Aloo Paratha aka Potato stuffed Indian flat bread – Every Indian’s favorite

Paratha aka whole wheat Indian flat bread is eaten traditionally for breakfast all over the northern India. Simple paratha is normally made of whole wheat flour but when you stuff it with any fillings such as potato, cauliflower, cabbage, paneer, radish, cheese, carom seeds with spices etc…that’s called stuff paratha. But of all aloo (Potato) paratha normally wins the battle. Paratha is a must have in my in-law’s house. Which is obvious because V’s family is from northern India. My sister-in-law always have the dough ready in her refrigerator and whenever her kid or her husband demands paratha she will have it ready in less than 10 minutes. It’s that easy, convenient, fulfilling and healthy.

My favorite way of eating aloo paratha is with hot tomato soup and green chutney!! Aaahh and I can die for this combo especially when my mom makes it with so much love and comfort! 

Traditionally parathas are literally shallow fried in pure ghee (check the picture below, see what I am talking about?). It surely tastes out of the world but not so good for health. There is this place called “Chandni chowk” in Delhi, India which is very famous for its shopping and food. Specially the “Paratha gali (Street)”! Parathas, Chaat, lassi, kulfi, falooda, pani-puri, bhalle and what not!! I tell you, when you are at Chandni chowk, you are in treat! The smell of freshly fried parathas will not let you leave the area without eating one or two. And I am very much crazy for street food so it was impossible to miss the treat.

So here’s what you will need to make these awesome parathas in minutes.

Paratha Dough

Yields: 10 stuffed parathas

Paratha:

• 2 Cup whole wheat flour
• 2/3 – 1 Cup Water (Use as needed)
• 2/3  tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Oil

Method:

Add salt to the flour and slowly add ¼ cup water at a time to form soft yet slightly firm dough. Knead for 5-6 minutes. Here we are looking for soft and elastic dough which should not stick to your hands after kneading it or should not even be very hard to work with. Use more water if required. Now add 1 Tbsp of oil and knead the dough one more time and that’s it.

Cover and let it rest for as long as you can. The more it rests, more it will be easy to work with.

In the mean time, get the stuffing ready.

Stuffing:

• 2 medium boiled Potatoes (I normally boil them in microwave for 7 minutes on high)
• ¼ cup chopped Onion
• Coriander leaves finely chopped
• 1 tsp chopped Ginger
• 1 tsp chopped hot green Chilies
• Salt  to taste
• 2/3 tsp – 1 tsp Amchoor (Dried mango powder that you can find in any Indian grocery store)
• Ghee (Clarified butter to cook parathas) – substitute oil

Mix all the ingredients well and check on salt. Add more if needed or else it’s ready.

Stuffed paratha cooking procedure:

• Grab a big chunk of dough which is approx size of big lemon. And roll to form a 4″ diameter circle. Place some stuffing and take the edges of the dough  and cover the stuffing. Remove excess dough using butter knife. Prepare with rest of dough.

• Dust the working surface with some atta and roll out the stuffed dough to form 6″-7″ diameter circles.

• Heat a flat bottom non-stick pan on medium heat.
• Once hot, place a paratha and let it cook for 30 secs on each side. Now drizzle some ghee/oil on the cooked side and flip again and repeat the procedure while pressing lightly with the spatula.

• If you want crispier crust then cook a bit longer.
• Serve hot with yogurt, coriander-mint chutney, tomato soup or aachar.

Tip: I normally prepare my dough and cook my potatoes a night before so that way it is easier and it gets ready in minutes.

You can even stuff your paratha with any type of boiled vegetables, paneer, cheese, lentil etc…choice is yours!

Event participation announcement:

My friend  Prerna Singh of Indiansimmer is hosting this event “IndianFoodPalooza” to celebrate Indian food along with two other awesome blogger buddies Barbara and Kathy. This event is all about cooking and sharing Indian food. If you want to participate, you can join me here at Indiansimmer. Oh and there are prices to win as well! Good luck to me 🙂

Enjoy!