Aloo Paratha - Step-by-step recipe

I just love my potatoes and what better way than Aloo Ka Paratha? Healthy boiled potatoes sandwiched between whole wheat rotis - tastes delicious as is or with pickle, curd, pudina chutney or papad. I can eat parathas any time of the day. Most people who have sampled my paratha are very pleased especially cause of the amount of potato that I put in.

I thought I'd post this one as a Step-by-Step recipe.

Ingredients for 5 parathas:
For the rotis :
5 handfuls of whole wheat flour
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Water as required

For the potato mash filling:
5 boiled potatoes - medium sized

1 green chilli finely chopped
1 handful of fresh coriander leaves chopped finely
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste

How I made it :
1. Boil and mash potatoes. Add all other ingredients under potato mash filling and keep aside.

2. Make a stiff dough with the whole wheat flour.
3. Divide the dough into small rounds of same size.

4. Take two of the rounds. Roll each out into a small slightly thick puri of same size.

5. Take about 2 times the size of one round of potato mash. Place it in the centre of one of the rounds.

6. Cover this with the other round. Pinch the edges together. Pinch as little as possible to ensure that the potato does get to the edges whilst rolling it out.

7. Dust this well with flour on both sides. Roll this out starting from the edges towards the centre. This will ensure that the filling does not get out. So, basically you will roll at an angle from out to in with medium pressure. Once you feel that the potato filling is well distributed, roll out as usual. Ensure that it is well floured to prevent it from sticking and breaking. You could also roll it out a bit thick.

8. Place this on a hot tava on high. Turn after 30 seconds. Reduce heat to low. Drizzle oil on the edges.
Turn this after about a minute. Drizzle some more oil. Turn the heat back on high and cook for 30 seconds. The appearance of dark brown spots indicates that it is cooked. In case you've rolled your paratha out thicker than shown, these timings may not apply.

I served mine with Mom's Pudina Chutney and Mom's Mango Muraba (recipe coming soon)

Tips:

1. Ensure that the potatoes are really well boiled such that they are easily mashable without much effort.
2. Ensure that the vessel in which you mash the potatoes is completely dry. 
3. Peel the potatoes when still hot. Do not let it sit in the water for too long. Wipe the potatoes, if needed, to remove any excess water. A watery mash will make it difficult to roll out.
4. The whole wheat flour dough should be a little on the stiffer side to enable easier rolling. I find that the addition of red chilli powder to the dough helps in this.
5. The simplest seasoning of salt will do. Try it this way at least once.
6. For a perfect paratha, the quantity of aloo should be more than that of the rotis.
7. When pinching the rotis together, pinch the ends just enough to close the rotis together. This will ensure that the potato gets to the very edge too.

Broccoli Mushroom Pasta in a creamy tomato sauce

I hardly ever get pasta right. After talking to my good friend, I got some great tips. So today I got down to making some pasta. The conversation went something like this
Pras : "What is for dinner today?"
Moi : "Pasta. Shall we eat early today?"
Pras : "Yeah. I don't like your pasta so I will eat something else later."

Well, he did not eat anything else later. But, he licked the bowl clean. I've none left to carry to work for lunch tomorrow. So here's how I made the yummy pasta. I unfortunately don't have a picture that does real justice to it.

Ingredients for 2 servings:
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 20-25 minutes

3 Amul Cheese slices - I did not have any other cheese at hand. You could replace this with any cheese of    
                                        your choice.
1 packet button mushrooms
1 small head of broccoli
100 g pasta of your choice - I used spirali - you could use more pasta. Ours had more veggies just the way I
                                           like it to be so
4-5 cauliflower florets(optional)
2 tbsp fresh cream - you could use milk
Salt to taste
3tbsp extra virgin olive oil - use any vegetable oil available at hand
1tsp red chilli powder - optional

To grind into a paste :
2 large ripe tomatoes
10 dry red chillies
7-8 cloves of garlic
1 tsp soya sauce
2 tsp vinegar

To garnish :
Fresh chopped dill leaves/coriander leaves

How I made it :
1. Cook pasta as per instructions on pack.
2.  Clean the mushrooms and quarter them
3. Boil the cauliflower and broccoli florets in turmeric water to get rid of any worms, if present. Drain the water after 2 minutes of boiling. This could be done in parallel with step 1.
4. Heat oil in a vessel.  This too could be done in parallel with step 1 after completing step 3.
5. Pour in the ground paste and let it cook for about 8-10 minutes on low flame.
6. Once it gets kind of dry, drop in the mushrooms. Fry till mushrooms are 3/4th cooked.
7. Drop in the broccoli and cauliflower florets.
8. Add salt to taste.
9. I also added a teaspoon of red chilli powder as I felt it was not that spicy. Always remember to keep tasting your food at each and every step. One of my friends knows whether the salt is sufficient or not from the smell of the food - I mean WOW!!!
10. The mushrooms would've left some liquid out. Melt in the cheese into this. Add the fresh cream too. Be careful as to not let the cheese stick to the bottom/sides of the pan/vessel.
11. Cook till the sauce thickens. Add the pasta and mix well. Adjust salt.  Mine was of a more runny consistency when I turned off the stove. The sauce thickened as it cooled. So please bear this in mind when deciding when to turn off the heat.
12. Garnish with fresh chopped dill leaves. Dill can be very over powering and requires some getting used to. Use accordingly. You could also use freshly chopped coriander leaves.