Vita Pakistan Limited

Paratha is a flatbread that originated in the South Asia. It is still quite prevalent throughout the area.

Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta which literally means layers of cooked dough.

It is one of the most popular unleavened flat breads in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and is made by pan frying whole wheat dough on a tava. The parantha dough usually contains ghee or cooking oil which is also layered on the freshly prepared paratha. Paranthas are usually stuffed with boiled potatoes (as in aloo ka parantha), leaf vegetables, radishes, cauliflower, and/or paneer (South Asian cheese). A paratha (especially a stuffed one) can be eaten simply with a pat of butter spread on top, with chutney, pickles, and yogurt, or with meat or vegetable curries. Some roll the parantha into a tube and eat it with tea, often dipping the paratha.

The paratha can be round, heptagonal, square, or triangular. When it is round, the stuffing is mixed with the kneaded flour, and the parantha is prepared in the same way as roti, but in the latter two forms, the peda (ball of kneaded flour) is flattened into a circle, the stuffing is kept in the middle, and the flatbread is closed around the stuffing like an envelope. The latter two also vary in that they have discernible soft layers, with one "opening" to the crispier shell layers.

The process of layering the "skins" of dough in a paratha can make preparation a difficult process. This, mixed with the popularity of this flatbread has opened the market to several ranges of frozen paratha – especially in Western markets where consumers seek the authenticity, but lack the time required to make a paratha from scratch. Ready to cook paratha may also be purchased. These preparations offer one-step preparation and save time. Some of the ready-to-cook products in the market are just the stuffings for making the stuffed parathas.