Arti's Aloo Paratha

So, my sister-in-law Arti makes the best food. Whenever I visit her, as we are now, I can be assured of a feast, or two, or several, during our visit. This morning, she made Aloo Parathas. This is the ultimate breakfast food in India. Historically, parathas fried in butter, and served with fresh butter, mango and chili pepper pikles and often also with fresh plain yogurt. Keeping in line with my food choices (no added fat), she made my parathas without oil or butter. Amazing!!!

Arti's Kitchen ... 

A Paratha is basically a stuffed Indian flat-bread made with unleavened dough and originating from the Indian state of Punjab. My DH calls them potato pancakes except they're typically savory and spicy and you don't pour syrup over them. A ball of dough is stuffed with crumbled spiced vegetables or cheese (potatoes, cauliflower, mint, radishes, paneer, onions, fenugreek, lentils, etc.). The dough is then rolled out and is the pan-fried or pan-roasted on a flat skillet. Another "cheater" method is to roll out 2 chapatis (see link here). Cover the surface of one with the filling and then cover with the other (like a chapati sandwich). Pan-fry or pan-roast as described above.

Arti's Pan-Roasted Aloo Parathas

Prep Time: 15 min

Ingredients for the Filling: 

1. 4-6 Steamed/Boiled Russet potatoes, crumbled
2. 1 small Red Onion, diced finely.
3. Cumin, to taste
4. Red Chillies, to taste
5. Ajwain (Carom) seeds, to taste
6. Amchoor (Dried Mango powder), to taste
7. 2-3 tbsp fresh Cilantro leaves
8. 2-3 fresh Serrano peppers, sliced, to taste.
9. 2-3 tsp Dried Mint leaves
10. 1-2 tsp Garam Masala
11. Salt and Pepper, to taste.

Directions:

Prepare the whole wheat flour into dough (see link here). Prepare the potato filling by mixing the above ingredients together. My sis-in-law cooks the Indian way, so all spices are estimates. Taste check after each spice and once the filling is yummy :) you're all set. Roll out a ball of dough into about a 4 inch round. Place about a heaping tablespoon of filling in the middle and fold over the sides and pinch the top closed. Flatten the stuffed dough and then roll out gently into about a 6-7 inch round. Gently lift the rolled out dough and transfer to a hot skillet and pan roast on both sides until done. If you're okay with using butter, add a little butter and pan-fry instead. The difference is only visual. Both taste equally yummy!

Arti's Pan-Fried Aloo Parathas

Cooking Tip: If you want to save some for later, partially fry each one, and store some for later in a tupper-ware (use saran wrap between individual parathas if you want to freeze them for later). When ready to eat, transfer to a skillet and complete the cooking process :)

Arti's Aloo Parathas .. some for later :)

My Assessment: LOVED my breakfast today!! As did my DH :)