A Gift From Mughals: Stuffed Chicken Paratha!

It is believed that stuffed non -veg parathas are gifts of Mughals, which originated during the Jahangir’s reign in 1569-1627. The Mughlai parathas were a creation of his cook Adil Hafiz Usman. The story goes like, once the monarch had the same old plain paratha and meat served to him daily, and he got bored of having the same meals, so he ordered his cook to innovate a new dish in 10 days. So on the 9th day, cook Usman came up with an Anda roti (egg chapati), later known as Mughlai paratha. And that recipe was fostered as a secret for several generations until their descendants started selling the delicacy across Bengal during the British Raj. The Mughalai paratha has many similarities with Arabic or Lebanese bread, where you can find a square shape stuffed with meat and deep-fried in the hot oil. This is how Mughai, chicken, egg parathas originated.

The chicken parathas are prepared with whole wheat or all-purpose flour dough and stuffed with minced chicken and spices inside and fried or roasted in the oil. The chicken paratha is healthy as well as a unique combination. So, how to make chicken paratha at home? Here is the recipe for chicken paratha.

Ingredients for stuffing:

• ¾ cup minced chicken
• 1 large onion (finely chopped)
• 1 small tomato (finely chopped)
• 8-10 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
• 5-6 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• Salt - per taste

Ingredients for the dough:

• Wheat flour
• Oil
• Salt per taste
• Water as required for kneading

Preparation of dough: 

Knead the dough using flour, salt, oil, and sufficient water. The dough should be soft and supple. Roll it lightly, form a spherical shape and keep that aside to rest with a cover of wet muslin cloth.

Preparation of chicken paratha:

1. Take a non-stick pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil, and add garlic; once it turns light brown, add ginger, garlic paste, onion and cook it until the onions turn translucent in colour.
2. Now add all the dry ingredients, chilli, turmeric, garam masala powder, and mix it well.
3. After it's done, add minced chicken and 2 tablespoons of water. Cook with a covered pan for 5-6 minutes. If chicken is formed into lumps, separate it with the help of the spatula. Now add tomatoes and cook uncovered for another 8-10 minutes, until water dries up. Now the stuffing of chicken paratha is ready. Also, garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.
4. Take one small portion of dough, roll it into a circular shape, and stuff chicken feeling into the centre, remove the excess dough which has popped out.
5. Gently roll it with less pressure and roll it in the shape of rectangular or oval.
6. Heat a flat pan, place the chicken paratha on a low flame, cook evenly from both sides.
7. Apply oil on both flipped sides, cook the sides brown and crispy.
8. Once it is done, transfer the cooked paratha to your plate.

Serve hot with pickle, raita, or chicken gravy!