Perfect Aloo Paratha recipe with 11 Pro Tips

Aloo Paratha recipe with step-by-step pictures and lots of tips and tricks will help you make perfect alu parathas at home.

Though being a South Indian, there is an inarguable fact about Punjabi cuisine is its culinary treasure. Variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian specialties rich in butter/ghee and cream. Also, varieties of flatbreads – roti, chapati, deep fries pooris/bhatura, naan, tadoori roti, kulcha, and pan-fried parathas.

In North India, there are two kinds of parathas – with a variety of fillings and without (plain) stuffing. I’ve already shared a recipe for plain parathas.

Today’s recipe is a stuffed version of paratha using potatoes or aloo. Also called “Aloo Paratha” or “Alu ka Paratha/Parantha“. These are the most favorite Indian stuffed flatbreads.

What is Aloo Paratha?

Aloo Paratha does not need an introduction. If you haven’t heard of aloo paratha, it is a North Indian unleavened whole wheat flatbread stuffed with a spicy, tangy, and super delicious potato filling.

These stuffed potato parathas are the quintessential breakfast for North Indians. It is also popular street food, you can find multiple stalls serving the local delicacies starting early in the morning. These aloo parathas are laden with butter and served along with boondi raita and pickle.

Apart from aloo parathas, you can find a variety of stuffed parathas filled with cauliflower, paneer (cottage cheese), mixed vegetables, etc

About Aloo Paratha Recipe

They are myriad ways to make aloo paratha and each region has its own way to make it. While most of the ingredients are the same, the spices have slight variations.

My Aloo Paratha recipe starts by making a dough with whole wheat flour. Next boiled potatoes that have the least moisture are mashed and spiced. This spicy and tangy potato masala is stuffed in a small disc of dough and sealed tightly. It is then rolled thick and pan-fried with a generous amount of fat (ghee, butter, or oil).

The unique combination of spices and herbs mixed in the boiled potatoes makes this recipe special. However, if you do not have any particular spice you can skip it.

A secret for best taste – make sure the potato stuffing is spicy, tangy, and salty. As the dough does not have any flavor, the stuffing will compensate. However, while making for kids, you can make with less spices.

Typical Punjabi aloo paratha is made with loads of fat (clarified butter or butter) and served with a dollop of butter, pickle, and curd or lassi.

Aloo Paratha recipe can be divided into 4 steps;

1. Make the whole wheat flour dough.

2. Prepare the potato stuffing.

3. Stuff the potato mixture and roll the parathas.

4. Roasting the aloo parathas.

This aloo paratha recipe and tips will help you execute parathas easily. To be honest, you will need a little practice and patience. Once you get hang of it, you will make alu parathas like a pro.

Reasons to make

Easy to make.

Loved by all the age groups.

Ideal to pack in lunchboxes, traveling, and on road trips.

A standalone dish.

Can store these stuffed parathas for longer durations, and they won’t be hard or chewy.

Perfect breakfast to start the day.

Hot, crispy on the outside, and creamy on the inside.

The ultimate desi comfort food.

You can cook it for any meal of the day and enjoy it with your friend and family.

Can serve as a snack or appetizer at a party.

Pro Tips

Making perfect aloo parathas is tricky and not an easy process. During my initial stage of cooking, I did struggle with making parathas. Boiled potatoes had a lot of moisture/water content in them. The stuffing was sticky. Aloo stuffing did not seal properly and would tear out of the dough while rolling. Experts say, there are many tricks to make a perfect Dhaba or restaurant-style aloo paratha. I’ve mentioned all of them below.

Following my tips, you will be able to make parathas that are crisp and puff like a phulka. If you are attempting for the first time, there are chances that the paratha will have cracks. But, it should not discourage you from making the next one. Practice and you will definitely become perfect.

1. Do not over-boil potatoes.

2. Take the potatoes out from the pressure cooker once they are cooked. If left in water for long, they absorb water which makes the potato stuffing very moist.

3. Cool the boiled potatoes completely before mashing and adding spices. If possible refrigerate the potatoes for a few hours.

4. Mash the boiled potatoes very well with clean fingers or a potato masher. Make sure there are no big pieces, they will tear the dough when rolling. Alternately, you can grate them for a smooth texture.

5. Add salt to the stuffing just when you are ready to make paranthas.

6. Stuff the potato mixture inside a dough ball and seal it properly.

7. Place the stuffed dough ball on the rolling board and flatten it a bit with help of fry flour. This will ensure that the stuffing spreads evenly inside and does not tear while rolling.

8. Before rolling dust a little flour onto the board and on top of the paratha to avoid sticking to the bottom.

9. Roll the paratha gently with light hands. If you apply pressure, there are chances the stuffing will tear the dough.

10. Roll the paratha thick or thin as per your preference.

11. Roast/cook the parathas on medium-high flame. If you cook on low flame, the parathas will not cook properly and they will turn hard and chewy. Depending on the intensity of the burner, do regulate the flame to avoid parathas from turning dark or burning.

Ingredients

For the dough: You will need whole wheat flour, salt, oil, and water.

For the potato filling: Boiled potatoes peeled and mashed. Spices powders and herbs are added to make the filling tangy and flavorful.

I prefer to use starchy potatoes like russet or gold potatoes to make the filling. However, you can use any potatoes that you have.

