Dhaaba wale Aloo-Parathe

Potatoes are a handy vegetable. You can prepare anything out of it. Many people think them to be the culprits that add to their excess body weight. This modest vegetable however is one of the best sources of carbs and fills up the hungry stomach as it satiates the hunger in multitudes. Its not evil afterall !! It also comes in varities like sweet potatoes, blue potatoes etc.
Infact its so versatile that it can be used in so many forms...in so many dishes.

Today I am going to discuss its most common use in North India. The ever popular Aloo Paratha. I am going to share my version of the same, that I had tasted in a road side 'Dhaba' (eatery for truck drivers on highways).

It was during my school days that we had gone for a two week North India excursion. I was in standard IX th then. I was the company leader of the Guides in our school. It was basically an excursion for Scouts & Guides of our school.

After stopping over at Delhi, our next stop would be Agra. We left our hotel early in the morning, in our bus.

Since it was quite early in the morning, most of us girls weren't very hungry and we ended up with just a glass of juice and were on the road trip. Now as many of us are aware of the ravenous appetite of teens, in no time we all were hungry but we were on the highway by then and so no restuarants were in sight. The hunger was so intense that after finishing the peanuts, girls were even eating up the shells/cover of the nuts too!

Thinking of it now, makes me ticklish. :-) Anyways after what seemed an eternity we did locate a 'Dhaba' and we stopped there. A bunch of hungry bubbly loud teenage girls!

Now let me tell you that its not a common sight to behold at a Dhaba where only men (infact only truck drivers and their helps) stop by for their food. Very basic food---Bhaji, Roti and Lassi.

The 'Dhaba' also did not have any closed toilets. So you can imagine. Stopping there was a basic necessity of satisfying hungry kids, which our teacher had to take.

It was here that I ate the best Aloo-Paratha I have ever tasted in my life and I couldn't even complete a single one.( and no it wasn't tasty because we were hungry...it was just delicious!) It was simply HUGE....I was burping after only eating half of it.

I share this with you. Hope you enjoy it.

Aloo-Parathe
Ingredients-
(AlooParatha is stuffed unleavened bread with spicy mashed potatoes.)

For the filling-
2 medium sized boiled potatoes, mashed
1 inch stalk of ginger, minced
½ bunch of finely chopped coriander
salt to taste
1tsp aamchur powder (dried raw mango powder)
1tsp garam masala powder
1 green chilli minced

For the dough-
5 cups of wheat flour (whole wheat flour)
enough water to make a dough (about 1/2 cup +)
oil/clarified butter (ghee) to pan fry the parathas

Method-
First make the dough.
In a bowl, place the flour and make a well in the centre. Now add water little by little, incorporating the flour each time till you reach dough like consistency. Keep aside.
Now, for the potato filling—in a bowl place all the ingredients and mix well.
Voila! the filling is ready :-)
For the final step.
Take a part of the dough, the size of a ping-pong ball. Roll it in your palm. Make a depression with your thumb, in the dough. Now, put the filling in it. Seal the dough and roll it to make a ball. Flatten it a little with slight pressure from the heel of your palm.
Roll it out with a rolling pin.
Pan fry it on the griddle with a little oil. Flip each side after 30-40 seconds/till cooked.

Serve hot with plain curd/yogurt and mango pickle/ketchup.