Manju Moolraj's Potato-Stuffed Parathas



This recipe should make at least 8 parathas. Please use your culinary discretion when adding the seasonings ... the measurements below serve only as a rough guide.

For the dough:

  • 2 C flour (Note: you can approximate the kind of Kenyan flour that Manju uses by mixing 1/2 C whole wheat flour with 1 1/2C white flour)
  • 1/2 C water

    For the filling:
  • 8 medium potatoes, boiled until tender and peeled
  • 1 t salt
  • 1/2 t red chili (or cayenne) powder
  • 1/2 t garam masala powder (available at many stores; see suggested recipe below)
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 green chili, minced without the seeds
  • 1 C coriander leaves (cilantro), washed and dried and removed from the stems

    Mix flour and water with your fingers, adding water gradually, until you've formed a soft, smooth dough -- as soft as possible without being at all sticky. After about five minutes of mixing, it should be the general consistency of bread dough. Cover the dough with a damp towel and set aside for about 30 minutes.

    Mash potatoes by hand; don't put them in a food processor or they'll become gluey. Stir in all the ingredients for the filling, being especially careful to add chili powder and minced chili to taste; one type of chili or chili powder could be mild, another might blow you away. Remember, though, that however spicy you make this mixture, its "bite" will be diluted when you eat it with the dough.

    Put a large cast iron or other heavy-gauge pan on medium heat.

    To form each paratha:

    Roll two chunks of dough in the palms of your lightly floured hands, to form two balls the size of golf balls. Roll each one on a lighly-floured surface until it's 4-5" in diameter. Put a tablespooon of the filling in the center of one disc, place the second disc on top, pinch the edges together to form a big circular envelope, and then lightly roll the whole thing until it's flat, about 1/4" thick. At this point the potato filling and the dough will have become pressed together, they will have merged; it should look sort of like a pancake with flecks of potato and spices in it.

    Drizzle just a teaspoon or so of vegetable oil on the pan, wait until it's hot but not smoking, and then lightly brown the paratha; it will take around one minute per side. If desired, drizzle a little more oil on top of the paratha and spread it on the surface with a spoon, just before taking it off the heat.

    Manju Moolraj like to serve these parathas with plain yogurt and with a salad of carrots, cucumbers, onions and cabbage, cut into matchsticks and tossed with a little fresh-squeezed lemon juice.

    For the garam masala:
  • 2 T cumin seeds
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 3 cardamon pods
  • 4 peppercorns

    Heat all the ingredients in a cast iron or other heavy-gauge pan over medium heat, shaking occasionally, until you can begin to smell the toasty fragrance; it should take only a couple minutes. Remove the spices from the pan, cook, and then pound to a powder or pulverize in a coffee grinder. Store in a jar tightly covered.