Aloo Paratha
Indian stuffed flatbread with a spiced potato filling: simple, healthy and endlessly variable. Great with chutney, yoghurt or simply ketchup.
Aloo paratha is a kind of stuffed flatbread with a spiced potato filling: a fairly simple, tasty and healthy dish. 'Aloo' is Hindi for potato, the main ingredient.
The nice thing about this recipe: with the basics (flour and potato) plus Kashmiri chili, turmeric and garam masala you're already most of the way there. The other spices are optional, so you can vary it every time.
Method
- 1
Peel the potatoes and boil until soft (a pressure cooker is faster). Then mash them well.
- 2
Add to the mashed potato: ½–¾ tbsp Kashmiri chili powder, ⅓ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1½ tsp amchur, 1 tsp kasuri methi, the chopped coriander and mint, and salt to taste. Mix everything into an even filling.
- 3
Make the dough: put ± 300 g flour in a bowl and add lukewarm water bit by bit. Knead to a soft dough and add enough water, because dough that's too firm will tear when rolling.
- 4
Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest at least 10 minutes so the gluten relaxes.
- 5
Divide the dough into 4–5 equal parts; keep the rest covered. Shape one part into a smooth ball and dust both sides with a little dry flour.
- 6
Press the center of the ball into a cup shape and keep the walls nice and thick, not too thin. Spoon in some potato filling.
- 7
Bring the edges of the cup together to seal in the filling (it looks like a round ball) and remove the excess dough from the top. Dust both sides with dry flour.
- 8
Gently roll out the ball with light hands into a flat paratha. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin or board, use a little dry flour so it doesn't tear.
- 9
Heat a pan on high. Then lower to medium heat and place the paratha in. Wait until the dough changes colour, then flip it.
- 10
Cook at regular intervals until brown spots appear. Spread the heat across the whole paratha, because the edges need more time than the center.
- 11
Brush some oil or butter on the paratha, flip it and repeat on the other side. Cook until the dough is no longer stretchy and turns a bit darker.
- 12
Take the paratha out of the pan. Serve with ketchup, chutney, yoghurt or a sauce of choice, with any leftover filling on the side.
Tip. Don't have every spice? Flour, potato, Kashmiri chili, turmeric and garam masala already get you most of the way, and the rest is optional. Indian atta flour gives the most authentic result, but regular wheat flour works too.
Watch the video
Prefer to watch? We walk through it step by step below.
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