Curry In Kadai ~ An Indian Cooking Blog

Parathas hot and fresh from the griddle are always sumptuous and mouth watering. My husband is the first person to be so much content and satisfied when i serve parathas( particularly his favorite aloo parathas ) with some regular plain old home made yogurt, he wouldn't ask for any more, and that makes my job... even easier !

As it was my very first time adding mint and kasuri methi to the parathas , i wasn't sure of the end product... but lemme tell you the parathas were too good to be true.. The nuttyness from the sesame seeds, tanginess from the yogurt n lime, lots of flavor from kasuri methi, ginger, garlic and mint., made these parathas a quick seller... We could finish these parathas just as they are, you don't need any curry on the side.. yep that good...

Chapathi, by itself is very delicious and healthy. But you might get bored of eating the same plain chapathi everyday. Chapathi / roti can be used as a base to create wonderful variations. You can stuff chapathis with an array of fillings. One such popular stuffing is with Potato( Aloo / Alu ). These aloo parathas are so filling and plain yogurt would be good enough as a compliment. These parathas are bursting with potatoes, spices and full of flavor. My aloo paratha was born from my husbands memories and thoughts. Though he is not a good cook he could explain me about the ingredients and the taste of the food he had(even from years).

For making 10-12 parathas you require:

• 2 cups fine whole wheat flour( atta )
• 3/4 - 1 cup warm water or milk
• 2-3 tbsp oil or ghee
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Some extra flour for dusting rotis when rolling

How to make dough:

• Use food processor if you have one.
• Warm water or milk in a microwave.
• In a mixing bowl add flour, salt, sugar, oil or ghee and mix together.
• Slowly add warm water or milk and knead it into a soft dough.
• Knead the dough with milk/water for 10 minutes and cover it with a damp cloth.
• Let it rest for atleast 20 min.
• Divide dough into 12 equal portions and coat them with flour.

For potato filling you need:

• 2 large red potatoes
• 1 small onion
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1-2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
  
• 1/2 tsp amchur ( dried mango) powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 cup chopped coriander
• salt to taste

How to make potato filling:

• Cook the potatoes in microwave for 5 min with little water covered
• Peel off the skin chop them and keep it aside
• Chop onions very fine
  
• In a kadai or pan add jeera and fry it till golden brown. Add onions and saute well
• Once the onions are browned add peas and cook for a min
• Add the powders, red chilli powder, garam masala, amchur powder and blend well
• Add the chopped potato and mash it to become a paste
• Add cilantro and adjust salt and spice to taste
• Let this filling come to room temperature

How to make aloo parathas:

• Roll out the dough into small palm sized rotis
  
• Fill it with potato filling and wrap it as shown in the picture
• Now roll out the potato filled dough ball just like a regular chapathi.
  
• Heat tawa or griddle and cook these paraths with little ghee or oil
  

These aloo parathas taste great when hot along with plain yogurt and some freshly sliced onions with lemon, jeera powder and black salt. A simple sumptuous and heart filling meal is also a great feast to the eyes!!!


Problem with leftovers? heres a tip:
Freeze aloo parathas in batches by placing parchment paper between each paratha and freeze in ziploc bags or aluminium foil. These come very handy in the eleventh hour. To reheat, take from the freezer and cook in medium flame until done using little ghee or oil( I myself didnt need it ). I usually wrap them in aluminium foil( without parchment paper in between ) and heat in oven without unpacking the foil for 15 min, and they come out hot and fresh!

Tags:Aloo paratha, Alu paratha, Potato filled indian whole wheat bread, Spicy potato paratha, bangala dumpa paratha

In India the most common bread is Chapathi( flat whole wheat bread looks like a tortilla ). Since it is usually served in every meal it can be called Indian Bread. Chapatis are made using fine whole wheat flour, oil, water( milk ) and salt. It is a very healthy replacement for rice because of its high fiber content and when fortified it has more nutritional benefits. Since these doesnt require yeast the dough can be made freshly every day and when stored properly can be used for atleast 2 weeks. Usually chapatis are served with some lentil curry(dal) or vegetable( or meat ) curry, yogurt(curd) and fresh salad.


For making 10-12 chapthis you require:

• 2 cups fine whole wheat flour( atta )
• 3/4 - 1 cup warm water or milk
• 2-3 tbsp oil or ghee
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Some extra flour for dusting rotis/chapthis when rolling
  

Method:

• Use food processor if you have one.
• Warm water or milk in a microwave.
• In a mixing bowl add flour, salt, sugar, oil or ghee and mix together.
• Slowly add warm water or milk and knead it into a soft dough.
• Knead the dough with for 10 minutes and cover it with a damp cloth.
• Let it rest for atleast 20 min.
• Divide dough into 12 equal portions and coat them with flour.
• Roll each one into a 6 inch flat round tortilla or roti.
• In the meanwhile heat griddle or tawa under medium heat.
• Put the rolled out roti on the griddle and heat on one side., once the bubbles start appearing flip the roti and heat it on the other side just for 15 sec.
• Remove it and apply ghee or roll a butter stick on the hot chapati and cover it with a lid.
• Cook the remaining chapathis the same way and pile up these rotis like pancakes.
• I normally wrap 5-10 rotis in aluminium foil and freeze them. I will bake the whole foil packet in the oven just before eating for 20 min under 350F. These come as handy in the eleventh hour.

Serve these chapathis/chapatis aka whole wheat breads hot with yogurt, okra curry, lentil curry or roll them up with sauteed vegetables or refried beans.

We use whole wheat flour to make puris( deep fried bread ), stuffed chapathi or partha, stuffed potato whole wheat bread( aloo paratha ), fenugreek leaves stuffed bread, Cheese stuffed rotis, Spinach chapati/roti, Onion whole wheat bread and many variations. I will post these recipes soon.

Tags:chapathi, chapati, indian bread, indian whole wheat bread, roti