The word "khana" in Indian Khana Made Easy means food. So come on, let's explore and cook some easy Indian food together including gluten-free and vegan dishes.

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May 9, 2010

Garam Garam Aloo Paratha!!

Today is Mothers' Day!! Let's take a moment and praise our mothers for their patience, love, support and wonderful culinary talents. I had this whole plan of making her all these different dishes but my plans got messed up when we lost power on Saturday due to the weather and I just decided to stick to simple stuff. I took over her cooking duties for the Sunday and started the day by giving her lots of hugs and love.
I saw potatoes soaking in the pot and I quickly knew what she wanted to eat for lunch: Aloo Paratha (potato stuffed Indian flat-bread). If you want more information about this type of bread, search on Wikipedia. This type of flat-bread can be made with different ingredients but potato is most filling and easiest. This flat-bread can be purchased at any grocery store but you know, it always tastes better when it's made at home with love.

To make the dough and the stuffing you need the following ingredients:
- 5 medium Potatoes
- 3 cups of Atta (durum wheat flour), for making the dough
- 1 cup of Atta, for rolling parathas
- Salt, for taste
- Half of medium Onion, chopped finely (optional)
- 1 tsp Red Chili Powder
- 1 tbsp of Coriander (Cilantro), optional
- 1 tsp of Whole Cumin seeds, optional
- Vegetable Oil, for frying parathas

Procedure:
1) Wash well and microwave potatoes for 8 minutes (or until soft). Remove them from microwave immediately and immerse in cold water for 5- 10 minutes. Remove from water and peel the potatoes. Next, crumble them, add salt, chili powder and mix well and set aside. Finely cut fresh coriander and cumin seeds can be added if available.

2) Take the wheat flour in a shallow container (mixing bowl), add salt to taste and mix well. Knead the flour into a smooth dough by using ½ - ¾ cup of water. Add a teaspoon of oil and cover dough for at least 15 minutes. Watch video for further assistance:http://www.youtube.com/watchv=h2fMTSlsdg4&feature=player_embedded
3) Clean the kitchen counter and take the dough of the size of lemon flatten it and dab it with flour on both sides and roll it evenly into a circular size of approx. 6-inches diameter. Spread 2 heaped tbsp of the potato mixture onto half-area of the circle.


Fold over the remaining half onto the potato mixture and seal the ends, representing a ‘D’. Fold it once more to make a quarter and set aside. Prepare similar quarters with rest of the potato mixture.


4) Heat a Non-stick griddle or tawa on medium heat. Roll-out each quarter into parathas evenly to a size of 6-8 inches long triangle and place it on the griddle.

5) Flip to other side after 30 seconds, and spray oil around and on the paratha. Spread the oil evenly with a wooden spatula and flip the other side. Brown the paratha on both sides.


6) Serve the parathas hot with mixed vegetable achar (available in Indian grocery stores), and/or raita.

1 comment:

  1. Jahnavi9/19/2010

    I added chickpea to the potato mixture and made parathas for dinner tonight. They came out well. Have a look if you like.

    http://picasaweb.google.com/jahnaviu/AlooChickpeaParathas?feat=directlink

    ReplyDelete

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