Farata, the Mauritian derivative of paratha, is a kind of layered pan fried flat bread. It is part of our rich cultural heritage and is now deeply rooted in Mauritian cuisine along with its counterparts – dal puri and roti.
The art of making soft flaky faratas was often among the desirable qualities of a prospective daughter-in-law. I guess if you learn to master the skill early it will make your guy really happy. With V-day coming up, you might get to know if the way to your man’s heart is through his stomach or some other organ 😀
Coming back to farata-making, you may need to give it more than one attempt before you get the hang of it. I think of it as a primitive method for pâte feuilletée devised by our ancestors.
The best thing about farata is that it calls for only 3 basic ingredients – flour, water and oil – that are available everywhere. The thing that maybe hard to find is the equipment, a tava/tawa. Tawa, as we know it in Mauritius, is a heavy cast iron girddle used for pan frying the faratas after they have been rolled out.
I used to be quite mystified as to the origins of tawa. What I mean is that I never saw they being sold in supermarkets or local shops. Later I gathered from mum that the tawa was traditionally a gift to a newly married couple from some one within the family. With the trend of ‘No Giftbox Please’ on today’s wedding cards, it would be hard to come across tawas in modern households I think.
In case u cannot get hold of one either, do not worry. You can always use a large frying pan. I have no experience with this but my friends tell me it works. Wonder if it’s difficult to flip them over.
Before you get started I think it’s important to have all your ingredients and equipment laid out and handy. Farata making is a messy business. You won’t like to reach for something from a remote drawer with those sticky hands. For the same reason I found it difficult to take photos of each & every step of this ‘tutorial’.
FARATA – INDIAN FLATBREAD
Ingredients:
Flour, plain or whole wheat
Water, boiled
Vegetable Oil [or melted butter/ghee]
Extra flour, for dusting worktop
Method:
- Place flour in a large bowl. I never measure out ingredients but approximate them according to the number of faratas I require. A rough estimate would be 3 cups for 12-15 faratas.
- Make a well in the centre and add boiling water a tablespoon at a time. With a metal spoon fold in flour to make dough. Work gradually from centre to periphery.
- I use boiling water [‘coz my mum does] but some use tap or ice water. I dunno if it makes a difference. Be careful with the boiling water, it makes the dough hot and hard to handle.
- Keep adding water until you get a loose ball of dough.
- It will be soft and sticky and a complete mess. Dnt panic!
- Dump everything on a floured counter.
- Sprinkle dough with more flour and flour your hands well.
- Knead dough with both hands until you get a smooth elastic dough. This make take some time, 10-15 minutes.
- Knead by pushing the dough with the heel of your hand, twist it around 90 degrees, repeat until u complete a circle.
- Flip over and repeat in the opposite direction.
- You might need to dust with flour every now and then until you find that it no longer sticks to your hands.
- The dough should be firm [not hard!] and spring back to touch.
- At this point you might be tired and long for like a break.
- Simply cover dough with the bowl you used for mixing earlier and come back later.
- I usually use the dough right after I finish kneading unless I get distracted by smthing else.
- Divide dough into balls about the size of your fist or smaller if you have acromegaly. Flour worktop. Flour rolling pin.
- Dunk your dough ball in flour and roll out into a circle.
- It’s alright if it’s not a circle 😉 This takes practice.
- Smear one side with a vegetable oil.
- Fold circle into 3 parts. To do this, fold lower 1/3 upwards and the upper 1/3 downwards so that they overlap in the centre. Your circle is now a flat rectangle with 3 layers.
- Similarly fold rectangle into 3 parts to get a square – 9 layers
- Layer all your dough balls as above before the final step.
- Flour work top and rolling pin.
- Dunk a layered square in flour and roll out in a circle.
- Try to press down the sides rather than the centre. This causes air to be trapped inside your farata and expand to make your farata puff up when cooked.
- You do not need to be aggressive with your rolling pin. If in trouble, flip the farata over, dust with more flour and roll out lightly. If you get your dough right in the first steps, this should be easy.
- Preheat tawa and lightly grease its surface with oil.
- Do a test run with the first farata to check if tawa has reached the corect temperature.
- Cook farata until it starts to puff up and forms blisters underneath. Flip over and cook on the other side.
- Dump cooked faratas in a heatproof container or dekti lined with a cotton cloth. Steam released from the faratas will condense and cause them to soften till you serve them.
Faratas are best served warm with spicy curries as a main course. I served them along with mushroom, potato & peas curry, stir-fried veggies and apple pickle for dinner.
Note: Some people like their faratas rich and use butter/ghee instead of oil for layering. Oil for me gives good results and keeps the calorie level of my faratas low. Afterall faratas have been deemed as healthy enough to be on the list of permitted foods in school canteens!
31 comments
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February 9, 2010 at 10:43 pm
yashi2612
Brilliant!
“you may need to give it more than one attempt before you get the hang of it.”
