Sourdough Aloo Paratha — Spicy Potato Stuffed Flatbread
This recipe is a sourdough fermented take on aloo paratha, a classic potato-and-chili stuffed flatbread from India. Enjoy these breads dipped in yogurt and chutney, alongside soup or stew, wrapped around salad greens, and in many other ways.
- Prep time
- 1 hr 30 min
- Cook time
- 4 min
- Yield
- 8 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- Filling
- 4 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled, and riced or mashed
- 1-2 Tbsp oil
- 1 heaping tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 0-3 green chilis (Thai/bird's eye, serrano, cayenne), sliced
- 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1 tsp mango powder (amchur) or 1/2 tsp ground sumac or 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2-3 tsp garam masala spice blend
- 1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1/4 cup dried fenugreek leaves
- Dough
- 390 grams flour (260g/2 cups all purpose flour and 130g/1 cup hard red spring wheat whole grain flour)
- 237 grams water (1 cup)
- 12 grams oil (1 Tbsp)
- 5 grams salt (1 tsp)
- optional 60 grams sourdough starter (scant 1/4 cup)
- additional oil, ghee, or butter for cooking the breads
Instructions
- 1
Using the dough at any degree of expansion less than double is fine. In a warm kitchen (78°F) with refrigerated starter that had doubled a few days prior, my dough expanded by 50% in four hours. If you want to mix the dough in the morning and use it in the evening, mix the dough with cold water and less starter, e.g. 15-30 grams.
- 2
Dough
- 3
Combine the dough ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a clean workspace and knead for a few minutes, adding flour as needed.
- 4
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let it rise while you prepare the filling.
- 5
Filling
- 6
Peel the potatoes and cut them into similar-size pieces. Place in a pan of salted unheated water and bring to a boil. Simmer until the potatoes are tender all the way through when poked with a fork. Drain off the water and rice or mash the potatoes into a bowl.
- 7
Dice the onion and slice the chilis, set aside.
- 8
In a saute pan, heat the oil. Add the cumin seeds and ground turmeric, cooking until the seeds sizzle, about 30 seconds.
- 9
Add the onion and chilis and cook until the onion is tender and translucent.
- 10
Add the chili powder, mango powder or substitute, garam masala, salt, and fenugreek leaves, crushing them in your hands as you put them in the pan.
- 11
Mix and cook for a few minutes more, adding a splash of oil if the mixture seems dry.
- 12
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of riced potatoes and mix thoroughly.
- 13
Give the filling a taste and add more salt if desired.
- 14
Assembly
- 15
Prep two baking sheets covered with well floured tea towels to hold the parathas before you cook them.
- 16
Divide the dough into eight pieces and roll the pieces into balls.
- 17
Flour a dough ball on both sides, roll or stretch it into a circle 4-6 inches in diameter, making the edges thinner than the center.
- 18
Add the filling to the center of the dough, 1/4 to 1/3 cup, but experimenting with the amount that works for you. Fold in the sides of the dough, pinch the top, and re-roll the dough into a circle about 6 inches in diameter.
- 19
Place the stuffed dough on a baking sheet lined with a floured tea towel.
- 20
Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.
- 21
Cooking
- 22
Preheat one or two cast iron pans on your stove to medium heat. Water sprinkled on the pans should sizzle. Place a dough on the hot pan and let it cook about 30 seconds or until it is bubbly and flippable but not hard. Flip and add oil, butter or ghee to the top if desired. When the second side is cooked, the paratha may puff up. Flip again to make sure both sides have brown spots.
- 23
Remove from the heat to a plate or cooling rack, and repeat until all the dough is cooked.
- 24
Serve warm if possible. Store in the refrigerator in a closed container. For reheating, if a paratha is soft and damp, use the toaster oven. If it is hard and dry, use the microwave.