Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Plain Buttery Parathas
Plain Buttery Parathas ()

Plain Buttery Parathas

VegetarianMakes AROUND 8

Plain buttery parathas are soft, flaky Indian flatbreads made from a simple dough, layered with butter and pan-fried until golden. They taste rich and tender, with crisp speckled spots.

Ingredients

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
Butter · Makhansoftened, for brushing and frying
70–80 g
dairy

Method

  1. Combine 250 g chapatti flour, 40.5 g vegetable oil and 0.3 g salt in a mixing bowl.
  2. Pour in 160–170 ml water a little at a time, mixing with a spoon or your fingers until the mixture begins to clump.
  3. Knead the mixture into a smooth dough, cover the bowl, and leave for 10 minutes.
  4. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each into a disc about 13 cm across.
  5. Brush a disc with some of the 70–80 g softened butter, fold in half, brush again, fold in half again, then dust lightly with flour and roll into a disc about 18 cm across; repeat with the remaining pieces.
  6. Heat a frying pan over low heat and add ½ teaspoon of the softened butter.
  7. When the pan is hot, add one paratha and press it with a spatula; fry for 1–2 minutes, brush butter on top, turn, and fry for 2 minutes until golden with brown speckles.
  8. Flip once more and cook for 30 seconds, pressing lightly; keep the cooked paratha warm in a tea towel or foil while you fry the rest the same way.

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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.

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.

Butter
  • Unsalted butter

    Use 100% of the weight. If the original recipe relies on salted table butter, add a pinch of salt to balance.

  • Ghee

    Use 80% to 85% of the weight. Ghee is pure butterfat with moisture removed; it yields a deeper, nuttier flavour and handles high heat better.

  • Vegetable oil

    Use 80% of the weight for frying or tempering. The dish loses sweet dairy richness but remains glossy and light.

Similar dishes

Chapattis
Chapattis tastes wheaty and tender with slight richness, while this dish tastes richer and more tender with flaky, crisp speckled spots.
  • Same: Chapattis shares the same base ingredients as this dish: chapatti flour, vegetable oil, salt and butter.
  • Different: Chapattis is cooked on a dry griddle and brushed with melted butter, while this dish is layered with butter and pan-fried.
Phulkas
Wholemeal Flatbreads
Phulkas tastes wheaty and mild with a little ghee richness, so it is less rich, tender, and flaky than this buttery paratha.
  • Same: Phulkas shares the same 250 g chapatti flour and 0.3 g salt as this dish, and both are Indian flatbreads.
  • Different: Phulkas uses 26.4 g ghee and 159 g water with no vegetable oil or butter, and it is griddle-cooked rather than layered with butter and pan-fried.
Puris (Indian Kitchen)
Puris tastes savoury and rich from frying oil, with crisp puffed discs and a soft centre, compared with this dish’s tender, flaky, buttery taste.
  • Same: Puris shares chapatti flour, salt, and vegetable oil with this dish.
  • Different: Puris lacks butter and is deep-fried in oil, while this dish is layered with butter and pan-fried.
Puris
Deep-Fried Bread with Wholemeal Flour
Puris tastes crisp and puffed from deep-frying, while this dish tastes soft, flaky and buttery.
  • Same: Puris shares this dish’s 250 g chapatti/wholemeal flour, 0.3 g salt and 40.5 g vegetable oil.
  • Different: Puris adds 179 g water and omits the 70 g butter, and it is deep-fried rather than layered with butter and pan-fried.