Aloo Parathe – Flavorsofmykitchen
Aloo Paratha is a very popular Indian- Punjabi food which is very tasty and delicious and served in breakfast. Indian Aloo Paratha – whole wheat flatbread stuffed with a spicy potato filling. When the weather is like cold and chilly 🥶 my husband always demands of this 😉.
Aloo Parathas, associated with the north Indian state of Punjab, are a much-loved food almost anywhere in India — and for lovers of Indian food anywhere in the world. What’s not to love about crispy dough encasing a delicious mixture of everyone’s favorite veggie? And they are by no means a difficult food to make, if you know how to roll a flatbread.
My husband loves aloo paratha the most and my kids love pizza Paratha and sometimes I pack mix Veg Paratha in their lunchbox t00. Here is my authentic easy peasy recipe or aloo paratha which you all will like.
Aloo Paratha is very simple to make and so tasty and delicious. You just need to make a perfect texture of a wholewheat bread. I have my secret of these potatoes stuffing which make your Parathas the way more delicious. I will share in recipe. This one is my family’s most favorite dish which I always make in brunch. I have step by step recipe of this Parathas.
Some people like to grate the potatoes for more texture, I just go the traditional way and mash the potatoes.
Also you can cook the potatoes with some oil and temper them with cumin before adding all the spices. It just varies from person to person. I straightaway added all the spices to the mashed potatoes. There’s no right or wrong way here to make aloo paratha, it always tastes good no matter how you make it.
The thickness of the parathas is also a personal preference.
Ingredients
Atta (whole wheat flour): the dough for the paratha is made with everyday atta which we use in Indian kitchens for making rotis. My favorite brand for atta here in the US is sujata gold. You can find it at Indian grocery stores.
Potatoes: since this is aloo paratha, the filling is entirely made of potatoes. You can use either russet potatoes or gold potatoes. I actually prefer gold potatoes for this paratha but others will work too.
Spices: I have used spices like cumin, amchur (dried mango powder), garam masala, ajwain (carom seeds), Kashmiri red chili powder in the filling.
But honestly you can use whatever spices you want. Even kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) would be a good addition.
Herbs: I like using lots of chopped cilantro in my aloo paratha. And for that little kick, a green chili is must!
Other than these, there’s of course salt and some oil which is used in the dough and also to pan fry the parathas.
Method
1- In a bowl mix together atta (whole wheat flour), salt and oil.
2- Add water little by little and start mixing the dough.
3- Knead to form a smooth and soft dough. The dough should be soft, if it isn’t add little more water. I added around 3/4 cup + 1-2 tablespoons water here.
You can also use the dough hook attachment of your stand mixer to knead the dough.
4- Cover and let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes. Divide the dough into 4-6 equal parts.
5- To make the filling, boil the potatoes first until they are completely done.
6- Shred the potato with the cheese shredder or any shredder you have. Then add the coarse cumin seeds, carom seeds, fennel and coriander seeds powder. Add other spices like amchur, red chili powder, salt to taste. I like to add little bit black salt too.
7- Then add chopped ginger chili and cilantro. Mix all together and make small medium balls and keep it aside.
8- Take the dough and divided it into 8 to 10 equal parts (depending on how big you want your parathas to be). My dough weighed around 60 grams each.
Now, take one of the dough balls and roll it into a circle of around 4-5 inches in diameter. Apply around 1/2 teaspoon oil on the rolled dough. Then place around 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center (you can add more filling but don’t overfill).
9 & 10- Now, bring all the edges together to the center and then pinch to seal the edges.
11- Flatten the dough ball using your hands.
12- Now using your rolling pin, roll the dough to a circle of around 7 to 8 inches diameter. Use dry atta as needed while rolling. Dip the dough ball in dry atta as and when it becomes difficult to roll and then roll again. The trick here is to apply equal pressure while rolling. If you do that, your paratha will turn round automatically.
Heat a tawa on medium-high heat.
13- Transfer the rolled paratha onto the hot tawa. Make sure your tawa is hot before you add the paratha on it.
14- Cook the side for a minute or two until it’s partially cooked and then flip over. Apply oil or ghee, around 1/2 teaspoon on the half-cooked side and flip again.
15- Now apply oil on the other side as well. Press with a spatula and cook the paratha until both sides have golden brown spots on them. Make sure to press the edges so that they get cooked as well.
Repeat with the remaining dough balls and cook all the parathas similarly.
Serve aloo paratha hot with butter, pickle and a cup of chai!
Tips to Make Good Stuffed Paratha:
The key to making a good paratha lies in kneading a soft dough. So knead a soft dough and do use some oil in the dough. That will help keep the dough soft and eventually the parathas will also turn our better.
Do not mash the potatoes. When the potatoes boiled, shred them instead of mash. This way your paratha won’t crack or the stuffing won’t come out from paratha too.
Roll evenly– so when rolling the parathas, try to roll evenly. Move your rolling pin in single strokes across the entire length of the paratha so that it rolls evenly. This will ensure that the stuffing is evenly distributed throughout the paratha.
The center can get thicker than the edges and then that doesn’t roast well and remains uncooked. So pay attention to that.
Always make sure that your tawa/griddle on which you will be making the aloo paratha is hot before you put the paratha on it. If it’s just medium hot, the paratha will take time to cook and that will result in a “not so soft” paratha.
Be generous with oil or ghee when roasting! If you want your parathas to be softer, then apply a little extra ghee or oil. That definitely help.