Besan Paratha

With the new year on the threshold, I look back to review how another year of my life has gone by.

 This year has been pretty eventful for us. There were a lot of personal and impersonal occasions

that caused moments of both happiness and unhappiness in my life. As I was happy and content

having celebrated my 5th marriage anniversary, there were some events, which although not

associated with me directly, have affected me. There was this young girl who got widowed barely 2

months after her marriage in an accident in Kolkata which left her husband dead in front of her

eyes. I didn't know the woman but being a woman myself I could imagine what kind of mental

trauma she might be going through. There are a lot of other such incidents involving women

mostly that have left me aggrieved and sad. The recent death of the hapless girl in Delhi whose

ordeal came to an end yesterday shook my conscience forcing me to mull over the worsening plight

 of women kind in our country.

 

 

I checked upon a thread going around in FB stating "Daughters in India are neither safe inside

womb nor outside." I know many people who have rued over the birth of their daughters. For

example, my own mother refused to see my face after I was born because I was a girl. There are

 many parents who don't desire a daughter because our society is structured in a way that men

always have an upper hand over women in every of the social issues concerned and hence to this

 date the birth of a son is celebrated amidst joy and merriment while the birth of a daughter is

mourned in many families. Anyway, I am digressing into another topic, so let me reflect back

on how the year went for me. Earlier this year, my husband's sudden sickness immediately

upon our arrival in US imprinted a sense of fear into my mind regarding his well-being, the

feelings of anxiety taking a while to abate as it became normal for me to turn antsy when he didn't

come out of the bathroom within minutes anticipating that he might have fainted again. Further,

 my father's frail health and his growing senility upon the cataract operation put me on edge till he

 recuperated, especially when far away from my motherland I was unable to see him.

 

 

But it's not that only bad events have occupied me, there are some wonderful moments that I have

spent with my husband this year and also I have met and befriended a lot of new people who with

 their presence have filled my life with happiness. So overall, on personal level, this year has been

pretty satisfying regardless of few bumps in the road.

Ingredients :( make 8 parathas)                          Cooking time: 30 minutes ü  1 1/2 cups besan or gram flour ü  3/4 cup wheat flour or atta ü  1 tsp ajwain or carom seeds ü  1 tsp cumin seeds ü  1 tsp kashmiri red mirch ü  1 tsp turmeric powder ü  A pinch of salt ü  A pinch of sugar ü  3-4 green chillies (minced) ü  1/2 of an onion (minced) ü  50 gm coriander leaves (finely chopped) ü  50 gm palak or spinach leaves (blanched and finely chopped) ü  White oil or ghee Method: 1) Mix all the ingredients together except oil and knead dough using required amount of water. (As onion discharges water, don't add too much water else the dough would turn squishy.) 2) When the dough is formed, add 1 tsp of oil and knead again for 2 minutes till the oil soaks in. 3) Now, divide the dough into 8 balls. Roll the balls out into circular shapes about 5-6 inches in diameter. 4) Fry the parathas in oil or ghee. Serve hot with pickle or any favourite curry of yours.