Recipes from Maharashtra, India: Alu Paratha

So this is a pretty simple flatbread, no yeast or bread machine required. It's just whole wheat flour, water, salt and olive oil. The trick is stuffing it, and then getting the stuffing to stay inside while you roll it flat. It's actually not as hard as it sounds, you just can't have a heavy hand with the rolling pin. Here's how it's done:

First mix up all the dough ingredients, then roll flat. I used a teacup saucer to cut circles out of the dough.

Make sure the dough is pretty thin--think tortilla rather than naan bread.

Now you mix up the filling, and then put a lump of it in the middle of the bread.

Pull up the corners to make a packet, like so:

Then roll flat again. Just be gentle--you want the bread to be pretty flat but you don't want any of the potato filling to come out.

Now brush the tops with some melted ghee. The original recipe said to roast it on tawa, but if you have no idea what that means I think baking is a fine substitute. There were no times given but mine took about 15 minutes--you want it to start browning a little on top, then it's time to take out.

This bread was spicy, but not too spicy--you can certainly adjust the amount of red chili powder you use according to your own personal tastes. For all my kids except the oldest, that meant just not using any chili powder, of course, they still didn't like it because that's how they are. Even though they like flatbread and they like mashed potatoes but oh no, you just can't put the two together. Whatever.

Anyway here is the printable, pinable version:

Alu Paratha

from Simple Indian Recipes

Alu Paratha, flatbread stuffed with spicy potatoes

Ingredients

For the dough

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup hot water (more if necessary)

For the filling

• 3 to 4 potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed
• 2 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp mango powder
• Cilantro to taste
• Bread crumbs

Instructions

1. Mix together the ingredients for the dough and knead.
2. Now combine all the filling ingredients together.
3. Roll the dough out into tea saucer sized circles.
4. Place a lump of filling in the center of each circle, then pull up the edges to form a packet.
5. Roll the packet out flat, taking care not to expose the filling.
6. Brush the top of each flatbread with a little melted ghee, then bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes

Approximate time: 30 minutes Serves 6.

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