Aloo Paratha

Who doesn't love aloo parathas? They are truly the yummiest and I remember walking long distances on quite a few Saturday nights, while in University, to have these at a hawker stall nearby where auntyji and her daughter in law made such thick, tasty parathas. With some spiced yogurt on the side, it was utterly blissful and was a treat for my tongue which had to contend with flavourless food for dinner most nights (e.g. Rice with soy sauce and some steamed veggies with almost no salt, or steamed bittergourd - pitiful vegetarian fare we got at the canteen) .

This is another dish, like idlis, whose preparation I took for granted until I actually tried my hand at making these.. it was never good enough - there was always something missing, either the filling oozed out or it wasn't enough, was too thick or too thin and so on. When a good friend, who is an expert at stuffed parathas, was visiting us, she obliged to demonstrate and also make a stackful of these yummy aloo parathas.

Armed with these new-found techniques, I went about trying my hand at making these and have documented the steps with some pictures for the benefit of those who are struggling like me. They turned out quite satisfactory this time - Thank you Seema.

ALOO PARATHAS

Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour - 2.5 cups + about quarter cup for dusting
Milk - half cup, lukewarm
Water - about 3/4 cup, lukewarm
For Filling:
Potatoes - 3 large or 4 medium
Onion - half, chopped finely
Ginger - 1 tsp, minced
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, minced
Mint Leaves - 1 tbsp, minced (optional)
Chilli powder - 2 to 3 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp + enough to shallow-fry parathas

Method:
1) For the dough, first mix whole wheat flour and some salt. To this, gradually add lukewarm milk little by little and knead as you go and once that is used up, use the lukewarm water and make a soft, pliable dough. I normally end this with a tsp of oil and rub it over the dough. Let it sit aside for a few hours to rest.

2) Meanwhile, cook potatoes (I use a microwave, but a pressure cooker would work too) till soft. Peel and mash them to a smooth consistency.

3) Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan and fry the chopped onions and ginger till golden. Now add the chopped coriander and mint leaves and saute for a minute or two extra. Add the masala powders & salt and after a minute of frying them, toss in the mashed potatoes. Fry this till it's well incorporated and completely dry. Allow this to cool, this ensures that the stuffing doesn't ooze out when rolling out the parathas.

(Alternately, you could skip the onions, ginger, mint and coriander leaves and just mix the masala powders and salt with the mashed potatoes and make a raw stuffing with no cooking - perfect when you are running short on time and tasty as well).

4) With the chapathi dough make equal sized smooth balls, about 2 inches in diameter. I got 12 with the above measurements. Roll the cooled, potato mixure into balls of the same size as the chapathi dough (2 inches in this case)


5) Roll out the dough ball into a small chapathi (about 4 to 5 inches in diameter) I usually make the edges a little thinner than the middle so it's more uniform when I fold it over - but that's just me... :) Place the potato ball in the middle and enclose it by folding the chapathi dough around it.


6) Dust in flour and place it back seam side down. Roll this out to a bigger paratha.

7) Heat a griddle on medium-high and fry the paratha on both sides.


Normally I flip over the first side in about 20 to 30 seconds and let the other side cook until it starts puffing up a bit, at which point, I brush the top with some oil and flip over. Pressing down gently on the chapathi ensures that it puffs up. Brush this side with some oil too before flipping over one last time. This does require a bit more oil than the usual chapathis.

8) Serve with some Yogurt and Pickle of choice. I spiced up the yogurt by adding half a teaspoon each of chilli powder and cumin powder alongwith salt to taste.




and you guessed right - this stack of Aloo parathas is going on right on over to dear Srivalli for her Roti Mela.

Comments

  1. Beautifully puffed parathas,yum :)

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  2. nice detailed pics,..liked the aloo stuffin part,..i do different way,..can try ur way now,.

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  3. WOW lovely paratha, looks great, yummmmmmm :)

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  4. what a lovely recipe, Laavanya! Love all the pictures. Yummy parathas.

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  5. Mine is usually a hit or miss with Aloo parathas. Sometimes they turn sticky and pops out of the dough. Great step by steps pictures, Laavanya! I will bookmark this for reference and go though in detail as to what I am missing.

