Aloo Parathaઆલુ પરાઠા
Flatbreads stuffed with spiced potato, roasted in ghee and topped with butter, served with yoghurt and pickle. This is the Punjabi breakfast.
Ingredients
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- 3 cups wheat flour
- 4 boiled potatoes, mashed
- 1 onion (optional), 2 green chillies, ginger
- Coriander-cumin powder, chilli powder, dried mango powder, garam masala, salt
- Fresh coriander
- Ghee or butter for roasting
Method
- Knead a soft dough and rest it, covered, for 20 minutes.
- Mix the mashed potato with all the spices, chillies, ginger and coriander. Keep the filling dry.
- Take a ball of dough, place the filling in the middle and seal it completely.
- Roll gently; too much pressure and the filling tears through.
- Roast on a hot tawa with ghee on both sides until well spotted.
- Top with butter and serve hot with yoghurt and pickle.
Tips
- Mash the potatoes while warm, but fill only once the mixture has cooled.
- Onion in the filling releases water, so salt it at the last moment.
Storing and reheating
Wrapped in a cloth inside a box, cooked parathas stay soft for five or six hours, which is all a lunch box needs. They keep two days in the fridge but turn leathery as they chill. Reheat on a tawa with a little ghee on both sides; a microwave leaves them soft outside and tough in the middle. Do not store them raw and stuffed.
What you can swap
- No amchur? Add half a teaspoon of lemon juice once the filling has cooled, or use crushed dried pomegranate seeds (anardana).
- Out of garam masala, use a pinch of ground cinnamon and clove with a little extra coriander-cumin powder.
- New, waxy potatoes make a gluey filling. Choose older floury potatoes that mash dry.
- Two tablespoons of ghee or curd worked into the dough keeps the parathas soft even after they cool.
What to serve with it
Eaten at breakfast or dinner with curd, white butter and mango pickle. In Gujarati homes it is a holiday-morning dish, served with chhundo and chai. No dal or sabzi is needed; the paratha is the meal.
Mistakes to avoid
- Boil the potatoes whole, in their skins. Cut potatoes take on water and the filling turns slack.
- Never mash potatoes in a mixer. The starch turns them into glue. Use a masher or your hands.
- Do not put in more filling than dough. Keep the two roughly equal, or the edges thin out and tear.
- Dust with dry flour when rolling, not oil. Oil separates the layers and the filling pushes out.
Questions people ask
Why does the filling burst out while rolling?
Either the filling is damp or the ball was not sealed properly. Cool the filling completely, squeeze the onion if you used it, and after sealing flatten the ball in your palm and roll outward from the centre. Pressing straight down in the middle drives the filling to one side.
Can I prepare them the night before for a tiffin?
Knead the dough and make the filling ahead and keep them separately in the fridge, but roll and roast in the morning. Parathas stuffed overnight go damp as moisture from the potato seeps into the dough, and then they stick to the tawa.
Why do my parathas turn hard?
A stiff dough, no resting time, or too long on a low flame. The tawa should be hot enough to spot the paratha in two or three minutes. Any longer and the moisture cooks out, leaving it dry.
