Lachha Paratha
Flaky, spiral-layered whole wheat flatbreads, rolled thin, brushed with ghee, pleated and coiled, then cooked on a hot griddle.
Photograph credit: Lachha Tawa Paratha - The Indismart Hotel - Salt Lake City - Kolkata 2023-08-13 3318 by Biswarup Ganguly · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
What makes lachha paratha lachha? The word means ribbons or layers, and each paratha is built from them. A thin sheet of dough is brushed with ghee, dusted with flour, pleated like a fan and coiled into a spiral. When the coil is rolled flat, every pleat becomes a separate layer.
The dough is whole wheat flour, salt, a little oil and warm water, kneaded until soft and smooth and rested for 30 minutes. Do not skimp on the ghee. It is the fat between the layers that makes them separate in the pan. Brush it on thickly and sprinkle the flour thinly.
Roll each ball into a very thin round, almost see-through at the edges. Pleat it in 1 cm folds, lift the pleated strip, and coil it into a spiral. Press the spiral flat with your palm and roll lightly to 15 cm. Heavy rolling squashes the layers together.
Cook on a hot griddle with ghee for 2 minutes a side. Crush each paratha gently between your palms as it comes off, and the layers open.
What People Ask
How long does Lachha Paratha take to make?
30 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 30 minutes of resting, so allow 1 hour 20 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.
Lachha Paratha: Step by Step
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Mix the flour and salt, add the oil and water and knead for 5 minutes to a soft dough. Rest for 30 minutes.
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Divide into 6 balls. Roll each into a thin round about 18 cm across. Brush with ghee and dust lightly with flour.
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Pleat the dough into 1 cm folds like a fan, then coil the strip into a spiral and tuck the end underneath.
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Press the spiral flat and roll gently to 15 cm.
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Cook on a hot griddle for 2 minutes on each side, brushing with ghee, until golden with brown spots. Crush gently between your palms to open the layers.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Worth Getting Right
- Roll the first sheet thin; the thinner it is, the more layers you get.
- Do not press hard when rolling the coil.
- Cook on a hot griddle, not a cool one.
Pairs Well With
Butter chicken · Dal makhani · Raita · Pickle
Keeping and Reheating
Best eaten warm. Keeps wrapped for 1 day and reheats on a griddle.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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