The restaurant is as empty as ever. I can see the family who own it reading newspapers around a table. Um, do I just walk up to them and place my order? I guess so.
“Hi. Could I please get a take away vegetable paratha?”
The girls scatter while the man stays seated, watching them move. I sit at a table and read my Neil Gaiman graphic novel.
Suddenly a menu is placed in front of me. “Er, just the vegetable paratha. Take away.” The girl looks disappointed. I understand. My order totals $3. But surely some business is better than none?
A few minutes later and a plastic bag is in my hand while I walk to the park. Empty park bench, yay!
There’s a foil bag inside the plastic one. Let’s see what a paratha looks like!
Hmm… very oily, flat triangles of what was once a round circle. I pull the top one out… ow hot ow hot! Drop it on the outside of the bag to cool. Pull bits of it… hothot… finding potato and pea seeping out… yellow turmeric-curry oil staining my fingers… into my mouth.
Greasy. The potato is soft and melty, with a paper thin layer of crepe top and bottom. An occasional cumin seed. The taste is mostly of cheap curry powder. So oily. The point of the triangle, the centre of the once-circle, is solid stodgy bread with no filling. Not so great.
The potato is the best thing about this. But it’s pretty underwhelming. Cheap and dirty take-away, not as nice as a fluffy naan.
So perhaps they roll one layer out, scatter potato and pea on, and then squash another one on top? Or perhaps it’s all mixed together? But how did the centre get so empty?
My fingers will look like a smokers for the rest of the day.
Rating:
Specifics: Vegetable paratha, from the Curry Club, Merrylands
Vegetable Paratha
The restaurant is as empty as ever. I can see the family who own it reading newspapers around a table. Um, do I just walk up to them and place my order? I guess so.
“Hi. Could I please get a take away vegetable paratha?”
The girls scatter while the man stays seated, watching them move. I sit at a table and read my Neil Gaiman graphic novel.
Suddenly a menu is placed in front of me. “Er, just the vegetable paratha. Take away.” The girl looks disappointed. I understand. My order totals $3. But surely some business is better than none?
A few minutes later and a plastic bag is in my hand while I walk to the park. Empty park bench, yay!
There’s a foil bag inside the plastic one. Let’s see what a paratha looks like!
Hmm… very oily, flat triangles of what was once a round circle. I pull the top one out… ow hot ow hot! Drop it on the outside of the bag to cool. Pull bits of it… hothot… finding potato and pea seeping out… yellow turmeric-curry oil staining my fingers… into my mouth.
Greasy. The potato is soft and melty, with a paper thin layer of crepe top and bottom. An occasional cumin seed. The taste is mostly of cheap curry powder. So oily. The point of the triangle, the centre of the once-circle, is solid stodgy bread with no filling. Not so great.
The potato is the best thing about this. But it’s pretty underwhelming. Cheap and dirty take-away, not as nice as a fluffy naan.
So perhaps they roll one layer out, scatter potato and pea on, and then squash another one on top? Or perhaps it’s all mixed together? But how did the centre get so empty?
My fingers will look like a smokers for the rest of the day.
Rating:
Specifics: Vegetable paratha, from the Curry Club, Merrylands