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What is Aloo Paratha
Aloo means “potato” and paratha means “stuffed flatbread” in Hindi, so the name is quite telling: aloo paratha is an unleavened whole wheat flatbread stuffed with a savory spiced potato mixture.
Though there are many variations of stuffed paratha, many folks like aloo ke parathe above all others. In my home, Gobi Paratha and aloo paratha win all the superlatives.
Hailing from Punjab, India, this is one of my favorite breakfasts of all time! It also happens to be one of the first recipes I learned from my Punjabi mother-in-law, so it holds a special place in my heart.
In Punjabi families, parathas are made with lots of love and affection, not to mention lots of ghee and butter (makhan). If you lean towards a healthier lifestyle, you can easily opt to roast aloo paratha in oil and serve them with curd (plain yogurt) instead of butter.
In this post, I’ll show you two different methods of rolling the potato parathas. There’s no need to be intimidated; this recipe is really quite simple!
How to make Aloo Paratha
Before you can make these delicious stuffed parathas, you need to prepare the potato stuffing.
Make Potato Stuffing
1. First, boil or steam 4 medium-sized potatoes in a pressure cooker, steamer or electric cooker. Add enough water in a 2-litre pressure cooker or pan to just barely cover the potatoes.
For cooking in a pressure cooker – On a medium flame, cook the potatoes in water for 3 to 4 whistles. When the pressure settles down naturally, remove the lid and drain the water. Allow the potatoes to cool enough to handle and then peel them.
For cooking in a pan – Cover the pan and cook potatoes in water till fork tender. For this method, it helps to peel the potatoes and chop them in 2 inch cubes before boiling because they will cook faster than whole potatoes. Using a colander, drain all the water and allow the potatoes to cool.
2. If you haven’t done so yet, peel and chop the warm potatoes. Then mash the potatoes with a potato masher.
If you don’t have a potato masher, use a box grater to grate them and then mash the potatoes with a fork.
3. The potatoes should be mashed very well, with no lumps, chunks or bits. Any lumps in the mix will cause the stuffing to leak out of the dough when rolling.
4. Now add the following ingredients, feeling free to vary the spices as you like.
½ to 1 teaspoon finely chopped green chillies (1 to 2 green chilies) or serrano peppers
¼ to ½ teaspoon punjabi garam masala powder or Garam Masala Powder
¼ to ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder or cayenne pepper or paprika (optional)
½ to 1 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder) – or use lemon juice instead
salt according to your taste.
5. With a spoon, thoroughly mix the spice powders and green chilies into the mashed potatoes. Check the taste of the spiced mashed potato stuffing, adjusting the salt, red chilli powder, or dry mango powder if required. Set the prepared aloo stuffing aside.
Make The Dough
6. In a separate bowl, add 2 cups whole wheat flour. Make a well in the center. Add ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste), 1 tablespoon oil or ghee, and roughly ⅓ to ½ cup water.
NOTE: Be sure to add the water in portions as you go on mixing and kneading the dough. Do not all of the water at once.
7. Bring the mixture together and knead into a smooth, soft dough for 8 to 10 minutes. Add more water if needed. Cover and keep the dough aside, letting it rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
Stuff The Flatbread
Option 1: The “Double Disc” Method
8. Pinch two small balls from the dough. Flatten them and dust with whole wheat flour.
9. With a rolling pin, roll them into rounds roughly 4 to 5 inches in diameter. Try making both the discs the same size.
10. On one of the discs, place the potato stuffing in the center, keeping about 1 inch empty space from the sides.
11. Gently place the second circle on top.
12. Press and seal the edges with your fingertips. If you are not able to seal the edges, then brush or spread some water on the edges and then seal.
13. Dust some flour on the stuffed aloo ka paratha and start rolling.
14. Roll the paratha into a round about 7 to 8 inches in diameter, or about the size of a normal roti or chapati.
Option 2: “The Dumpling Method”
15. Pinch off a medium ball of dough. Roll it between your palms and lightly flatten it. Dust with some flour and roll to a circle about 5 to 5.5 inches diameter.
Place the potato stuffing in the center, keeping about 2 to 2.5 inches of space from the sides.
16. Take the edge and start pleating, joining the pleats in the center.
17. When all of the pleats are joined together, it should look like a Chinese dumpling. Be sure to pinch the pleats together very well so the filling doesn’t leak out while rolling.
18. Press the joined top portion slightly downward to flatten it a bit.
19. Sprinkle some flour and roll this version of stuffed paratha to about the same size as that of a chapati or roti. If some of the filling comes out, then just take a small piece of dough and cover the gap.
Roll, trying to create the same thickness throughout, as you would a pie dough. Avoid keeping the edges thick.
