Alu Paratha - Potato stuffed roti/chapati

A quick and easy dish to make. I had leftover chapati dough from yesterday which needed using up. I get tired making plain chapatis very quickly and hence am always lookng for what I can stuff them with to make them into *voila* parathas! Alu parathas are simple to make and when spread with oil or ghee taste delicious....even on their own! Here is a quick recipe:

For dough: I used normal chapati dough (Atta flour, water, some oil). You can also add Cumin seeds, Ajwain (carrom seeds) to this. I had enough leftover to make 8 balls (I make the balls big enough so that they perfectly fit the inside of my fist....so about golf ball size)

Potato Stuffing:
4-5 small potatoes
2-3 medium green chillies, chopped finely
5-6 curry leaves, chopped finely (optional)
1 tsp garlic ginger paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
Green chilli paste (optional)

Mash the above ingredients. Ensure no lumps of the potato remain.
Make into balls the same size as that of the dough.


Method:

1. Roll dough out bigger than the circumference of the ball of stuffing:

Ensure there is enough dough around the ball in order to seal it inside the dough.


2. Bring in the dough from the edges around the ball of stuffing. Aim to bring the edges into the centre of the ball, and overlap the edges as much as possible. At this stage, the edges won't stick to each other, but that is not a problem as long as they overlap.


3. With a flat palm, squash the ball gently in order to give to help the edges stick plus to get it into the right shape before you start rolling it out.

4. Roll out as you would a chapati. If the potato mixture was mashed well, you shouldn't have any problem keeping the mixture inside the dough. Roll out until the thickness of a thick chapati/bhakri.


5. Cook in a pan on medium-high heat until well toasted on each side ( This usually takes about 3-4 minutes in total)- Apply Ghee/oil just before taking off heat. Serve hot.

Mango Milkshake/Thickshake

Summer has come when mangos arrive at the supermarket! Summer officially doesnt start here until December, but by the look of the weather today, it looks like it will be a long and hot summer! I found our fridge full of mangoes this morning, and so decided to whip this thick mango milkshake up to keep me cool :)





1 medium mango
3 Tbs yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup apple mango juice (optional
2 Tbs honey
Pinch Cinammon (optional)
Few ice cubes

Blend all ingredients in a food processor. Adjust the thickness of the shake according to your liking using more or less milk/juice.

Serves 2

Diwali Faral!

Happy Diwali! (Although I know Diwali has come and gone!)

Living overseas, festivals like diwali come and go ever so quick. The pomp with which this festival is celebrated in India just can't be replicated anywhere else. Nevertheless, in line with tradition, it is a must to prepare faraal and enjoy Diwali with family and friends where ever one is. This year, my mum and I made 5 items (starting bottom right hand corner and going clockwise): Chakli, Besan Ladoo, Chivda, Coconut Barfi and Shankarpali ( not in the picture as they had all finished!). Recipes for faraal, I think, are passed on from mum to daughter, and little bits are changed here and there according to taste. This is probably why there aren't very many recipes for faraal out on the net....and I dont think you can find two recipes for it which are exactly the same. Here, I'll share our recipes which we use each year.