Aloo Paratha - South Indianised!

Are we all not so accustomed with tastes that are native to us? Whenever we learn something new from some other place, we make sure that we tweak it to suit our tastes... this is especially true with elders who are so used to their taste familiar to them. They find it hard to get used to some new taste.....

A similar situation has given rise to this South-Inidianised form of parathas! My inlaws, esp my MIL, likes her south Indian form of cooking with lot of coconut and stuff, rather than garam masalas, ginger garlic pastes and so on! And since we all love parathas, and she too wants to have it but in her form, she has tweaked it so much that it hardly resembles the actual paratha in taste, except that it has stuffing of aloo in atta dough! She uses the famous south Indian aloo palya - that we serve with Masala dosa, to make these parathas. And the accompaniment here is the very familiar coconut chutney, and not pickle and curd.

However, I must confess this is a great weekend breakfast item that we all drool over. It is worth a try, if you want variety in your usual parathas....
Here’s her recipe....

Aloo Paratha - South Indianised!

Preparation time : 20 min Cooking time : 15 min Serves : 5-6 Ingredients: For the stuffing: Potatoes - 4-5 medium sized Onions - 3-4, medium sized Oil - 2-3 tsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Urad dal - 1 tsp Green chilies - 3-4, depending on taste Curry leaves - 2-3 sprigs, leaves chopped Coriander leaves - 2-3 sprigs, chopped Turmeric - a pinch Salt to taste For parathas: Atta / Wheat flour - 3-4 cups + more for dusting Salt to taste Water to knead the dough Oil - for smearing on the parathas Method: For the stuffing: • Cook potatoes in a pressure cooker till done • Peel and mash roughly • Meanwhile chop onions finely, slit green chilies • In a pan, heat oil, add mustard seed and allow to splutter • Once done, add the urad dal, curry leaves, green chilies and sauté till done • Add chopped onions and stir till translucent. Add turmeric. • Once onions are done, add roughly mashed potatoes, salt and chopped coriander • Mix well, and sauté for a couple of minutes • The stuffing is ready. Allow to cool for some time • One cool, make small lemon sized balls For parathas: • Knead the flour and salt into soft dough using required amount of water. • Allow to stand for 15-30 minutes • Make lemon sized balls of the dough • Roll it into a 3 inch circle, with the middle thicker than the edge • Place the stuffing ball into the middle and cover the edges evenly and pat the ball flat • Roll it using a rolling pin dusting with atta, ensuring the stuffing does not come out. Do it very gently. • Heat a tawa and cook the paratha well on both sides, smearing teaspoon of oil for each till brown spots appear. • Repeat for the remaining dough and filling • Serve hot with a dollop of butter and some coconut chutney. Onion-coconut chutney tastes best with this version of parathas. Tips n Tricks: • Knead the dough to be soft, if it is too tight rolling parathas will be difficult. • Roll gently to avoid the filling to ooze out • Mash the boiled potatoes so that there are no lumps, which otherwise will be hurdles while rolling