History

The Hindi word paratha is derived from Sanskrit (S. पर, or परा+स्थः, or स्थितः.] Recipes for various stuffed wheat puranpolis (which Achaya (2003) describes as parathas) are mentioned in Manasollasa, a 12th-century Sanskrit encyclopedia compiled by Someshvara III, who ruled from present-day Karnataka.[5] However, Puran poli is a separate bread. Earlier references to paratha have been mentioned by Nijjar (1968), in his book Panjāb under the sultāns, 1000-1526 A.D. when he writes that parauthas were common with the nobility and aristocracy in the Punjab.
According to Banerji (2010), parathas are associated with Punjabi and North Indian cooking. The Punjabi method is to stuff parathas with a variety of stuffings. However, Banerji states, Mughals were also fond of parathas which gave raise to the Dhakai paratha, multilayered and flaky, taking its name from Dhaka in Bangladesh. O'Brien (2003) suggests that it is not correct to state that the Punjabi paratha was popularised in Delhi after the 1947 partition of India, as the Punjabi item was prevalent in Delhi before then.

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