Justin Parke

🌿 Gomawiri Parathas 👨‍🍳 An Ital Recipe For Suriname 🏞️

I've made a recipe very appropriate for Suriname, combining Indian cooking with local plants. These gomawiri parathas are absolutely delicious, and were a big hit with the @KidSisters.

What Is Gomawiri?

I honestly thought this plant was native to the Caribbean/Amazon, as I've never encountered it anywhere during my international travels. A little bit of research revealed that it is actually native to Eurasia, much to my surprise.

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](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/justinparke/8sW6XQpZ-gomawiri.JPG)^{@Sreypov holding some gomawiri we bought at a local market}

The botanical name of Gomawiri is Solanum Nigrum, and even though I've never encountered this plant in the English-speaking world, the most common English name I could find for it is Black Nightshade, which actually makes it sound like a bit of an evil plant to be honest.

Jamaica's well-known leafy green is Callaloo, and here in Suriname there are three of four varieties of leafy greens sold in most markets, gomawiri being one of them. Gomawiri has a slightly bitter flavor, so I thought I would prepare it in roti/paratha form to maximize the odds of the @KidSisters enjoying it.

🍃 Gomawiri Paratha Ingredients 🍃

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](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/justinparke/9OqagExb-ingr.JPG)

For Dough	Gomawiri Filling
⋆ chapati flour - 1 cup ⋆ water - appr. ½ cup ⋆ salt - ¼ tsp ⋆ vegetable oil - 2 tsp	⋆ gomawiri - 2 cups finely chopped ⋆ cumin seeds - ½ tsp ⋆ coriander powder - ½ tsp ⋆ chili powder - ¼ tsp ⋆ turmeric powder - ¼ tsp ⋆ salt - ¼ tsp

👨‍🍳 Preparation Method 🔥

Gomawiri Filling

STEP 1 Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok or pan and add the cumin seeds. Fry for a few seconds until fragrant.
STEP 2 Quickly add the finely chopped gomawiri and stir fry a few minutes. Turn down the flame to low when gomawiri are halved in volume.
STEP 3 Add all of the spice powders and salt, and continue cooking on low heat until most of the water is out of leaves.
STEP 4 When most of water has left the leavs, turn off the flame and allow the gomawiri filling to cool.

Paratha

STEP 1 Combine the flour gomawiri filling, salt and 2 teaspoons of vegetable in a large bowl. Add water as needed and work the dough into a soft but not sticky ball, allow to rest 5 minutes while covered with a damp cloth.
STEP 2 Combine the flour gomawiri filling, salt and 2 teaspoons of vegetable in a large bowl. Add water as needed and work the dough into a soft but not sticky ball, cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest 5 minutes.
STEP 3 Break the dough into 5 equally sized pieces and roll into balls. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
STEP 4 Lightly flour your rolling surface and roll each ball out just as you would a normal paratha. Transfer paratha to a preheated tava and begin cooking.
STEP 5 Cook on one side until you bubbles begin forming on the surface.
STEP 6 Spoon a bit of oil onto the paratha and spread out evenly. Flip paratha and lightly oil the other side.
STEP 7 Continue cooking until brown spots appear on the bottomside of the paratha.
STEP 8 Flip the paratha and cook on the other side until brown spots appear, and voila, your gomawiri paratha is finished.

These parathas turned out delicious, the only customer hesitant to eat them was Monkey-B, but she eventually gave them her seal of approval.

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](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/justinparke/xLGqPztC-finished.JP)

I plated these with a homemade Madame Jeanette chutney, which was absolute fire 🌶️🔥🤯. Seriously though, it was delicious, but way too spicy for the kids to enjoy with these parathas, so they ate their parathas along with some leftover chana masala.

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](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/justinparke/PBR0ptqo-dinner.JPG)

Satisfied customers are what it's all about, so I'm glad the whole family enjoyed them in the end. Ital is vital, and it's always important to eat a sufficient amount of leafy greens on a #plantbased diet.

These gomawiri parathas are a creative way to get your kids to eat more greens, but luckily it doesn't take much effort in our household.