flour swap; reduce water slightly and expect a lighter, less wheaty result.

Carom seed
  • Carom seeds

    Use the same weight; this is the same seed under its other name.

  • Carom seed paste

    Use the same weight; looser and stronger, so add near the end and taste.

  • Cumin seed

    Use half the weight, lightly crushed; gives a warm aroma but not carom's thyme-like punch.

Vegetable oil
  • Peanut oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Handles high-heat frying identically and introduces a very subtle, pleasant nuttiness.

  • Ghee

    Use 1:1 by weight. Yields a much richer, authentic aroma and a glossy, heavier mouthfeel.

  • Mustard oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Heat until smoking, then cool slightly before cooking to temper its intensely pungent, sharp mustard kick.

Water
  • Stock

    Use the same weight in savoury dishes; it adds body, so adjust salt.

  • Milk

    Use the same weight only in doughs or creamy dishes; it makes the result richer.

  • Coconut water

    Use the same weight in curries or rice; it adds sweetness and a faint coconut taste.

Ghee or butter
  • Ghee

    Use the same weight. Gives a richer aroma and nuttier taste; if the dish already uses butter for finishing, ghee can make it slightly heavier.

  • Butter

    Use the same weight. Lower smoke point than ghee, so keep the heat moderate; if unsalted, add a small pinch of salt.

  • Vegetable oil or ghee

    Use about 90% of the weight. Less rich flavour; good when you want a lighter result.

Similar dishes

Phulkas
Wholemeal Flatbreads
Phulkas tastes mild and wheaty with a little ghee richness and is soft and thin, while this dish has a warm, slightly peppery carom-seed aroma and crisp, flaky edges with a soft interior.
  • Same: Phulkas and this dish both use chapatti flour, salt, and water as the main dough ingredients, with no souring agent.
  • Different: Phulkas lacks carom seeds and layering; it uses 26.4 g ghee in the dough and is cooked quickly on a hot griddle until puffed, while this dish uses 40.5 g vegetable oil plus melted butter or ghee and is layered for a crisp, flaky texture.
Puris (Indian Kitchen)
Puris tastes savoury and rich from the frying oil, without this dish's warm, slightly peppery carom aroma.
  • Same: Puris shares chapatti flour, salt, and vegetable oil with this dish, and neither uses a souring agent.
  • Different: Puris lacks carom seeds and melted butter or ghee, lists no water, and is deep-fried until puffed rather than layered and cooked as a flatbread.
Chapattis
Chapattis tastes wheaty, tender and slightly rich from oil and butter, without the warm peppery carom aroma or crisp flaky edges of this dish.
  • Same: Chapattis shares chapatti flour, vegetable oil and salt with this dish.
  • Different: Chapattis has no carom seeds and no water listed, and it is a thin soft flatbread cooked on a dry griddle and brushed with melted butter, while this dish is layered with carom seeds and finished with melted butter or ghee.
Plain Buttery Parathas
Plain Buttery Parathas tastes rich, tender and buttery, while this dish has a warm, slightly peppery carom-seed aroma with crisp flaky edges.
  • Same: Plain Buttery Parathas shares chapatti flour, vegetable oil, salt and a layered pan-fried flatbread style with this dish.
  • Different: Plain Buttery Parathas has 70 g butter but no carom seeds or listed water, while this dish uses 3 g carom seeds and 169 g water and finishes with optional melted butter or ghee.