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Aloo paratha

A wheat flatbread whose spiced potato filling goes inside a ball of dough before it is rolled.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee).

Ingredients

Method

  1. THE FILLING GOES INSIDE A BALL OF DOUGH BEFORE IT IS ROLLED, and that is what separates a stuffed paratha from a plain one. Its article is explicit about the two routes: a plain paratha is ROLLED OUT WITH OIL OR GHEE, THEN FOLDED, and the lamination REPEATED TWO OR MORE TIMES to give four to six layers -- while STUFFED VERSIONS OF PARATHA ARE INSTEAD MADE BY SHAPING THE DOUGH INTO BALLS AND PLACING A FILLING INSIDE BEFORE ROLLING THEM OUT. One bread gets its layers from folding fat in; this one gets its body from what is trapped inside.
  2. THE FILLING IS SPICED POTATO, AND THE ARTICLE NAMES THE SPICING. Aloo paratha is THE MOST COMMON stuffed paratha, with A SPICED POTATO FILLING, and it USES INGREDIENTS SUCH AS CORIANDER LEAF AND GREEN CHILLI. Amchur is mine: dried mango powder is what keeps a potato filling from tasting flat, and there is nothing sour otherwise.
  3. BOIL THE POTATOES WHOLE AND IN THEIR SKINS. Peeled chunks take up water, and a wet filling is the reason most of these split. Steam them dry in the pan for a minute after draining, then peel and mash with no milk and no butter.
  4. THE DOUGH IS PLAIN: ATTA, WATER, SALT. The article's dough is atta, water and salt, COVERED IN GHEE, and it is KNEADED BY HAND. Twenty minutes' rest.
  5. MAKE THE FILLING BALLS THE SAME SIZE AS THE DOUGH BALLS. Four of each, and cold filling. This is the single thing that decides whether it works.
  6. PRESS THE DOUGH OUT, SET THE FILLING IN THE MIDDLE, AND GATHER THE EDGES OVER THE TOP. Pinch off the knot of dough at the top -- it is a thick spot that never cooks -- and press the parcel flat with your palm.
  7. ROLL IT GENTLY, TURNING AS YOU GO, TO ABOUT FIVE MILLIMETRES. Its article gives three millimetres for a paratha and notes STUFFED PARATHA HAS A SOFTER TEXTURE THAN PLAIN; thicker is safer, and softer is the point.
  8. SHALLOW FRY IT ON A TAVA UNTIL IT IS BROWNED, GHEE ON BOTH FACES. Both plain and stuffed parathas are SHALLOW FRIED ON A TAVA, A TYPE OF IRON GRIDDLE, UNTIL BROWNED. Dry on first, then a teaspoon of ghee a side, pressing the edges down. The article adds that paratha MAY BE BRUSHED WITH GHEE AFTER SERVING, which is a third spoonful and nobody has ever regretted it.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes