Paratha Q

 A

Excellent follow-up — this one’s interesting too.

🫓 Short answer

Frozen paratha that’s reheated can have some resistant starch, but not a lot — much less than cooled-and-reheated rice or potatoes. The amount depends on the ingredients and the freeze–thaw–reheat cycle.

🔬 The science behind it

Resistant starch (RS) mainly forms when starch-rich foods are cooked, cooled, and then reheated, because of retrogradation — starch molecules realigning into a crystalline form that resists digestion.

Here’s how that applies to paratha:

• Flour base: Parathas are made from wheat flour (mostly starch + gluten + fat).
  Wheat starch can form resistant starch upon cooling, but less efficiently than rice or potato starch.
• Cooking: When parathas are first cooked, most starch becomes gelatinized (fully digestible).
• Freezing: During freezing, some starch retrogradation occurs — a small increase in resistant starch.
• Reheating: Gentle reheating (like pan-heating or toasting) preserves much of that resistant starch. Overheating (burning or deep-frying) can reduce it again.

📊 Approximate idea

Food	Resistant starch after cooling/reheating
Fresh wheat flatbread (paratha, roti)	~1–2%
Frozen → reheated paratha	~2–4%
Cooked → cooled → reheated rice	~3–5%
Cooked → cooled → reheated potatoes	~4–6%

(These are ballpark numbers — they vary with recipe, thickness, oil, etc.)

✅ Takeaway

• Yes, frozen–reheated paratha has a little resistant starch.
• No, it’s not nearly as much as rice or potatoes that have been cooled and reheated.
• If your goal is to lower glycemic impact, pairing paratha with fiber, protein, or fat (like yogurt, dal, or veggies) has a stronger effect than relying on resistant starch alone.

Would you like me to show a few practical ways to increase resistant starch in Indian-style foods (like rice, roti, paratha, or khichdi)?