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South Indian · Indian

Malabar parotta

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

പൊറോട്ട · porotta

Kerala's flaky, many-layered white-flour bread: an oiled dough stretched paper-thin, pleated and coiled, then griddled and clapped to release its layers. Made for beef fry and egg roast.

Malabar parotta is a South Indian bread, ready in about 3 hours 55 minutes and made with all-purpose flour and neutral vegetable oil. It serves 8 and is rated advanced to cook.

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No licensed photograph of this dish yet.

Prep
45 min
Cook
25 min
Rest
2 h 45 min
Total
3 h 55 min
Serves
8
Level
Advanced
Calories
338

Ingredients

8 parottas

Dough

For resting and stretching

For cooking

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Mix the flour, sugar (opens in a new tab) and salt; add the egg (opens in a new tab) (if using), milk (opens in a new tab), water and 3 tbsp oil. Knead for 10–12 minutes by hand (or 7–8 in a stand mixer (opens in a new tab)) until very soft, smooth and elastic — a stretched piece should go thin without tearing.

    Hands kneading dough on a floured surface
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Coat with oil, cover and rest at least 2 hours at room temperature (or overnight in the fridge). Divide into 8 smooth balls, set them in an oiled dish, pour the resting oil over and rest another 30 minutes.

    • 150 min

  3. Step 3

    Oil the worktop. Flatten a ball, then stretch and spread it with oiled palms (or by flinging, as parotta makers do) into a translucent sheet about 40 cm across — small tears are fine.

    • 15 min

  4. Step 4

    Gather the sheet into pleats like a fan to make a long rope, then stretch it a little and coil it into a spiral, tucking the end under. Rest the coils 15 minutes.

    • 10 min

    The pleats make the layers; the coil turns them into rings.

  5. Step 5

    Press each coil out with your fingers to a 15–17 cm disc about 6 mm thick. Cook on a medium tawa 1½–2 minutes per side, brushing with oil, until golden-spotted and cooked through.

    A flatbread cooking on a hot griddle
    How it looks · Photo: Muhammad Khawar Nazir on Pexels

  6. Step 6

    Stack 3–4 hot parottas and clap them firmly from the sides between your palms to break open the layers. Serve hot.

    • 2 min

    Food safety: Let them cool for a few seconds or use a cloth — the layers hold steam.

    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Kerala (Malabar), Kerala, India · Commonly attributedAssociated with Kerala's Malabar coast and also hugely popular in Tamil Nadu; related to the roti canai/paratha family around the Indian Ocean.Also popular in Sri LankaMore food from India
Dish
Breakfast · Dinner · Breads & flatbreads · Street food
Cooking method
Pan-fried
Taste
mild, rich, sweet
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · DASH-style
Without the optional extras: Lacto-vegetarian, Egg-freeWith the listed swaps: Vegan, Plant-based, Ovo-vegetarian, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Street food · Freezer-friendly
Cook more with
All-purpose flour · Sugar · Milk
Techniques
Pan-frying · Kneading

Allergens

  • Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom milk
  • Contains, can be adapted: Eggsfrom egg
  • Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
  • Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

338 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 103 g · recipe makes 8

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 7%
  • Carbohydrate 47%
  • Fat 46%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g
Energy338 kcal330 kcal
Protein5.6 g5.4 g
Carbohydrate39.6 g38.6 g
Net carbohydrate38.2 g37.3 g
Sugars1.6 g1.5 g
Added sugars0.8 g0.8 g
Fibre1.4 g1.3 g
Fat17.4 g16.9 g
Saturated fat1.5 g1.5 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol1 mg1 mg
Sodium298 mg291 mg
Salt equivalent0.7 g0.7 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
71 mg
Calcium
24 mg
Iron
2.3 mg
Magnesium
13 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
6 µg
Vitamin C
0 mg
Vitamin D
0.2 µg
Vitamin B12
0.1 µg
Folate (DFE)
146 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: egg.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • A long, oily rest is essential: the gluten has to relax enough for the dough to stretch paper-thin.

Common mistakes

  • Rolling the coil with a pin instead of pressing by hand squashes the layers together.
  • Cooking too hot leaves raw dough in the centre.

Serve with

  • Kerala-style with beef fry, chicken or egg roast, kadala curry or vegetable kurma.

Storage

  • Freeze par-cooked parottas between parchment for up to 2 months.

Reheating

  • Warm on a tawa from frozen, 2 minutes per side, then clap again.

Variations

  • Wheat (gothambu) parotta: A whole-wheat version, made the same way but with a softer, less stretchy dough.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in step 1

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

  1. Mix and knead · about 1 h 10 min

    Knead until smooth and soft; it should feel like an earlobe.

  2. Rest · about 2 h 45 min

    Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.

  3. Start to finish: about 3 h 55 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
IngredientRoleWeightBaker’s %
All-purpose flourFlour400 g100%
WaterWater140 g35%
Neutral vegetable oilFat133 g33.2%
MilkOther liquid103 g25.8%
SugarSugar6 g1.6%
SaltSalt6 g1.5%
Total flour
400 g
Hydration
35%
With milk, eggs…
57.4%
Wholegrain
0%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

  • Medium dough (55–65%) — soft and easy to knead; sandwich loaves and rolls.
  • Milk, eggs and other liquids add about 22 points of extra water, so it handles like a 57% dough.
  • Salt 1.5% — normal for bread.
  • Fat 33.2% — a rich, tender dough.

If something goes wrong

  • Pale crust

    Likely causes

    • Oven too cool
    • Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
    • Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)

    What to do

    • Check the oven with a thermometer
    • Brush with egg wash or milk
    • Shorten the fermentation
  • Burnt bottom

    Likely causes

    • Tray too close to the heat
    • Dark tray absorbs more heat
    • Too much sugar in the dough

    What to do

    • Bake on the middle shelf
    • Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
    • Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
  • Tough or chewy flatbread

    Likely causes

    • Dough too stiff
    • Not rested
    • Cooked too slowly on too cool a pan

    What to do

    • Add water until the dough is soft and slightly tacky
    • Rest 20–30 minutes covered so the gluten relaxes
    • Cook on a very hot tawa or pan — quickly

Reviews & corrections

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