The Best Parathas East of the Missippi

And they are! If you are in the North American continent make a trek to Alfred NY to eat these delicious babies. Of course it would also mean that you would need an invitation to my aunt and uncle's house but that could be worked out. I had the pleasure of enjoying various kinds of parathas while I stayed with my aunt and uncle, Varshneyas while recovering from my broken foot. What a treat- the Aloo Paratha, Gobi Paratha, Mooli Paratha are all wonderful. I documented the step by step preparation of the Aloo paratha. Give it a shot or just try to make a trip to Alfred NY!

Ingredients:

To prepare the dough:

3 cups of flour (whole wheat)

water (atleast a cup rest you can eyeball the consistency of the dough)

pinch of salt

Filling:

4-5 Boiled potatoes

1 large onion, finely diced

1 green chili

handful of cilantro finely diced

dry spices: corriander powder, cumen powder, salt, red chili, turmeric, rock salt

Oil to cook with

Salt according to taste.

To knead the dough:

Gosh I wish I could describe this. I have attempted many a complex recipes but I dont think I have ever got my dough to the right consistency.  All I know it takes a whole lot of upper body strength to roll the dough. Take the flour in a big bowl. Add some salt. Start by adding water and mixing it in - like making clay. Keep adding water and gathering the flour into a ball of dough.

For the stuffing:
Even though any different types of vegetables and meat can be stuffed in the paratha, the most popular stuffing is potato or Aloo.
Boil the potato and peal them. Mash the potato using a masher or your hands (freshly boiled potatoes are very hot so be careful).
Add the green chili, fresh cilantro and spices such as coriander, cumin and red chili powder. Also toss in the finely chopped onions in the mashed potato mixture.
Yup and the best way to make the mix is to get your hands in there and mash it to the right consistency. Any large chunks of potato will be hard to roll into the paratha.

To make an aloo (potato) ka paratha:

1. Take a palm full piece of the dough and roll it into a ball.
2. Flatten the ball into a palm-sized circle.

3. Take some the coriander pwd, cumin pwd, red chili, rocksalt, salt and oil and apply it on the flattened piece of dough.

4. Place a generous helping of the potato mix and place it on the center of the dough.

5. Now carefully enclose the potato by folding and pulling the dough over it creating a big ball of dough stuffed with potatoes.

6. Time to roll out the paratha. Dip the ball in flour and gently flatten it with your hands. As you flatten it pull along the edges so that the size is increasing.

 That by the way is beautiful to get it to look like that. Almost impossible task!

 

7. Dust some flour on a flat surface and place the dough on the surface and start to roll the dough into a flat plane evenly.

8. When the paratha is around 1/4 of inch thick. Place it on a flat pan (tawa) and spoon the oil evenly along its edges. The oil seeps below the paratha slowly cooking it. Make sure the tawa is hot before placing the paratha on it. Also keep the heat low to cook slowly.

9. Flip the paratha and allow cooking on the other side at least 3-4 minutes. Apply oil on the partially cooked top surface before you flip the paratha again. Press with a spatula so that the surface is evenly cooking. Repeat till both sides are cooked to a lovely golden brown.

10. Serve the paratha with fresh plain yogurt and a variety of pickles - mango, chili, lime, sweet pickle. Cut the paratha in half to allow steam to escape and enjoy this delicious treat!

More Paratha recipes at Foodista.com

Aloo Paratha