Agretti Parathas

The CSA season is in full swing. Every week the bag brings us just-harvested, lovingly grown, organic vegetables. A recent bag contained, amongst other things, bok choy, cilantro, broccoli, baby carrots, kale and agretti. While reading the newsletter that accompanies the produce, I mentally made plans for each item; but at the last one I hit a major speedbreaker.

Each year we get introduced to a couple of new vegetables/ cooking greens. Last year it was lamb's quarters. This year it is agretti. More about agretti here.

When presented with a new cooking green, I usually try them for the first time in a daal or in parathas. Both don't need a recipe per se which make them ideal for experimentation. If the green is not welcomed in the daal or paratha avatar, it is unlikely we'd like them prepared any other way. But so far we haven't met a cooking green we didn't like.

This time I made agretti parathas. Here is a picture of the parathas and a spring (bunch?) of agretti.

We were quite happy with the results. The inherent sourness came through quite well.
The only herb/ spice I used was chopped garlic and some mirchi powder. Next time I can load up on the spices as this is quite a sturdy green. Owa (ajwain, carom) with agretti already sounds good.

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
1 cup chopped agretti
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp mirchi powder
4-5 stalks of cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method
Heat the oil over medium high heat, add garlic. Don't let it brown.
Add the mirchi powder, salt, and agretti.
Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the cilantro.
Let cool slightly before adding the flour.
Add water as need to make a soft dough. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into about 20 pieces.
Roll each piece into parathas of even thickness.
Use a little oil and cook both sides of the parathas on a heated pan.
Enjoy with yogurt!

These parathas go to Srivalli's Roti Mela.