AVNEET'S ALOO PARATHA

Avneet Gill

Consultant Pensions Actuarial, Winchester

What this dish means to me

Aloo paratha has always been a staple in my family. It’s a beloved comfort food that brings back warm memories of both my grandmothers, who each had their own unique way of preparing it. That’s the beauty of this dish—there’s no single “right” way to make paratha. There are so many variations, including aloo (potato), paneer and gobi (cauliflower), If you're curious to try out other paratha flavours, feel free to drop me a message—I’d be more than happy to share some ideas!

Paratha’s can be served at any time of the day for either breakfast, lunch or dinner (although you may want to go for a lighter filling than potato if it’s for breakfast!). My mum still makes them for me in bulk so I can freeze and reheat them at home. Super handy when I want something filling and familiar.

SERVES

MINUTES

DIFFICULTY

5/10

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE DOUGH:

320g of whole wheat flour

½ tsp of slat

1 tbsp of oil

240ml of water

FOR THE STUFFING:

4 medium potatoes

1 mooli (optional)

1-2 green chillies

2 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp of fenugreek

2 tsp of garam masala

2 tsp of dry mango powder

2 tbsp of finely chopped coriander leaves

1tsp salt

Knob of Butter

OPTIONAL TO SERVE:

Butter

Yoghurt

Mango pickle

METHOD

Step 1

In a bowl mix the flour, salt and oil, add half a cup of water at a time until the dough is soft. Cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. The dough will look like the picture on the right.

Step 2

Peel and grate the mooli, squeeze all the water out of the mooli and leave to one side.

Step 3

Peel, chop and boil the potatoes until soft. Once cooked, mash the potatoes until there are no lumps.

Step 4

To the mashed potatoes, add the green chillis, cumin seeds, fenugreek, garam masala, mango powder, coriander, salt, butter and mooli (if desired). Leave this mixture to cool. Feel free to give it a taste test and adjust seasonings as desired, it may be slightly salty at this point but don’t worry it’ll taste better once it’s been filled into the dough.

Step 5

Take the dough and pinch off a medium ball of dough. Flatten and roll the dough until it’s a bout 5 inches in diameter.

Step 6

Place the potato stuffing in the middle, you can put in as much as you’d like. The more potatoes you use the thicker your paratha will be. Ensure to leave about 1 inch of space from the sides.

Step 7

Then take the edges and start pleating, bringing the pleats in the centre to join them. Press and flatten the pleats into the centre (video below).

Step 8

Sprinkle some flour and roll the paratha until you get your desired thickness. I’ve included a picture below of what it may look like. If you have a lot of filling this may result of in a paratha that is 1/2cm thick or it may be thinner. There’s no right way to do it and it doesn't have to be round!

Step 9

Place the paratha on a hot pan, once the base is partly cooked flip and spread some butter. Leave for another minute or so and flip again spreading some more butter. Flip again and you’ll know it’s cooked once the paratha is crisp, and you see brown spots forming.

Step 10

Repeat steps 4-8 until you’ve used up all the dough and stuffing, it should make around 8 parathas.

Step 11

Serve with some extra butter, yoghurt and mango pickle.