INGREDIENTS: (Makes 24)
4 Packets frozen uncooked Roti Paratha* [6 pieces to a
packet]
10 – 12 eggs, lightly beaten with fork
1 kg minced lamb, mutton or beef
Cooking oil (I used Canola oil)
3 tbsps ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground fennel
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
2 tsp salt
6 large onions
1/2 tsp turmeric
Generous pinch of salt
Ghee (clarified butter) for shallow frying
* Sometimes known as Roti Canai, available most Asian grocery
stores.
METHOD:
Peel and dice onions. Place in a
bowl, season with turmeric and a generous pinch of salt and set aside.
Remove frozen paratha from 1 packet and separate the pieces from the dividing
plastic sheets while still frozen. Smear a little oil on the plastic sheet and
replace the frozen paratha on it. (This prevents the thawed paratha from
sticking to the plastic.) Place the 6 pieces of paratha individually on the
kitchen bench and allow to thaw. (It’s easier to do one packet at a time unless
you have heaps of bench space!)
Heat 2 tbsp cooking oil in a wok (or
frypan) and stir fry mince until partially cooked and separated.
Sprinkle ground spices and salt over the mince and continue to stir fry until
thoroughly
cooked.
Scoop out cooked mince into a bowl with a slotted spoon and discard remaining
oil/fat. Set aside.
When ready to cook, cover a large plastic cutting board with foil and smear
foil generously with oil.
Place one thawed paratha in the
centre and with well oiled palm and fingers, gently press and spread the
paratha into a very thin oblong sheet, being careful not to tear or make holes.
Smear about 2 tablespoonfuls of beaten egg all over the paratha sheet and
scatter a handful of seasoned diced onions in the centre third section of
oblong, almost to edge of
paratha.
Scatter a handful of cooked seasoned mince over the onions and fold the top and
bottom edges of paratha.
Fold the third section of paratha over the filling (to ‘capture’ a little of the filling) and unfold. [See
photos below.]
Fold the first section over the filling, followed by the third section.
Press gently to seal. (It is now a murtabak!)
In a large non-stick frypan, heat a dsp of ghee and when hot, lift the cutting
board and invert the folded murtabak onto
palm of hand and transfer it to the hot ghee.
Shallow fry in the ghee over medium heat and while one is frying, prepare the next murtabak.
When the next murtabak is ready, turn over the one that is frying before
placing the second one next to it.
Continue frying until both sides of murtabak are brown and crisp, adding a
little more ghee as needed.
Serve while piping hot with an accompaniment of Lamb
Curry.
N.B. When cooking for my hungry tribe, I pre-cook all the murtabak,
place them between sheets of greaseproof paper and keep them warm in the oven.
Just before serving, I re-heat the frypan on high heat (no ghee necessary) and
quickly crisp both sides of the murtabak, two at a time.