Roast Alu Paratha
20. On a hot tawa (skillet or griddle), place the rolled paratha. The tawa should be quite hot; cooking parathas at a low flame will harden them. Ideally, the finished parathas are crisp as well as soft.
– For a thick bottomed heavy tawa, keep the flame to medium-high or high.
– For a medium or thin bottomed tawa, keep the flame to medium-low to medium
21. When the base is partly cooked, flip the paratha using a spatula. You will see some air pockets on this side.
22. Spread some ghee or a neutral flavored oil (e.g. sunflower) on the partly cooked part.
23. Flip again and you will see nice golden blisters on the second side. To clarify, the side which has been spread with ghee will be on the bottom.
This side has to be cooked more than the previous side.
24. Spread some ghee on the second side facing you. A well-made and well-roasted alu paratha will always puff up when roasting.
25. Flip again once or twice till both sides are cooked properly, with crisp brown spots. You should also press the alu paratha edges down with a spatula or spoon so that they are fried well. Repeat, making all parathas this way.
I usually stuff and make aloo ke parathe side by side because I love multitasking :-). After they roast, I keep on stacking them in a roti basket or casserole lined with a towel to help keep them warm. I also add a bit of Homemade Butter on top of each paratha as I stack them.
If your family is ready to eat NOW, you can also serve the aloo ka paratha directly from the tawa (skillet) to the serving plate. Serve some extra butter on the side, along with Mango Pickle, Lemon Pickle, Dal Makhani or some fresh curd (yogurt).
Cooked aloo ke paratha can also be packed in your tiffin for lunch. In fact, aloo paratha used to be my favorite tiffin snack when I was growing up! Some things never change.
Flavor Variations
I love my aloo filling just the way the recipe is written, but there are a few ways to customize it to your liking. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Apart from the spices listed, you can also add ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain) and ½ teaspoon ginger paste. Apart from these spices, you can also add roasted cumin seed powder (jeera powder), turmeric powder, black salt, dry pomegranate seeds powder (anardana powder) or coriander powder.
- For a pop of bright green color and fresh flavor, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of finely chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) or mint leaves.
- Another popular variation is to add finely chopped onions if you like. Just remember to chop the onions finely or else they pop out when rolling the parathas.
- Add grated cheese or paneer, because potatoes + cheese = yum.
Expert Tips
Cooking potatoes – Potatoes can be boiled in either a pan or a pressure cooker. Potatoes can also be steamed. To cook potatoes in a pressure cooker or pan, add water to cover the potatoes and cook them till they are easily pricked with a fork. For pressure cooking, cook for 3 whistles on a medium flame.
Texture of mashed potatoes – The potatoes should be mashed very well, with lumps or small pieces in it so that the parathas do not break while rolling. The texture of mashed potatoes should be light and smooth.
Finely chopped additions – Any additions you make to the potato mixture need to be very finely chopped, or they risk popping through the dough when you roll them.
Oil or ghee – Either oil or ghee can be used for both kneading and pan frying. To make vegan aloo paratha, use any neutral flavored oil to both knead the dough and roast the parathas.
Frying or roasting – Alu paratha can be either shallow fried or roasted on an iron skillet, which we call a tawa. The roadside stalls and dhabas shallow fry paratha in ghee or oil, while at home they are most often roasted. Homemade paratha is therefore usually healthier than the fried paratha available outside.
Use an appropriate amount of heat – Keep the flame medium-high to high while roasting parathas. If the heat is low, then the parathas become dense as they take a long time to cook. In case it becomes too hot and the parathas are charring before they can cook, then decrease the flame. You can always adjust the flame when cooking parathas.
Can I make a healthier aloo paratha?
First, look to the filling: you can add a few more cooked and mashed veggies like peas, carrots, or french beans. Some grated cheese or paneer can also be added to make these flat-breads more tasty & nutritious
Secondly, consider pan-roasting the paratha in a heart healthy oil instead of ghee. I also suggest avoiding shallow frying the paratha like they do at most roadside stalls.
What are the best potatoes to use?
Since they will be peeled before use, you can use either thick skinned jacket potatoes or waxier skinned potatoes – they’ll both be great. I used russet potatoes for this recipe.
Ingredients
For Potato Stuffing
▢3 to 4 medium potatoes – boiled and mashed
▢1 to 2 green chilies – chopped finely
▢¼ to ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder or cayenne pepper or paprika, optional
▢¼ to ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
▢½ to 1 teaspoon dry mango powder (amchur powder)
▢1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander leaves – optional
▢salt as required
▢oil or ghee, as required for roasting paratha
For Paratha Dough
▢2 cups whole wheat flour
▢½ teaspoon salt or add as required
▢1 tablespoon oil or ghee (clarified butter)
▢water as required for kneading
For Serving
▢White Butter or yogurt to serve with the aloo paratha
▢mango pickle or lemon pickle – as required
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