Spices and herbs mixed are green chilies (peppers), coriander leaves (cilantro), ginger, onion, red chili powder or cayenne pepper or paprika powder, dry mango powder or chat masala, anardana powder (pomegranate seeds powder), coriander powder, cumin powder, and garam masala.

If you do not have pomegranate seeds powder, you can replace it with 1 tbsp lemon juice.

Do not skip coriander leaves, they add a refreshing taste and add a bright green color to the aloo stuffing.

For roasting the parathas: oil, butter, or clarified butter.

How to boil Potatoes for Aloo Paratha?

Boiling the potatoes with the least moisture is the key to making the best aloo parathas.

1. To boil the potatoes in the pressure cooker, take the potatoes of even size in the cooker. Add 1/2 cup of water.

2. Cook for 2-3 whistles on medium flame. The cooking time/whistles will vary depending on the size and type of potatoes.

3. Turn off the flame and let the pressure go down by itself. Check the potatoes by piercing them with a sharp object (knife or fork). If they are uncooked, pressure cook for 1-2 whistles more.

4. Remove them onto a plate and let them cool completely. Then peel and mash them.

How to make Perfect Alu Parathas

1. Make the whole wheat flour dough.

In a large mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, salt, and mix. Add water (approx half the quantity of flour) little by little and knead to make a soft dough. You can check my plain paratha recipe, it is detailed steps on how to knead a dough.

2. Prepare the potato stuffing.

In a bowl mash the boiled potatoes using clean fingers or a potato masher. Make sure there are no big pieces.

Add ginger-green chilies paste, finely chopped onion, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, pomegranate seed powder, chat masala, salt, and coriander leaves.

Mix everything well. Filling is ready.

3. Stuff the potato mixture and roll the parathas.

Divide aloo stuffing and paratha dough into equal portions. Smoothen the dough balls using both your palm. Make sure to cover them, or else the dough will dry.

Take a dough ball and flatten slightly using your fingers in such a way that there is a mountain shape in the center (as seen in the pic). It does not have to be a perfect circle, but make sure the edges are slightly thinner than the center.

Place one of the aloo stuffing balls into the middle and gather the edges together until it covers the potato stuffing from all the sides.

Tip: With the right hand lift the sides and with the thumb of the left-hand press the stuffing down.

Pinch the edges together and seal it properly. Remove any extra dough.

Dust the rolling board with little dry flour. Place the stuffed ball, gently press on the center and flatten it very gently.

Again use dry flour and roll using a rolling pin into a 6-inch diameter. Note: roll with light hands and do not apply pressure.

Thickness of the paratha is your personal preference.

4. Roasting the aloo parathas.

Heat the pan or griddle over medium flame. Dust off the extra flour and place the rolled paratha on it.

Cook for about 30 seconds or until the paratha seems partially cooked.

Flip the paratha, drizzle 1-2 teaspoons of oil, ghee, or butter, and spread evenly on the top.

Carefully flip once again.

The paratha will puff. Drizzle oil, ghee, or butter over the other side too.

Flip again. Gently press the paratha (especially the edges) using a spatula and cook until it is nicely browned. Repeat the above steps for rest of the parathas. 

Serve the aloo paratha hot with butter on the top, pickle, and yogurt on the side. If serving later, remove the parathas to the insulated container.

Serving Suggestions

It can be eaten by itself but the best way to enjoy an aloo paratha is with loads of butter, raita, and pickle.

This combination is a classic Indian breakfast.

Storage Suggestions

Parathas taste the best right out of the tawa.

If you prefer to prep the meals ahead of time, you can refrigerate or freeze the aloo parathas. It will save time on busy days and a quick meal will be ready in no time. To increase the shelf life of parathas, skip onions in the aloo stuffing.

How to refrigerate or freeze aloo parathas?

Refrigerator: Half cook the parathas without using any fat. Remove them onto a plate and cool them down. Stack the parathas one above the other with a layer of wax/butter paper. Pack with aluminum foil or put the complete batch in a Ziploc bag. Remove any air pockets and seal properly before refrigerating. It will last in the fridge for up to a week.

Before serving reheat the paratha in a pan on the stovetop. Put the paratha on the hot pan. Cook on medium flame until brown spots start appearing all over. Apply oil or ghee on both sides and continue to cook until the parathas are nicely browned.

Freezer: Follow the above steps and place the ziploc bag in the freezer. The parathas will last for at least one month or even more.

Reheating a frozen paratha: First, defrost the frozen paratha for 30-60 minutes in advance. Follow the above instructions.

Variations

1. You can combine fresh herbs like mint leaves, spring onion, or dill leaves in the aloo masala stuffing to make it more healthy and tasty.

2. Can add crushed or powder of fennel seeds.

3. Add vegetables like grated carrot, fresh or frozen green peas (boil and slightly mash them), chopped methi leaves, or any other leafy vegetable. Even dried fenugreek leaves/kasuri methi combines well with aloo.

4. Can temper the aloo stuffing. Heat oil 1 tbsp oil in a small pan. Add crushed/paste ginger green chilies and saute for 30 seconds. Add the chopped onion and saute until the raw smell goes away. Next, add all the spices and saute for 10 seconds. Add this to the mashed potatoes, mix well and add coriander leaves.

5. Add some grated cheese to make Aloo Cheese paratha.

6. Add some grated cottage cheese/paneer to make Aloo Paneer paratha.

If you’ve tried this authentic Punjabi Aloo Paratha recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! Feedback and suggestions are highly appreciated. Also, please share the recipes with your friends and family members.

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