In pursuit of parathas

Keema Paratha

The sight of a luscious dollop of butter slowly melting on a piping hot, fluffy, stuffed paratha, is a sight that makes my stomach do impossible somersaults. A bowl of thick creamy curd, cold, on the side and I am sorted. I had a few droolworthy parathas, aloo, gobi and paneer, on my recent trip to Kashmir and I have been craving good parathas ever since I returned. So, naturally, I jumped at the invitation from The Astor Hotel to attend their on-going paratha festival at Kebab e que. With the rains here, the weather too was perfect for parathas I thought.

On offer is a selection of vegetarian and non vegetarian stuffed parathas. So, there is egg, fish, chicken and Keema paratha on the non vegetarian section and for the vegetarian there are Aloo Gobi, Cabbage and Dal, Capsicum and cheese and finally one with a striking name, the Aliv Nutri Paratha. The parathas come with sides like cold curd, a bowl of creamy Kali dal, salad and pickles, as also a glass of spicy buttermilk to wash it down. And the best thing about the these parathas is that they ain't greasy, and hence lighter than you would expect.

Spicy Buttermilk

Egg Paratha

Since making a choice seemed difficult, I ordered a portion of every kind of non veg paratha and two of the vegetarian ones. And I was pretty pleased glad with what was served. The Egg Paratha, soft and crisp on the sides, wrapped in a blanket of fried egg with sauteed onions and peppers between the layers was good and so was the Keema Paratha, with it's spicy minced meat stuffing. I only hoped there was a little more of that delicious filling in between the paratha layers. The Chicken Parantha, also with a spicy shredded chicken stuffing was good but didn't strike a chord in particular. I would pass the fish paratha. But the surprise for the evening was the Aliv Nutri  Paratha. The name was intriguing, but hardly suggestive of what went into it. Well the Aliv Nutri paratha comes with a generous stuffing of mildly spiced cottage cheese, chopped onions and bell peppers. And it is my pick of the day!

The paratha festival is on till June 24. You might just want to go devour some.

Aliv Nutri Paratha