Aloo Roti Recipes

ALOO ROTI

Steps:

• Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add enough salt so the water tastes as briny as sea water. Bring to boil and cook until completely tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 40 to 50 minutes. (If you're in a hurry, you can quarter the potatoes and boil about 20 minutes.) Drain the potatoes.
• Once cool enough to handle, peel and mash the potatoes in a large steel or glass mixing bowl. I find it easier to get an even mash by coarsely grating the potatoes. Add the ghee, chiles, cilantro, 1 cup of the flour and 1 teaspoon salt and mix well to form a soft dough. Add more flour as needed to form a dough, but be careful and add a little at a time as you cannot add any water to this recipe. Divide the dough into about 15 balls.
• Heat a nonstick skillet or seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
• Keep a bowl of flour nearby. Dab each dough ball in flour, flatten to look like a patty and then dip in flour again. Roll each patty into a thin round on a generously floured surface. The potato in the dough makes it extremely sticky and you will need to use the flour as you roll.
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of oil to the skillet, then add a roti. Cook until light brown spots appear on each side, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining roti and additional oil.
• In India, we put the rotis in an insulated chapati box or insulated casserole dish to keep warm as we go. Alternatively, you could wrap them in a towel or kitchen cloth to keep warm.

TRINI CHANA AND ALOO

Steps:

• In a medium Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, add water to cover the chickpeas by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over high heat, skimming the foam, then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 45 to 60 minutes, until chickpeas are tender; drain, keeping the cooking water. (I like to use it later in the recipe; it's also a nice base for soups.)
• Meanwhile, purée the culantro and 1/3 cup water in a blender until smooth. Add a pinch of salt, the garlic and the chile. (Half a deseeded habanero will make the dish gently but noticeably hot. Adjust from there.) Blend until smooth. Stir the herb purée into the hot, drained chickpeas.
• Rinse and dry the pot. Peel the potato, and cut it into 3/4-inch chunks. In the pot, heat the oil over medium heat, add the curry powder and turmeric and stir, until very aromatic and just starting to darken. Carefully add the potatoes and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring, until you get a little sticking on the bottom of the pot, 3 to 5 minutes. Add a little water to scrape up the stuck parts, then add water to cover by 1/2 inch. (I use the chickpea cooking water, but Dolly Sirju prefers fresh water.) Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt.
• Bring the pot to a vigorous simmer, shy of a full boil, and cook until the potatoes are tender and the chickpeas are soft, about 30 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Chop some more culantro. Serve the curry with long grain white rice or roti, and garnish with chopped culantro.

ALOO ROTI (POTATO ROTIS)

Steps:

• Boil potatoes till tender, then grate them.
• Mix together in a large bowl, the wholewheat flour, AP flour, fenugreek and mint leaves, cilantro, chili, ginger, ajwain seeds, salt and pepper.
• Mix in the grated potatoes and oil.
• You should have a semi-firm dough that does not stick to your fingers, but if you don't have enough moisture, add some of the optional yogurt to yield a dough of such consistency.
• Do not knead the dough anymore than needed to incorporate everything. There is also no need to let it rest.
• Divide the dough into 10-12 balls with lightly oiled, clean hands.
• Dust your rolling surface with some flour, and roll each ball into a thin 6-inch circle.
• Heat your griddle over medium-high heat and cook the breads until they are speckled with golden dots on each side. This should take about a minute per side.
• Remove from griddle, brush with butter and serve.