Mughlai Parota | Moglai Parota | Spicy Potato Curry -- a hack on Kolkata's favorite street food

Mughlai Parota | Moglai Parota | Spicy Potato Curry

Mughlai Parota or Moglai Parota,  a very popular street food in Kolkata, is a  rectangular shaped flaky, crispy, fried bread with a filling of eggs, seasoned and cooked ground meat, onions and green chilies. It is served with a spicy potato curry (aloo r tarkari), slices of red onions and sometimes ketchup. The paratha dough is made with flour, water and oil but a good Moghlai paratha will have thin layers and a flaky texture due to rolling tricks unlike the regular parathas. Here, the husband-man has used a genius hack to make exactly those flaky, crispy layered paratha with minimum effort.  Read on.

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Having lived most of my life in small towns far away from the cultural and food mecca of Bengal. Moglai parota for us was a rare treat. My maternal grandparents lived in North Kolkata and it was our annual "mama r bari" sojourn that promised all of these delicacies. From Flury's pastries to Kheer er Shingara, from egg rolls to aloor chop - the list was endless.

During one of our Kolkata holidays my mamas aka uncles asked if I wanted Moglai Parota for dinner. It was around the time that I had just been introduced to the Mughal empire courtesy of Amar Chitra Katha. As a child I was an avid reader and quick to draw up imaginary visuals in my age. So naturally given its  Mughal name, I conjured up a setting of scintillating chandeliers, silken tassels, brocade couches and ornate utensils and could not contain my excitement.

Imagine my situation when instead I was ushered in to a small restaurant with rickety wooden tables and chairs and curtained cubicles called cabins. I was crestfallen and suspicious of those swinging wooden doors of the cabins. I do not remember if it was Anadi Cabin but I was definitely crestfallen by the restaurant and suspicious of those swinging wooden doors of the cabins. That young couples with guilty and flushed faces entering or coming out of them did not help either! I guess I had all the qualities of a judgmental "Bong Mashima" even at that young age.😝

However all of that vanished when the Moglai Parotas and aloo r torakri was served and sheer joy ensued when I took a bite of that Moglai. Later we would also get Moglai parota from a trusted street side stall near my Mama r Bari. They would come wrapped in newsprint packets and perfume our evenings with their delicious, fried fragrance and taste.

The cabin restaurants dated back to the British Raj and the cabins were designed to give privacy to women and also young couples in a society which abhorred any PDA between young lovers. These restaurants, primarily in North Kolkata, were very popular with middle-class Bengalis until the late 80s.One of those restaurants, Anadi Cabin, a 94 year old establishment is what has made Moglai Parota a dish to salivate over and crave for most Bengalis.

Though it is believed that the Mughlai paratha originated during Mughal Emperor Jahangir’s reign (1569-1627) and it was a creation of his cook Adil Hafiz Usman, the Moglai Parota gained popularity among the common man as a street food. Most Bengalis, including me, have no idea about Jahangir but we all know that the best Moglai Parota always comes from, a street side stall, the one on wheels with an aluminum counter top and a kerosene stove raging fire or from one of the old North Kolkata restaurants.

Now since we do not get Moghlai Parota here, we tried many methods to recreate it. Since my rolling skills are pretty bad, we could never get the flaky and layered parota taste which is the USP for Kolkata Moghlai for us. The husband-man therefore came up with this brilliant idea of using Phyllo Dough sheets to make the parota or bread and it was a huge hit. He has been making it for a few years now but the only problem is he doesn't make it frequently :-(

Now what is Phyllo Dough ? Filo or phyllo is a very thin unleavened dough used for making pastries such as baklava and börek in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. We get packaged phyllo dough sheets, which are flaky, layered sheets of tissue-thin pastry dough. The husband-man used sheets of that to make the Moghlai Parota. 

Video Link for How to Make Moglai Parota

Mughlai Parota | Moglai Parota | Spicy Potato Curry

Cook the Keema for stuffing

Ground Chicken or Ground Meat -- 3 lb. When buying ground chicken buy minced chicken thighs as they have some fat, so ask the butcher for that.

Onion -- 1 small chopped fine

Garlic -- 8-10 cloves minced

Tomato -- 1 large tomato chopped fine

Warm Mustard oil in a big saucier or pan

Add the Garlic and once it starts sizzling add the onion. Sauté until the onion softens.

Add tomatoes. Sauté for a couple of minutes and you will start getting the aroma

Then add the ground chicken (or any other ground meat) and cook to a crumble. The ground chicken will release water so no need to add any. 

Add some  Roasted Cumin-Coriander powder, Garlic powder, Red Chili powder, because we love that notch of spice🤣🤣

You can add a Meat Masala or do what we do, which is add a heaped tablespoon of Taco seasoning.

Add salt and little sugar to taste.

Cook until the chicken is done and the sauce is almost dry..

Moghlai Parota with Phyllo Dough

Video Link for How to Make Moglai Parota

Prepping the work station

Now the original moghlai parota is made with dough but is tricky as the dough needs to be pliable and soft and rolled out in layers. More difficult and time consuming! So to get that original flaky and thin moghlai parota taste we have come up with a hack.

Ta-Da PHYLLO DOUGH

Prep your kitchen counter by choosing a clean flat surface. We use our kitchen island and we put a plastic wrap on it.

Next arrange the fillings 

Bowl 1: 1 raw Egg for each Parota. If you are an expert like the husband-man, don't beat the egg yet.

Bowl 2: In another bowl take the keema

Bowl 3: Finely chopped onion and green chilies

Make the dough parcel for Moglai Parota

Take a Phyllo dough sheet and lay it out on the kitchen counter. Spray with little water.

Gently lay another phyllo dough sheet on top of it. Spray with little water.

Repeat the process for 4 sheets layered one above another.

Take 3 Tablespoon of Keema and add it at the center of the rectangular sheet structure

Add the chopped onion and green chilies

Now with a sleight of your hand crack an egg at the center and with your fingers mix it up with the keema. Make sure it doesn't spread too much and is contained at the center

Gently start folding by folding the two longer edges at the center. Next fold the shorter edges.

Seal in the edges with little water to make sure that nothing spills out

Frying the Moglai Parota

Meanwhile have some oil warming up in a frying pan on your stove. This phyllo dough parcels need not be deep fried so oil should be enough for shallow frying.

Gently lift the phyllo dough parcel and place it in hot oil, the folded side up. Fry both sides to golden brown. 

Serve with a spicy potato curry aka allo r torkari, slices of onion and ketchup

Aloor Torkari or Spicy Potato Curry

Chop 3 large potatoes in cubes.

Heat mustard Oil for cooking

Add 1 tsp grated ginger, 3 cloves of garlic minced, 4 green chilies chopped

As soon as you get the fragrance add the 1 small red onion chopped. Fry until onion  turns soft and pink.

Add the cubed potatoes and toss it around. Fry them for around 2-3 minutes

Now add the dry spice powders

1.5 tsp Cumin Powder

1 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Chili powder

Salt to taste

With a sprinkle of water toss the potato in the spices so that the cubes are well coated.

Add about 1/2 Cup of warm water. Cover and cook until potatoes are done. Add more water if necessary during this step. The dish will have a clingy, moist gravy.

Sprinkle a little Bhaja Masala and Beet noon (pink salt) before serving.

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