Aloo Parathas: Popular Punjabi breakfast

Aloo Paratha is flat bread stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes and is favourite of most people who are familiar with Indian/Punjabi cuisine. The reason why it is so popular is that it has a unique relishing and heavenly taste.

Aloo parathas are part of traditional Punjabi breakfast but these days due to our busy life they have been limited to 'sunday brunches' only.

I remember eating these parathas my grandma(mum's mum) used to cook when i was a kid. She used to give little bit of homemade cream/butter or curd with it. After finishing one i used to wait for another and after some moments she would put a fresh one in my plate and trust me im willing to give anything to live those moments again. Ah enough with those 'appetizing' memories. now lets get to the work.

So there are quite so many ways to make an aloo paratha but here i have used quick and easy method which can go quite well with our busy schedules.

Ingredients

2 medium size potatoes, washed and peeled

Dough of wheat flour, kneaded 2-3 hours ago

1 onion, finely chopped

2 green chillies, finely chopped

Flour

Oil/ghee

salt, according to taste

1 tsp chat masala

1 tsp cumin powder (you can use cumin seeds also)

1 tsp kitchen king powder (available in Indian grocery stores)

2 tbsp finely chopped ginger(I havent but you can also put it in the mixture)

Method

1. Grate all the potatoes and squeeze out all the water, the drier the better!!

2. Now mix the chopped onions, green chillies and ginger(if using) with the potatoes.

3. Mix all the spices separately, NEVER put them in the potato mixture or it will become wettish and our parathas wouldnt turn out so good.

4. Now take a medium sized ball of dough and coat it with flour

5. Take a rolling pin and roll it somewhat flat, apply 1 tsp oil on it and sprinkle a pinch of spices on top, followed by some potato mixture.

6. Seal the edges as shown below, make sure not to leave air bubble inside, you can use fork to prick it.

7. Now coat it again with the flour and flatten it gently with hands. Using a rolling pin roll it slowly.

8. Now put it on the tawa/hot plate/griddle/non stick pan. Parathas are cooked best on medium flame. Turn it upside down after 20-30 seconds with a spatula. Here the timings depend on how high the flame is or what kind of tawa or hot plate you are using.

9. Again turn it upside down, apply 1/2 tsp oil. Repeat this step again with the other side.

10. Give it couple of more seconds and it is ready.

Serve it with butter/curd/pickle/cream/chutney. I have used some green chilli pickle, onions, green chillies and yogurt with some chopped coriander leaves.