Definitely true for me! The first few times I tried, it was either rock solid, or too dry, too square, too black (burnt),…etc I am getting there slowly but surely! Also, that butter beans curry looks amazing!
February 10, 2010 at 6:52 pm
prerrnamirchi
thnx yashi! keep trying, smday we can have a farata party with lotsa yummy curries! btw that was a mushroom & peas curry! pa conner kotsa tone trouv butter beans toi LoL
February 10, 2010 at 4:54 pm
adarsh
with acromegaly, we know we’re dealing with a doc here :p
I rarely end up with the perfect faratas cuz i tend to limit my use of oil, but we know that the secret of the soft farata is the oil or margarine.
Keep it up. Genius camera work. I also appreciate your love for the minute details.
February 10, 2010 at 7:01 pm
prerrnamirchi
thnx adarsh. i’ll get a Canon EOS once I start working 😉
February 11, 2010 at 12:37 pm
cindy
yummy!!!!!I am gonna make them right away :D:D
February 12, 2010 at 11:38 pm
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February 12, 2010 at 11:40 pm
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February 13, 2010 at 2:39 am
Annu
this is really great Prerr..what with all the tiny details..not forgetting acromegaly..though i did wonder where acromegaly landed up from in a recipe for farata..lol.. 😉
really nice dear..
keep it up..
February 14, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Chaya
Actually mum says that with cold water, the farata is becomes hard when cold and uneatable, while warm water or hot water, keeps the farata very soft even when cold.
April 1, 2010 at 8:11 pm
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October 5, 2010 at 3:21 am
Dyaus Arkaybee
There’s always the hawkins futura “tava” :p
January 29, 2011 at 10:40 am
Cherry
Hi..really thanks for the details.so elaborate,it cant be find anywhere else on the net.ur the best.et tu fais le bonheur des debutantes comme moi 🙂 mais une petite question,beaucoup de personnes mettent du sel dans la pate. toi ki to penser?
January 30, 2011 at 6:07 am
prerrnamirchi
non zamai mo met disel dan la pate farata. mo pa trouv li necessaire, de tout fasson mange ek carri sa ki dza saler.
January 30, 2011 at 8:40 am
Cherry
aller merci…ena bate la pate la r de lhuile osi…kan mo try li then mo pou donne toi nouvel.
February 19, 2012 at 5:28 pm
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July 9, 2012 at 10:39 am
Michie
Hello Prerr, do you add any ghee or melter butter to the dough before mixing it? I know, you mention ghee or melter butter in your ingredient list, but I thought this was meant to smear the uncooked faratas.
Thank you
Michie
July 9, 2012 at 2:05 pm
prerrnamirchi
hi michie, the ghee/butter i mention in the ingredient list is used for layering of the faratas and during the cooking process to prevent them from sticking to the pan. do let me know if you still find it difficult to understand the steps, i’ll try make it simpler if i can. cheers!
April 21, 2013 at 1:41 pm
jayalakshmi
Hi Prerna!!
thanks for all the yummy recipes. am actually quite novice in cooking so i would like to know how much water you use for the farathas? i tried like twice and it wasn’t good.
thnks
April 21, 2013 at 3:35 pm
prerrnamirchi
hi jayalakshmi, I never tried measuring the water for farata. You should add it little by little till you reach the right consistency. I myself tried many times before I got it right. Keep trying!!
June 29, 2013 at 6:58 am
Begum Ramah
Hi Prerrna,
Will give it a try today…thanks
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November 22, 2014 at 8:19 am
Tito
Where can i find a tawa?
November 22, 2014 at 8:56 pm
prerrnamirchi
maybe u can find one in port Louis in the old Chinese shops
March 10, 2015 at 4:14 pm
vish
if anyone tried the recipe – can I can an approximate measurement for the flour and water as I have never work without exact measurement. Thanks
March 14, 2015 at 10:52 pm
Joyce
Hello,
Love love your website, always come back here to look inspiration when I am nostalgic and miss my family in Mauritius.
I was able to find some brede songe here in Ottawa and I am going to try your roti recipe 🙂
March 22, 2015 at 7:40 pm
prerrnamirchi
thanks joyce!
September 20, 2015 at 8:13 am
Bernard
I used 4 cups of flour and approx 1 1/4 cups of water, add 1 cup of water to the flour mix and then keep adding the extra water until your dough forms into a ball
March 24, 2018 at 7:12 pm
Genevieve
That looks so yummy, could I use the dough gadget in my kenwood chef to knead the dough
August 10, 2018 at 7:13 am
prerrnamirchi
Hello Genevieve I guess u can use any dough gadget but I always knead by hand to know if I’ve reached the correct consistency
December 6, 2018 at 7:43 pm
Christiane
In place of a tawa you can use a ” poêle à crêpes ” https://cdn2.lacasserolerie.com/I-Autre-8441_459x459-.net.jpg there’s quite a few about in good kitchen shops