Aloo Paratha – Spicy Potato Bread
Shelina Permalloo's lighter take on the traditional Indian breakfast dish Aloo Paratha is made without butter or ghee, but still packs in plenty of flavour with a fragrant potato filling.
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The Sunshine Diet
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Introduction
I remember when I was at university after a long night of partying, waking up to the smell of aloo paratha cooked by a friend’s mum – the smell was truly intoxicating, with the combination of spices, chilli and coriander and the freshly cooked Indian-style bread. The thought alone literally makes me salivate! Traditionally this is made with oodles of butter or ghee, but I’d like to share with you a recipe that does away with all that butter and guilt.
Ingredients
| For the 'aloo' (potatoes): | |
|---|---|
| 2 | medium potatoes, unpeeled |
| 2 | garlic cloves, finely chopped |
| 2.5cm | piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated |
| 1 tbsp | mild madras curry powder |
| 2 | green chillies, finely chopped |
| 2–3 tbsp | freshly chopped coriander |
| salt | |
| For the paratha: | |
| 300g | plain flour, plus extra for dusting |
| 1 tbsp | cumin seeds |
| ½ tsp | salt |
| 150–180ml | warm water |
| about 2 tbsp | vegetable oil |
Method
To start the ‘aloo’, cook the whole potatoes in their skins in a pan of boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until the skins start to split a bit. Drain well and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, to make the paratha, mix the flour, cumin seeds and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the warm water, then using a wooden spoon, mix together to make a soft, pliable dough (you may need more or less water depending on the type of flour you are using). Form the dough into a ball, then cover with a damp cloth and leave to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, finish preparing the ‘aloo’. Once the potatoes are cool, peel then mash them in a bowl with all the remaining ‘aloo’ ingredients until the mixture resembles a spicy mashed potato mixture.
Divide the paratha dough into 8 even pieces, then shape each one into a slightly flattened ball – each should be about the size of a satsuma. Take one ball of dough and create a small cavity in the centre, add a spoonful of the potato mixture in the cavity and then carefully mould the dough around to enclose the filling completely. Repeat to make 8 paratha.
Carefully dust the work surface with flour, then roll out each stuffed ball of dough to a circle about 5mm thickness – don’t worry if the potato mixture comes through the dough, this is perfectly normal.
Heat a frying pan over a really high heat and then carefully brush the surface of the hot pan with a little oil. Add one paratha to the pan and cook until you see bubbles on the surface of the dough and the dough starts to rise (this will take less than a minute). Turn the paratha over and cook the other side in the same way, then transfer to a plate and keep warm.
Repeat this process, brushing the pan with oil and cooking one paratha at a time, until they are all cooked. Serve the parathas warm.
Per Bread : calories 205 kcal, fat 4g, sugar 1g
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