Aloo Paratha

"Garam garam para(n)they!" Reminds me of Hindi movies!! :D

Fig. 1. Aloo Paratha

Aloo parathas are my favorite kind of parathas. And usually they turn out pretty decent. I feel that the trick to making really soft-soft aloo parathas is: 1) roll out the rotis a fair amount so it will be easier to wrap up the stuffing and 2) DO NOT stint on the potato stuffing! If you fill in plennn..ty of potato and wrap it up in the rolled out roti, there is no way the parathas can fail to wow anyone.

The only problem with supremely soft aloo parathas is, they just have to be served hot!! Once they cool down or are refrigerated they become somewhat average parathas. So I tend to make these parathas only in casual settings, with few eaters, and when I know I have time just before dinner and I can serve them still hot almost right off the pan.

That's how I served them this time, fresh and piping hot!!

The ingredients and procedure here are somewhat rough approximations, I always make some excess stuffing masala and whatever stuffing gets leftover, I shape it into cutlets, coat with some rava, shallow fry and serve as a snack with some tea.

Ingredients:
Potatoes - Boiled, peeled, ~7, depends on how large or small they are. Do make plenty of masala, you really don't want to fall short of it.
Red chili powder - 1 teaspoon or more
Lime juice - 2 teaspoons
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Salt - to taste
Chapati/Wheat flour - 3/4 cup(makes about 6 parathas)
Oil - 1/2 teaspoon (for flour)
Water - as needed to make dough

Procedure:
1) Mash the boiled, peeled potatoes together as smoothly as possible. Try to get rid of all possible lumps. Whatever lumps are left will have to "managed" while you roll the stuffed paratha later.
2) Add red chili powder, salt, lime juice, and chopped green chillies to the mashed potatoes and mix well by hand. Knead well so that you know the mixture is smooth and well homogenized.
3) Make chapati/roti dough by mixing flour, oil and a small quantity of water. The dough should not be too hard, but not sticky either. Let it rest for about 15-30 minutes.
4) Divide the dough into 6 or so balls (for the quantity flour mentioned here).

 Fig. 2. Roll out a dough ball, place stuffing in the center and then wrap it up

5) Take one dough ball, roll it out flat as much as possible. Place a round, flattened ball of the potato mixture at the center of the rolled out roti as shown in Fig. 2 above. Wrap it up with the roti. Now lightly roll out the stuffed paratha. Use a tiny bit of dry flour for rolling as needed. Heat/fry on a hot pan with minimum necessary oil or butter or ghee.

Serve with yogurt and pickle or some other accompaniment. A dollop of butter on the paratha is also yum. Ideally the parathas should not need much else.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Cheerio!