As Pakistanis welcome chilly winter mornings, citizens across the country yearn for paratha as a breakfast staple.
The popular food item originated from the subcontinent, and historians believe it was first cooked in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The recipe travelled to Tamil Nadu and Kerala through Tamil workers, and eventually became a staple diet in South Asian cooking.
The word paratha is an amalgamation of the words ‘parat’ and ‘atta,’ which literally mean ‘layers of cooked dough.’ It is known by different names including ‘parantha,’ ‘parauntha,’ ‘prontha,’ ‘parontay,’ ‘paronthi’ throughout the different regions of Asia. However, the word ‘paratha’ originated specifically from the Sanskrit language.
Today, the food item has several variations, and is consumed heavily in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Some even believe the breakfast staple boasts high nutritional value.
Presenting the other side of the argument, Dr Abdullah Khan, who runs a private clinic in Saddar, Rawalpindi, said parathas increase blood pressure because of their oily consistency.
He added that people would eat parathas to begin their physically tiring days in yesteryears, but things were much different now.
Parathas are made by cooking whole wheat dough with ghee or cooking oil. They can be stuffed with ingredients like qeema (minced meat), potato, and chicken. However, in western countries, frozen parathas are more famous due to the lack of time constraints consumers have on the go.
There are various places that offer parathas but Afridi Paratha House in Westridge Bazaar is famous for its chicken, qeema and achar (pickle) parathas.
The owner, Muhammad Ishaq Khan Afridi, told The Express Tribune that his father started the business five decades ago after retiring from the army. He said they use wheat flour and desi ghee in their parathas, and people travel to his shop from Islamabad, Wah Cantt and Gujar Khan to enjoy their meals.
However, he lamented that everything had become extremely expensive – including flour, ghee, electricity and sugar – and customers get irritated when they increase their rates.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2021.
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