Rose & Sweet Potato Parathas
I have been making these paratha’s for almost a year and they are one of my favorite meal prep items to make over the weekend to have on hand for a variety of meals. I’ll often use these as a wrap but they also work great as a simple dip, an accompaniment to soups, a faux pizza… you name it!
Here’s what you’ll need:
Japanese Sweet Potatoes:
You can use yams or American sweet potatoes if you like, but I prefer the Japanese variety. They’re just so rich and creamy! You can find these at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods or any Asian grocery store.
Cassava Flour:
Cassava is native to Brazil and South America. It’s similar in shape to a sweet potato but is longer and brown on the outside with scales. Inside the flesh is white. Like sweet potatoes and yams, cassava is also a tuber that is often made into a flour or is eaten on it’s own just like a potato. This root vegetable can be use as a substitute for many potato based recipes. Its flour may also act as a 1:1 flour replacement in some recipes as well. I use Otto’s Cassava Flour almost exclusively as it has the best texture. In general, cassava is a fantastic anti-inflammatory plant to use.
Avocado Oil:
I prefer using avocado oil here as it has a neutral taste. But almost any anti-inflammatory oil will do if you don’t have avocado oil. Coconut oil or olive oil are both good substitutes.
Rose Petal Powder:
I like to add various flowers and herbs to these and this week, I decided it was appropriate to add some rose petals to this meal. You can forage for rose petals in the summer and dry them out. I like to do this sometimes for the fun of it, but most of the time, I purchase my rose petals already dried. I like using Bulk Herb Store or Amazon. You want to make sure you’re buying rose petals - not buds for this recipe. If you like you can also but them powdered already but I like buying the petals whole and not in power form so I can use them however I like.
Ingredients:
400-500g Japanese sweet potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp cassava flour (plus more for rolling)
1/4 cup dried rose petals, pulsed into a powder (or 2 tbsp powdered)
1 tbsp avocado oil (+ more for cooking)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp water (+ more for rolling)
Preparations:
Wash and chop your sweet potato into rough pieces. You can either peel them before you chop and steam or let them steam with the skin on and then remove it once it’s soft to the touch. Either way will work fine.
While the sweet potatoes are cooking, make your rose powder by blending them in a coffee grinder. I blend a few times until they are as powdered as possible. Set this aside.
Once your sweet potatoes are fork tender, remove them from the heat and transfer them to a food processor and blend until they are as smooth as possible. If you need to peel the skin off your taters, wait until they have cooled a bit to the touch to do so. Then, blend them up. If there are some chunks left, it’s fine. It’ll add some character to the paratha’s.
Next, add in the cassava flour, avocado oil and water. A warm dough will start to form. remove this from the food processor and continue to knead it with your hands, adding more flour and water as you go. This part is more of an intuitive process and the goal is to get your dough to the point where it’s moist but solid enough to roll out thinly.
If your dough becomes too dry, dip your fingers into the water and continue to knead it. If it becomes too moist and wet, add a tbsp or so of flour to the mixture and continue to knead.
Once you’re satisfied with the shape of your dough, divide it into five or six pieces. Sandwich a piece of dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out with a dowel or rolling pin.
Oil a skillet with avocado or coconut oil. Once it’s hot enough, place your paratha on it and cook for a few minutes on each side, until it begins to brown. Remove from skillet.
Repeat this process with the rest of your dough until all the paratha’s are cooked.