Food talk
Egg on your plate

Unlike vegetable paranthas, anda parantha is simpler to prepare and doesn’t require any accompaniment. Pushpesh Pant on a nourishing and tasty breakfast

They sell like hotcakes at midnight and beyond at the Moolchand flyover in the Capital and there is a kiosk in the Qutab Institutional Area that has acquired a most enviable reputation based on the outstanding anda parantha dished out by it.

This is also the staple fare — affordable and nourishing as well as tasty — at the internationally renowned and mentioned in despatches from the food front Ganga Dhabha in the JNU campus; the neighbours in IIT claim that their annadata along the adjacent footpath turn a mean version on their tawa but let us not waste time in idle disputation. The point is can we replicate the delightful one-dish meal at home.

We are of the view that it certainly is worth trying to cook and enjoy this exceptional parantha in the monsoon away from the slush and free from legitimate health concerns regarding transgenic fats of dubious origin. All things considered anda parantha, or baida parantha as it is known in Mumbai and Hyderabad, is a product far superior to the much-hyped Kathi roll. For one, it eschews maida and secondly is much more easy to ‘negotiate’ — there is no risk of spilling the slippery filling! All the ingredients are fused together and no fancy footwork (read culinary skills) is required.

Just compare this with the challenge posed by a stuffed mooli or gobhi parantha. There was a time when I thought nothing could match the splendour of the Bengali Moglai parantha encasing delicately flavoured mince. Now when the years have turned our never golden hair silver we have learnt to appreciate simpler, more frugal pleasures. Believe us a flaky, flavourful and a parantha doesn’t require any accompaniment — not even the traditionally prescribed dahi or pickle.

Finally, don’t let the words anda and parantha scare you. Cooking on a non-stick tawa and restricting the number of eggs to one per person you are well within the safe limits. Remember, what we are suggesting is a welcome change not everyday breakfast routine.

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