Aloo Pyaaz Ke Parathe

It is winter now, and when the sun sets early we tend to cuddle up and watch more TV shows. Out of so many, one of our favorites is Highway on the Plate and Food Mad. It is the journey of two amazing food enthusiasts, Rocky and Mayur.

In one such episode, Rocky and Mayur were in Amritsar (North India) enjoying paratha or flat bread, with a dollop of butter on it and fresh yogurt or dahi. Allo Pyaz ka Paratha. How delicious is that!!! flat bread stuffed with potatoes and onions. The episode does not show recipe so I created my own versions which was super hit in my family. We just love this version of aloo ka paratha. I used my imagination and sense of food to add caramelized onions to the potato stuffing. That brought out flavor and sweetness from onions, and gave it a very interesting taste. You should try it out!

Normally parathas a shallow fried in ghee or oil. Although I do not literally shallow fry them, rather just apply oil or ghee on both the sides. But this time I did fry just one paratha in ghee. I had posted a Slomo video of frying paratha on my Facebook page. I should say it did taste amazing. It got crispier on all sides and it was very different. It was very heavy too....imagine having a fried paratha. One for fun is fine... my husband and I shared the paratha to enjoy the taste. Yes, we then worked it out at the gym :)

With cold winter days, a hot paratha with butter is totally worth it.

Ingredients (make 6-8 parathas)

For the stuffing:
3 large potatoes (boiled, peeled, and mashed)
1 cup chopped onions
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp. salt
1 green chili finely chopped
1 tsp. red chili powder
1-2 tbsp. lemon juice

For the dough:
2+1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. oil
Water to make a soft dough

For rolling and frying:
Some dry flour
1/4 cup chopped onions
2-3 tbsp. kalonji (Nigella seeds)
2-3 tbsp. whole chaniya (coriander seeds)
Around 1/4 cup oil or ghee for frying

Serving:
Butter
Sliced onions
Pickle of your choice

Method

Boil, peel, and mash potatoes. Leave it aside.
Finely chop onions and green chili.
In a pan, heat oil. Add chopped onions and caramelize them of low heat. When done, add chopped green chili and red chili powder. Fry for a minute. Add onions to mashed potato mixture.
Add salt and lemon juice to potato mixture and mix well till it is well blended. Taste a bit for salt and lemon. Add more if needed.
Make a soft dough with whole wheat flour, salt, oil, and water. Cover and leave it aside for 15-20 minutes.

To roll

Keep chopped onions, kalonji, coriander seeds, dry flour, dough, and potato mixture ready.
Divide the dough and potato mixture into 6-8 parts.
Take 1 part of the dough, using dry flour, roll it into a 5 inch disc.
Add 1 part of potato filling in the center and fold the sides in to overlap and lock the stuffing in.
Roll it gently to form and square shaped paratha. (just for fun).
Top it with a bit of onions, kalonji seeds, and dhaniya seeds. Roll it again to press the seeds well into the dough.
Fry the paratha of medium hot griddle. Ad a bit of ghee or oil on both sides of the paratha while frying it.
Let it turn golden brown and cook evenly on all sides.
Remove in a plate and serve with a dollop of butter.
Pickle, onion, and dahi on the side and perfect accompaniments for this hot paratha.

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Finely chop onions and green chili.

In a pan, heat oil. Add chopped onions and caramelize them of low heat. When done, add chopped green chili and red chili powder. Fry for a minute. Add onions to mashed potato mixture.

Add salt and lemon juice to potato mixture and mix well till it is well blended. Taste a bit for salt and lemon. Add more if needed.

Make a soft dough with whole wheat flour, salt, oil, and water. Cover and leave it aside for 15-20 minutes.

Keep chopped onions, kalonji, coriander seeds, dry flour, dough, and potato mixture ready.

Take 1 part of the dough, using dry flour, roll it into a 5 inch disc.
Add 1 part of potato filling in the center and fold the sides in to overlap and lock the stuffing in.