Aloo Paratha (also called potato roti) is a delicious Indian flatbread dish that you won’t want to miss! Traditionally, this roti stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes is served with pickles and chili sauce as either a one-dish meal or a side.
Mix the flour, salt, and water in a large bowl. Using your hands, knead into a rough dough - this could take a few minutes. Then, cover the bowl tightly with a damp towel or cling film and set it aside for about 1 hour. During this time, the gluten in the dough will develop.
Step 2: Make the Aloo Stuffing
If you have any leftover boiled potatoes, you can use them for this recipe. No need to warm them up, just make sure they are at room temperature.
If you don’t have any boiled potatoes, you need to cook them while the dough is resting. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with plenty of water and bring them to a boil. Cook them for about 15 minutes on high heat, or until the potatoes are tender. Then drain the water and let the potatoes cool down so you can peel them.
In the meantime, finely chop the green onions.
Mash the boiled potatoes together with salt, lemon juice, chili powder, and green onions. The mixture should be smooth with no lumps. Adjust the seasoning if needed (more salt or chili powder, etc).
Step 3: Assemble the Aloo Paratha
Divide the dough into 10 even-sized balls. If you’d like, you can use a kitchen balance to be precise.
Flatten 2 of the dough balls with a rolling pin to about 5-6 inches (13-15 cm) in diameter. They don’t have to be perfect but make sure the 2 circles are roughly the same size.
Place 1/5 of the potato stuffing on top of one of the rolled-out dough balls. Cover it with the second one and “seal” it with the rolling pin - flatten and stretch the potato roti to about 8 inches (20 cm).
Repeat these steps with the rest of the dough and filling - you should have 5 roti.
Step 3: Cook the Potato Roti
Place one of your potato roti on a cast-iron skillet or a large frying pan that has been heated to high. Flip after 1 minute and then drizzle or brush some olive oil onto the cooked part.
Cook for 1-2 minutes, then flip again and add oil to the other side. Toast for a couple of minutes on each side, flipping 1-2 more times to allow even cooking of both sides You want to see small golden brown spots all over the outside of your dough.
Enjoy with some pickles, chili sauce, or a knob of butter.
Notes
Optional Add-Ins and Variations
More spices: feel free to add more dried spices to your filling. Some ideas include ginger, cumin, turmeric, coriander, or even dried pomegranate seeds (called anardana powder).
Fresh flavors: you can also add some fresh finely chopped spices into the filling. Cilantro, parsley, or mint comes to mind, but you can also get creative! Fresh, chopped onions are also yummy.
Cheese: cheese and potatoes are a great match! This is one flavor combination that we all know and love. Add some to the filling. If you want to keep this recipe as traditionally Indian as possible, use paneer.
Vegetables: add a bit more substance to your aloo roti by adding carrots, broccoli, pepper, peas, or your preference to the filling.
Check the blog post for serving recommendations, storage instructions, and answers to top FAQs!