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Alu Paratha (Unleavened Bread Stuffed with Potatoes)
(on 26 cm Futura Hard Anodised Tava (Griddle))

Yield: 12 paratha	About 5 minutes per paratha
Filling   1 cup / 240 ml water  6 medium (1 lb 5 oz / 600 g) potatoes  2 medium (7 oz / 200 g) onions  finely chopped 2 green chillies  finely chopped 1½ tbsp / 22.5 ml coriander leaves  chopped 2½ tsp / 12.5 ml salt  1½ tsp / 7.5 ml cumin seeds  ½ tsp / 2.5 ml red chilli powder  1¼ tsp / 6.3 ml coriander powder  a pinch pepper  1 tbsp / 15 ml pomegranate seeds  crushed Dough   3¾ cups / 375 g sifted wheat flour  ½ tsp / 2.5 ml salt  1 tbsp + 2 tsp / 25 ml ghee  1¼ cups / 300 ml water  Ghee for Frying   ½ cup / 120 g
Figure A Figure B Figure C
Method
1 To make filling: Pour water in a Hawkins pressure cooker. Place potatoes in cooker, preferably on a grid. Close cooker. Bring to full pressure (first whistle) on high heat. Reduce heat and cook 10 minutes. Meanwhile do step 5. 2 Remove cooker from heat. Release pressure by slight lifting of vent weight. 3 Open cooker. Remove potatoes. Cool just till potatoes can be handled. Peel and mash potatoes. Allow to cool. Add remaining ingredients. Mix. 4 Rub hands with a little ghee. Make 12 balls about 1½ inch/3.8 cm in diameter. Keep covered. 5 To make dough: Mix flour, salt, ghee and ¾ cup/180 ml water. Add enough of remaining water ( ½ cup/120 ml), 2 tbsp/30 ml at a time, mixing after each addition, till dough forms a soft ball (stop adding water before dough becomes wet and sticky). Knead till dough is smooth and elastic (about 2 minutes). Keep covered with a damp cloth about 30 minutes. 6 Rub hands with a little ghee. Knead dough briefly. Make 12 balls about 1½ inch/3.8 cm in diameter. Keep covered with a damp cloth. 7 On a floured board, roll each ball of dough into a flat round 4 inch/10 cm in diameter (To prevent sticking when rolling out rounds of dough: slightly flatten balls and press the balls lightly in flour on both sides. Shake off excess flour and roll out). Keep on a lightly floured surface, covered with a damp cloth. 8 To stuff paratha : Follow illustrated steps, using 1 ball of filling for each round of dough. 1 Place round on palm of hand. Cup hand slightly to form a depression in centre of round (Figure A). 2 Put a ball of filling on round (Figure B). 3 Surround filling evenly with dough by gently opening and closing hand slightly in a pulsating motion till some edges just meet. Pinch together the edges which meet just enough to seal (Figure C). Pat sealed area to get an even thickness of dough. Repeat till round is closed fully 4 Place stuffed round on board. Flatten slightly. Stuff remaining rounds of dough in the same way. Keep covered with a damp cloth. 5 On a floured board, roll each stuffed ball gently into a flat round 6 inch/15 cm in diameter. Keep on a lightly floured surface, covered with a damp cloth. 9 Heat tava on medium heat about 1½ minutes for 22 cm tava/about 3 minutes for 26 cm tava. 10 Put round on tava. Cook as explained below. Cook remaining rounds in the same way. Serve hot, accompanied with curd. 1 Put round on preheated tava. Cook 1 minute. (Top should begin to look dry and darken. There should be a few light brown specks on the underside. If you can adjust the heat so that a few brown specks appear on the underside in 1 minute, you will be cooking at the ideal temperature.) Turn over round with a broad spatula. 2 Spread ½ tsp/2.5 ml ghee all over top surface of round. Turn over. 3 Spread ½ tsp/2.5 ml ghee in the same way. Turn over. 4 Lightly press entire round with spatula, rotating and pressing a small area at a time. (Pressing paratha ensures even cooking. If you notice a lighter area, press on the opposite side of that area when you have turned over paratha.) Turn over. 5 Press in the same way. Turn over. 6 Spread ½ tsp/2.5 ml ghee over round. Turn over. 7 Spread ½ tsp/2.5 ml ghee over round. Turn over. 8 Continue pressing and turning till paratha is evenly browned (medium-brown) on both sides. Remove.