Aloo Paratha

Make Ahead and Storage

Keeps 1 day wrapped in a cloth. Freeze cooked parathas for 1 month interleaved with paper and reheat on a dry tawa for 90 seconds a side.

Aloo Paratha: The Method

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1. Make the dough by mixing the atta and salt, adding the water gradually, and kneading 8 minutes to a soft, pliable dough. Work in the ghee, cover, and rest 30 minutes.

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2. Peel the cold potatoes and grate them rather than mashing — grating gives an even, lump-free filling with no gluey patches.

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3. Mix the potato with the onion, chilli, ginger, all the spices, salt and coriander. Taste and make it slightly saltier than seems right; the dough dilutes it.

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4. Divide the dough into 8 and the filling into 8 equal portions, rolling each portion of filling into a ball.

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5. Roll a piece of dough into a 12 cm circle, thicker at the centre. Set a ball of filling in the middle.

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6. Gather the dough up around the filling in pleats, pinch the top firmly closed, and flatten gently with your palm, seam side down.

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7. Dust and roll carefully into a 17 cm circle, using light, even pressure so the filling does not burst through.

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8. Cook on a hot tawa for 45 seconds, flip, brush with ghee, and cook 90 seconds until browned in patches.

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9. Flip again, brush the second side with ghee, and press the edges with a cloth until puffed and evenly blistered. Serve hot with butter and yoghurt.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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A Few Pointers

• Cold, dry, grated potato is the whole secret. Warm mash will tear every paratha you attempt.
• Roll gently and evenly. If filling does break through, patch it with a scrap of dough and carry on.
• A slab of white butter on top as it comes off the griddle is not optional in Punjab.

Some Background

The potato filling must be completely dry and cool — warm or wet filling turns to steam inside the paratha and blows a hole through the dough as it cooks. Sealing the parcel by gathering the dough into a pleated purse distributes the seam evenly so it does not create a thick lump at the centre.

What to Put Next to It

Plain yoghurt and mango pickle · Masala chai · A green chilli on the side, if you are brave

Swaps and Variations

• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.

Questions About Aloo Paratha

The Numbers per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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