Sunita's Aloo Parathas
A family's version of the traditional and popular Punjabi recipe—Chapathis stuffed with spiced potatoes.
As a frantic year ends, Sunita shares a comforting and quick brunch recipe she learnt from her mother.
“Like fresh Masala chai”.
That’s Sunita’s answer when asked how home feels like. Chai-making coloured her childhood home with a warm smell of cardamom brewing with cinnamon and cloves. It was an infectious smell that brought in neighbours and friends. They’d sip fresh chai amidst plates of crispy pakoras emptying and refilling themselves. “That's when you know you're home”, Sunita says.
Sunita, like a lot of Punjabis, grew up in a family that loved to eat and cook. At a time when cooking was a gendered practice, both men and women in her family cooked. Her style of cooking too is as much shaped by her dad and uncles as it is by her mother and grandmother.
And just like her family, food is her best “way of showing love”. (Which works great for her friends).
Sunita is now an expert in traditional Punjabi cooking. From Tandoori Fish to Aloo Paratha, she shares her heritage through heritage recipes she's grown up eating.
“I’ve passed on my skills and knowledge for the benefit of someone else, so it's appreciated and taken further, as opposed to just staying with me. Why keep it dormant?”
For us, she chose the classic Aloo paratha. It’s her favourite brunch food that her mother would have ready for when she was back from swimming. Today, it’s her children’s and grandchildren’s favourite brunch food.
Sunita recommends this song as an accompaniment to the aloo paratha. Like the paratha, it is a mix of freshness and nostalgia. For some of us, its lines might capture the fading year’s sentiment:
“अजीब दास्ताँ है ये, कहाँ शुरू कहाँ ख़तम[…] किसी का प्यार ले के तुम नया जहां बसाओगे”
“What a strange story this is. Who knows where it started and where will it end[…] You'll create a new world with someone's love”.
The Recipe (takes 40 mins, serves 4)
250g chapati flour or wheat flour
250ml water
3 large potatoes
1 medium red onion
2-inch ginger
2 green chillies (adjust to taste)
1 tsp kastoori methi (dried fenugreek)
1 tsp ajwain (caraway seed)
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp mixed coriander and cumin powder
1 tsp amchoor (dried mango powder)
25g fresh coriander
7 tbsp vegetable oil or butter
Prep:
Potatoes boiled whole with skin on until soft, then cooled.
Knead the flour into a soft dough using cold water.
Steps:
Peel potatoes, and mash in the mixing bowl.
Into the small frying pan add 3 tbsp oil.
Add 1 tsp of cumin seeds, methi, ajwain, ginger, chilli & spices.
Add mixture from the frying pan to mashed potatoes.
Then add finely chopped onion and fresh coriander, mix well.
Flour a surface and roll out two walnut-sized pieces of dough to 4inch diameter.
Onto one rolled sheet of dough, top with a spoonful of potato mixture, then lay the other sheet of dough on top and seal the edges. Flour both sides
Roll gently to approximately 8inch diameter.
Fry on medium heat in a flat frying pan, brushing with oil on either side.