MARTABAK aka ASIAN PARATHA aka BAIDA ROTI
This stuffed Pancake or paratha is probably known to many of us. Arabs, Indians, south asian, chinese etc each nation has its own way of making it. Here in Jakarta its very common to see martabak carts on most streets. They sell the sweet version( shared the recipe earlier) and the savoury version.
But the street version uses a lot of MINYAK SAMIN( a local ghee) and also mostly uses duck eggs which are bigger than hen eggs. They also keep dough balls dunked in oil( maybe to give the dough more elasticity) and use bigger skillets than our home tawas.
I prefer making a healthier fusion version at home using eggs and stirfried vegetables . This on its own is a complete meal.
Most nights when I don’t know what to cook…we make martabaks.
Please do try out this simple martabak recipe.
2 cups flour
2 tbsps oil
1/2 tsp salt
Cold water.
Mix the oil and salt into the flour, and add some cold water to make a medium soft dough..cover with a wet cloth and keep aside.
1/2 cup carrots.. julienned
1/2 cup french beans cut diagonally
1/2 cup cabbage ..thinly sliced
1/2 cup beansprouts. Or young corn( cut into small strips)
1/2 cup spring onions finely chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil.
Salt to taste
Heat a wok and add 1 tbsp oil, add the garlic, white pepper and salt.
Saute for a minute, and add all the prepared vegetables… saute on a high flame and cook just for few mins. Add sesame oil and remove the vegetables in a bowl. The vegetables should still have a crunch… keep aside.
For this recipe you will need 8 medium eggs.
I normally make 8 small size martabaks from this quantity.
Divide the dough into 8.
Preheat the tawa or skillet on very very low.
Take one part of the dough, roll into a very thin chappati…as thin as you can ,
Gently place the chappati on the tawa, pour the filling, and spread it a bit, now fold 3 parts of the chappati to form a triangle, try not to leave any space, and let grill on one side, gently flip over, apply butter or oil..and let cook.
Once both sides have brown spots , remove and cut into smaller triangles. Serve with a chillie sauce.
Filling..
For each martabak beat one egg in a bowl, season very lightly with salt and pepper. Add about 1/4th cup of stir fried vegetables, and mix.,,( can add 1 tbsps grated cheese at this point)
Options for vegetarians..
Just spread the stir fried vegetables on the chappati ( on the tawa,) sprinkle grated paneer or cheese.
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