Alu Ka Parantha and The Three Things Meme./Stuffed Bread

I am not great with memes..I let it languish in my to-be-written folder till everybody in the blogging world has had their say and then I smile, thinking I escaped this one.
It is like playing passing the parcel and being the one who didn’t have to do anything. :) Writing about food is easy, writing about yourself is not. You have to be an extrovert to be able to let people in. Doesn’t come easy.
So this time, I put on some of my favorite hindi music, got my cuppa of Cardamom(Elakai) tea and sat down not to disappoint my taggers Coffee and Maheshwari.

T h e T h r e e T h i n g s M e m e:


Three things that make me laugh:
1. My son, my nephews and my nieces’ pranks and antics.
2. My better half!
3. A good movie.

Three things that make me cry:
Just three things? I cry for every thing, happy tears, frustrated tears, sad tears, angry tears…like someone() once said to me,” I can cry at least! These are my tears.”

Three things that scare me:
1. Driving in the rain at night.
2. Trafiic Police.. yeah, me too. I am more worried about my insurance premium going up than getting a ticket.
3. Things I can only worry about but can’t change.

Three things that I love:
1. My family-the one I was born into, the one I married into and everybody in it.
2. Cooking when I am not hungry.
3. Seeing a building seamlessly integrated with its environs.

Three things I don’t understand:
1. Why enough is never enough.
2. Why Priyadarshan is converting wonderful rustic mallu movies into non-contextual Hindi movies.
3. Why we take on more than we can physically do.

Three things on my desk:
1. My pens, erasers, scales, sketch pens, notebooks.
2. My latest cookbook.
3. My laptop and camera.

Three favorite foods
1. Soup, any kind.
2. Eggs in any form
3. Sweets, fruits, nuts.

Three beverages I drink regularly:
1. Black Tea w/ milk( maybe green tea if I am at work)
2. More tea.
3. Hot Jeeraka water..water boiled with cumin(jeera)

Three TV shows I watched/ books I read as a kid:
1.Amar Chitra Katha, Target and Marvel comics.
2. Books galore!
3. Fouji,Nukkad, Kachchi Dhoop, Mahabharatha!

Three fellow bloggers I would like to tag:
RP of My workshop
Anita of A Mad Tea Party
Nandita of Saffron Trail.

I did have fun writing this and I do hope now you three will carry on the baton from here and won't disappoint me.:)Now lets eat some Alu paranthas..I can almost smell the butter.




You will Need: For 6 Paranthas
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour or Durum Wheat Flour
3/4 cups Hot or warm water
1 tbsp Plain Yoghurt
2 Medium Potatoes
3/4 tsp Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp Dry Mango Powder(Amchoor) or 2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Chili Powder OR 2 tbsp finely chopped Green Serrano Chilies
1 1/2 tsp Salt
4 tbsp Chopped Cilantro
1/8 tsp Turmeric


Preparation
1. The potatoes should be boiled, peeled, mashed and cooled to room temperature. Take care not to have a drop of moisture left in the potatoes. That makes the parantha soggy. I usually bake it in the microwave in the baked potato setting. Then there is no additional moisture added to the potato.

2. Put flour, yoghurt and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour half the water in the center. Use a spoon or hand to mix the flour and water and knead it well, adding water little by little till the dough seems non sticky and soft. When the dough is well kneaded, it will feel elastic and silky smooth. To test the dough, press it lightly with a fingertip. If it springs back, it is ready. Spread a very thin film of oil (by hand) on the dough and cover it for at least 15 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to absorb the water and makes it pliable enough to spread with the stuffing. Cover with a wet towel so the dough does not dry out.

3. Mix the mashed potatoes with all the spices and taste it for spice, sourness and saltiness. Add more spice if needed. Make small balls of the mixture.

4. Divide the dough into 6 equal size balls. With your hand, flatten each ball to a 3-4 inch round with the edges thinner than the center. Place the potato ball on it and gather the edges around the stuffing to form a secure round again.

5. Flatten these balls slightly and roll into a 6 inch circle. While rolling, do not apply excessive pressure. Never roll to the outside. It will only squish out the stuffing. Try rolling from the edges to the center in an even pressure to avoid the stuffing from spilling out. The stuffing ball should be dry and 3/4 the size of the dough ball and it won't come out.

6. Pre-heat the griddle. Maintain medium high heat and place a parantha on it. After about a minute, flip it and allow it to cook on the other side. When the surface looks opaque and starts rising up, spread a little oil or butter and cook over low heat on both sides till golden brown.
Serve with chutney or yogurt, and Indian pickles