By saffronandherbs
A Baluchi Style Breakfast
My journey to discover more about the cuisine of Iran has led me to the Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the South-East of Iran.
The recipe below feeds six as my husband can eat anything up to three eggs in one sitting and then the rest of the family get through the remaining or eat it as leftovers on subsequent days. But do feel free to revise the amounts down or up for the numbers required.
My family and I often eat this breakfast/brunch dish washed down with a homemade mango smoothie.
- A Baluchi-Style Breakfast
- Prep Time30 mins
- Cook Time50 mins
- Total Time1 hr 20 mins
Ingredients:
For parathas
- 3 cups plain flour (UK standard measuring cup plus extra to sprinkle on parathas)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 large free-range egg
- Water (as required to form a sticky dough)
- Oil or ghee to brush and cook the parathas
For the chickpea curry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion (finely sliced)
- 4 cloves garlic (crushed or minced)
- Thumb-size of fresh ginger (grated)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 2 x 400 g tins of chickpeas (drained)
- 200 mls water
- Fresh lime juice (half a lime)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- Chopped fresh coriander (to garnish)
For the eggs
- 6 large free-range eggs
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions:
For the parathas
- Add the flour, oil, salt, baking powder, and egg to a large mixing bowl and mix until the egg is incorporated.
- Initially add about 1 cup of water mix with the flour mixture and then add more water in small increments to form a dough (I usually require 1.5 to 2 cups of water in total to make a dough).
- Knead the dough for about 5 mins and then leave to rest for 30 mins.
- After the dough has rested, the texture should be soft and the dough lighter in weight. Take the dough to split into 6 equal amounts and roll into a ball.
- Sprinkle some flour onto your work surface. Take one ball of dough and roll to approximately 10cm in diameter with a rolling pin. Brush with a little oil/ghee, sprinkle with a little flour, and then fold the dough like a fan. Take one end and roll it along the edge of the dough until it forms back into a ball (like a Catherine wheel). Leave to rest in the fridge while you repeat the process with the other balls of dough. This will create the layered, flaky texture for the final cooked parathas.
- After preparing the ‘Catherine wheel’ dough balls, take a frying pan or skillet and place it on high heat. Drizzle some oil/ghee into the pan.
- Take the dough balls out of the fridge. Take the first dough ball and roll it until it is approximately 1/2cm thick. Then cook it in the hot pan for 3 minutes on each side, or until nicely charred. While cooking, brush with a little bit more oil/ghee on each side. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
- Once the parathas are cooked, turn off the heat and leave the cooked parathas to one side until you are ready to serve.
For the chickpea curry
- Take a saucepan and place it on medium / high heat. Add 2 tbsp of oil.
- Add the onion and cook until it softens and turns golden. Then add the garlic and ginger and stir.
- Once the aroma of the garlic and ginger starts to permeate, add the ground coriander, turmeric, and garam masala and mix until evenly distributed. Allow the mixture to cook with the spices for about 2 mins.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and once bubbling lower the heat to low/medium to allow the mixture to simmer. Simmer for 20 mins.
- Then add the chickpeas, water, lime juice, salt, and pepper and stir. Leave to simmer for 20 mins minimum until you are ready to serve. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander before serving.
For the eggs
- Add oil to a frying pan/skillet and place on medium to high heat.
- Crack the eggs into the pan, cover with a tight lid and cook for 3 mins or until white is set.
- Season with salt and pepper and serve alongside the chickpea curry and parathas.
Notes on timing
- If you are going to prepare this dish in one go, then start off with the parathas first. While the dough is resting (paratha’s method – step 3), undertake steps 1 to 4 of the chickpea curry method.
- While the tomato mixture simmers for 20 mins, undertake steps 4 to 6 of the paratha’s method. Then, before moving on to cook the parathas, add your chickpeas to the simmer tomato mixture (chickpea curry method 5).
- While your chickpea curry is simmering, move to step 7 of the parathas method and cook the parathas.
- Fry your eggs in the same pan used to cook the parathas after you have finished cooking the parathas.
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