I stand by you Paratha!I do!

Alright, as intensely as I proceed in my quest into the international culinary world and as much as I love a brioche with tea, extra butter or a ciabatta with my favourite seasonal dressing or french toast or fataer or simply some bagel or pretzel or donut...alright, getting carried away. Anyhow, point being when wanting to indulge in a holiday breakfast, as fancied up as my knowledge in just a few of these delicate work of wonders from around the world has become, I can't forget me growing up in Karachi having those lovely traditional Parathas. Yes, Parathas!

Paratha is dough layered and fried on Ghee (clarified butter) or cooking oil. I won't bore you with the wiki info on how they're rolled up or how many gazillion fillings go in them. What I'm really reminiscing is the Ghee paratha rolled into caster sugar. That's how my mom got rid of me! Dipping them into some hot tea was a guilty pleasure and apparently that's how my parents got through my childhood peacefully. I also hear dates and milk were one of my obsessions! Off topic anyhow I guess now I know where the sugar butter serious business comes from. Though I haven't tried the real street paratha in a long time and living in Dubai you do get a lot of Indian parathas to go with chai (Tea) which is a favorite amongst at least 50% of the working class in Dubai and truly they aren't all that bad occasionally since well, they aren't really the weight watcher's highest preference.

Below is the snap I took from my window, early in the morning. It's the view from the window at the back of my house. Left me drooling...

This certain "Parthay wala uncle" who probably wears the same attire everyday of the week, in this not so "hygienic" environment makes these perfectly curling Parathas! These looks absolutely lovely and neat cooked in melted Ghee to crisp gold texture wrapped in a newspaper with some kadak chai. Oh wonderful, desi comfort-squashing up-random food-items-to-truly-comfort you-food! I live by the biggest "foodstreet" in karachi and most of the places use this technique with almost the same ambience for cooking. Incase, you've already been scared by all the diseases and hygiene issues also being hygienically concerned myself; trust me they are worth a shot! The baby who grew up in Pakistan says it out loud. Even if you are living abroad but someone truly desi at heart, you know what I mean. If you're not, just have it once and when you're hooked onto it, it's even better with some good Desi curry or Tikka. If you're my mom, you can go with the "home cooked paratha". This is just a single type but a lovely popular bread in Pakistan that can be apart of your meal at any given time of the day.

-A