Aloo Parantha
These are like pillowy pitas filled with a nicely spicy (but not hot), meatless filling.
Ingredients
Naan:
1 tsp. dried yeast
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/2 Cup warm water (110-120°)
1 1/2-2 Cups unbleached flour, divided
pinch salt
1/4 Cup vegetable oil
Filling:
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 stick butter, softened
1-1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. salt
1 TB chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
For the Naan:
Combine the yeast and sugar with the warm water in a glass bowl. Stir until combined and let rest for about 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup of the flour, the salt and the oil. Add the yeast mixture. Mix by hand, adding more flour as needed for fairly non-sticky dough. Place on a floured board and knead for about 5 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place for 1 hour; the dough will double in size.
For the Filling:
Boil the potatoes in enough water to cover them for about 8 minutes, or until they are fork tender. Drain and mash by hand very well, but not totally smooth. Mix in the butter, curry powder, garam masala, salt and cilantro. Set aside.
Brush a pizza stone with vegetable oil and place in a cold oven. Set the oven to 425°. Divide the risen dough into 8 pieces. Round each and place on a floured board. Roll, one at a time, into a 6-inch circle. Take about 1 TB of filling and place in the center of the circle. Bring up the sides and roll with your hands into a ball. Roll on the floured board into a flat circle. Repeat the procedure for the remaining balls of dough. When the oven is hot, place one or two of the circles on the hot stone. Bake for about 5 minutes. The Aloo Parantha should be slightly browned and nicely crisp. You can eat them hot from the oven or brush with softened butter if you like.
If you do not have a pizza stone, preheat the oven to 450°. Place the dough circles on a cookie sheet on the middle rack and bake at 450° for 5 minutes. Transfer to the top rack and broil on high for an additional 2 minutes until the naan crisps up and blackens a bit. If you would prefer to cook on the stove, heat a nonstick skillet over high heat. Once it’s nice and hot, add the naan and cook 2 minutes per side. If you would like to add a bit of butter for flavor, use 1/2-1 tsp.
Prep. time: 90 minutes
Baking time: 5 minutes per batch
Yield: 8 Aloo Parantha