Aloo Parathas - with step-by-step pictures

On the way back from one of my recent trips to India, we took a break at Frankfurt and visited Paris and Berlin.  Our flight back to Denver was from Frankfurt.  To make it easier, we were going to stay in an airport hotel the night before our flight.  One of our close friends insisted that we stay with her brother’s family in Frankfurt, and we agreed.  Her sister-in-law made an amazing dinner for us and, on the next day forced us to take homemade aloo parathas.  I am so glad we did.  Not only were the parathas delicious, but I also got to see, first-hand, how to make them the right way.

Even though I have been making aloo parathas for quite a while, I realized I was doing a few things wrong.  Mine would taste good, but not great.  Here’s what I figured out:

a) I wasn’t adding enough spices to the filling.  Since this was going to be stuffed, it needed to have a little bit more kick, so that the tastes come through.

b) I was not adding enough filling to the dough.  I would place a small ball of it and then fold up the dough and make the parathas.  But Sudha-ji used a big ball of the potato stuffing to make each paratha.

Now I follow her way and they come out perfectly.

Although everyone in my family loves these, I don’t make them often, because, it kind of seems decadent to make these just for us, when there is no special occasion. 

This is my first attempt at taking step-by-step pictures.  Let me know what you think!

Step-by-Step guide to making Aloo Parathas:

1. Mix the chappati flour (atta) with salt and oil.

 

   2.  Add warm water and knead to make stiff dough.  Cover and set aside.

 

 3.  Boil potatoes.  Peel them and mash well.

  4.  Add dhania powder, jeera powder, chili powder, amchur powder, salt, cilantro, and green chilies

  5.  Mix everything together and mash well so that there are very few lumps.

  6.  Take a small ball of dough and dust it with dry atta.

 7. Roll it into a small, flat, thick, roti.

  8.  Place a big ball of the filling in the middle.  Bring up all the sides to close the filling.

 9.  Flatten this with the palm of your hand and dust in dry atta again.

10.  Roll this into a paratha - as thin as you can, without tearing the outer covering.  Keep dusting with dry atta to help you roll.

11.  Put the paratha on a hot tawa with the stove set to medium.

12. When bubbles start forming on top, flip it over and spread oil on it - Sudha-ji used oil and not ghee.  Flip it over again and repeat for the other side.

13.  Serve hot with pickles and yogurt.

Here is what you need:

to make 10 - 12 parathas:

For the dough:

• 2 cups wheat flour (atta)
• 1 tsp oil
• salt to taste
• warm water
• oil for cooking the parathas

For the filling:

• 10 - 12 medium sized potatoes ( I used red potatoes - slightly bigger than the baby ones)
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp. amchur (dry mango) powder
• 2 tsp. jeera (cumin) powder
• 2 tsp. dhania (coriander) powder
• 2 tsp. red chili powder
• 3 - 4 green chilies minced
•  handful of cilantro, chopped

Here is how I made it:

1. Mix the atta with salt and oil.
2. Add warm water and knead to make stiff dough.  Cover and set aside.
3. Boil potatoes.  Peel them and mash well.
4. Add dhania powder, jeera powder, chili powder, amchur powder, salt, cilantro, and green chilies
5. Mix everything together and mash well so that there are very few lumps.
6. Take a small ball of dough and dust it with dry atta.
7. Roll it into a small, flat, thick, roti.
8. Place a big ball of filling in the middle.  Bring up all the sides to close the filling.
9.  Flatten this with the palm of your hand and dust in dry atta again.
10. Roll this into a paratha - as thin as you can without tearing the outer covering.  Keep dusting with dry atta to help you roll.
11. Put the paratha on a hot tawa, and cook on medium heat.
12. When bubbles start forming on the top, flip it over and spread oil on it.  Flip it over again and repeat for the other side.

Serve hot with pickles and yogurt.