Six ways to make your parathas healthier

Garam parathas with butter on the top make for perfect winter food. Parathas are one of the most cherished and staple Indian dishes. It is also the favourite breakfast option for many. People like to pair it with butter, curd and pickle.

But many of us refrain from having these delicious parathas as they are rich in carbs and fat. Do you do that too? If yes, we have a solution for you.

You can make your parathas healthier by using healthier grain, good stuffing and healthy oil. Here are six simple ways you can make your parathas healthier and enjoy them without any guilt.

The dough, which is the base of the parantha makes a big difference in determining its health value. Making parathas using whole wheat flour or multigrain flour instead of maida, will make them healthier. You can use curd to knead the dough to add protein, probiotics and other nutrients. You can even add milk to increase the calcium content in parantha. This will also make for soft parantha.

We all love having aloo and paneer parantha. But adding things like soya, chickpea, broccoli, mixed veg, tofu, dal, eggs and mixed sprouts can be a good option. This will help you have a healthy breakfast. Add more veggies than the dough size.

Parathas have got a bad reputation because of the humongous amount of oil used to cook them. But if you choose neutral and healthy fat to fry parathas, you can turn it into a low calorie one.

First, cook the parathas from both sides, until dots appear, then put oil or ghee. This will make the parathas crispy and low on calories.

The market is flooded with green leafy veggies like palak, methi and soya. You can experiment by kneading the dough with a puree made of any of these. You can even use rajma puree or chana puree to knead the dough.

You can add roasted chia seeds, sunflower seeds or mixed seeds to the stuffing to make your parathas crunchy. Seeds are loaded with various nutrients and adding them to parathas will add nutritional value.

Instead of salt and spices, use herbs to garnish the parathas. You can use oregano, basil, coriander, mint and mixed herbs. This will enhance the taste and nutritional value.

Portion control is the key to staying healthy. One parantha has around 250-300 calories. Thus, it's recommended not to have more than one in one go. You can have it with dal, dahi or chaas to have a complete meal.