How to make Romy Gill’s pumpkin paratha

’Tis the season for fresh autumn vegetables. Try Romy Gill’s tasty flatbread recipe for something toasty as the days get colder

As a staple food across India, they’re easy to stuff with seasonal vegetables (ED Law)

It’s the time of the year when autumn vegetables start arriving, and pumpkin is among them. 

I usually make roasted pumpkin, sabzi, tikki, kheer and soup among many other dishes. But this year I wanted to make something else for my readers. 

Over the past six months during the pandemic I have made various flatbreads: plain, fried and filled with different ingredients.  

All across India, roti(chapatti) naan, paratha, puri, bhature etc are common – but it in northern India especially, bread is the staple food. 

In some parts of India, people will eat bread three times a day. My mum always made different stuffed breads and we also sometimes used to have them in our lunch boxes as children too.

These flatbreads are very simple and easy to make. I have fond memories of my mum making them and my friends enjoyed every moment of eating them. We have a certain range to chase pumpkins from.

Pumpkin paratha (Indian flatbread)

150g chapatti flour (if you can’t find chapatti flour then use half of plain flour and half of wholemeal flour)

1/2tsp salt  

1tsp of sunflower oil extra for brushing  

80ml-100ml water depending on the flour  

For the filling

200g pumpkin peeled, roughly chopped and boiled (water drained after it the pumpkin is boiled)

1tsp grated fresh ginger  

2 green chillies chopped with seeds (bird’s eye chilli)

handful fresh coriander chopped  

3 spring onions chopped  

1tsp ground cumin  

1tsp ground coriander  

1tsp salt  

To make the dough, sieve the flour into a bowl, add salt and slowly add water and mix everything with your hands until it comes together into a dough. If it feels dry, then add water. Start kneading until smooth and elastic. Apply oil and cover the bowl with a cloth and leave it to rest for about 20 minutes at room temperature.

Next, mash the pumpkin and add rest of the ingredients and mix together and keep aside.

Divide the dough into 4-6 equal balls, depending on what size parathas you are making. Sprinkle flour and roll the dough in thick discs and then fill them with the mash, bring the edges of the dough into the centre, pinch to seal and form a pouch, then carefully flatten the pouch in your hands. 

Sprinkle with flour and roll carefully. Repeat with all the dough balls. Roll them all if you are making for the first time and place them on a tray with baking parchment so it doesn’t stick together.  

Heat a non-stick frying pan or pancake pan over a medium heat and dry-fry the parathas, one at a time, for around a minute each side until small blisters form on the surface of the paratha. 

Brush oil on both sides of the parathas, fry both sides until crispy. Serve hot with pickle or chutney.

Romy Gill is a chef and food writer. Her debut book ‘Zaika’ is available to buy now. Follow her @romygill