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  6. I love those puffy ones! I can imagine how soft they will be.. yummy!

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  7. Love the pic of puffed chapathi.Love aloo paratha

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  8. Hi Laav, Great Parathas with a nice twist to masala! Will try this out!! Hey Thanks for a special mention, there was no need though!

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  10. Such perfectly round and awesome looking aloo paranthas!

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  11. You made perfect aloo paratha.
    and nice details with pics.

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  12. Wow....your parathas look super delicious! And they puff up so beautifully.

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  13. Aloo Parathas are perfect......I love those puffy ones!

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  14. WOw i have never made filled parathas, and yours puffed up beautifully.
    Looks so delicious, i would also walk miles if they were as delicious as your to have the parathas

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  15. Beautiful looking Parathas. It's like a comfort food, digging into one Aloo paratha. Good job girl!:))

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  16. Luks very nice when its puffed rt.. my fav

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  17. What a coincidence Laavanya. I too prepared the same. Lovely they are. I love the ones with wheat flour. Viji

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  18. Parathas look beautiful Lavanya..Nice pics

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  19. I love aloo parathas...but its long since I made them..just a bit lazy to do it...ur snaps are very inviting

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  20. i luv parathas and the pic with a puffed one is dam good lavanya...i make it in different way .will update in my blog soon.......being a vegetarian ,i appreciate u for commenting me on my chicken recipe...thank u

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  21. Thank you Cham.

    Notyet100, yes I understand that everyone has their own take on the filling.

    Thank you Madhavi, Uma.

    Red Chillies, i think it needs some practice - that's what I figured so despite some failures, I kept trying every now and then.. I'm still far from perfect but hopefully soon... :)

    Thank you Sujatha & madhu.

    Seema, thank you - of course you deserve the mention.

    Thank you Delhibelle, andhraflavours, homecooked & Sireesha.

    Happy Cook - you are so sweet - thanks!

    It definitely is Asha - thanks!

    Thanks SMN.

    Viji, oh really? Nice to know. I get a good brand of atta from NJ.

    Thank you Kamala.

    EC, I still classify these as difficult and timeconsuming and reserve them for weekends but the friend I mentioned can whip these up in no time - she's super fast!

    Suma, thank you so much. I decided to send that picture to Srivalli based on all your comments :) .. and not a problem.

    Vanamala - thank you!

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  22. i'm craving these so bad now. yummy.

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  23. I would say that you've perfected the art of making parathas now! That stack looks good!!

    So when a friend visits, it's o.k. then to let her take over the kitchen and have her make stuff for you, huh? Good to know! ;D

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  24. the paratha stack looks yummy...n u got a good shot when the paratha just puffed up.. :) i love aloo parathas anytime..

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  25. Thank you Bee & Sagari.

    TBC, of course you can!! :) especially if the friend volunteers

    Hey Superchef - good to see ya. Thanks!

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  26. Oh wow, it looks so perfect... Now I am wanting one so bad!

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  27. i loove alu-paratha..actually previously i would make it between 2 mini rotis and belofy...but now i make it like you do...i think this version tastes better...you are on a roll..sorry for not commenting earlier!

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  28. Tried it last evening..came out amazingly well. Thanks for the post:)

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  29. Hello Lavanya,
    Thank you for the great recipe. Me n my wife decided to try out Aloo parathas at home today and I browsed the net for the perfect recipe and zeroed in on yours. We made them with minor deviations from your style (left the dough only for 1 hour and did not add jeera powder to curd), but they turned out to be perfect (reminded us of the taste we savored in Nainital, byfar the most delicious APs we had).
    Thanks again....
    Cheers,
    Harsha & Sonu

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  30. Thank you so much Harsha & Sonu for your positive feedback on this. Am so glad that you enjoyed it! :)

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  31. Those do look fabulous! Can't believe this was your first attempt! And yes, who doesn't love aloo paranthas! I love aloo in every manner - this is one of the favourite ways.

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  32. Hey Laavan, this is an awesome recipe!! Tried it out yesterday, and it came out really well :) And all those pics were a great help (especially for me!)

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  33. Suman, so glad you tried these out and liked them :) Now that i've tasted all the yummy food you & R churn out, I'm not going to believe that you needed any addnl steps/help...

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