(Background information: This was my first recipe after my longest hiatus from Fatima Cooks, during which I had a difficult pregnancy, became a Mum for the first time, moved homes, amongst many more scary adult-y things.)
OK, so this certainly wasn't how I imagined making my come back to blogging. With an instant mashed potato recipe.
Wow.
What can I say? Things have changed.
It's been 3 years since I published my last recipe. The last time I posted a recipe on here, I was swollen, sick and suffering from the worst of what morning sickness has to offer. As I type now, my little girl is lying beside me with a bowl full of blueberries on her tummy. She occupies most of my day, unsurprisingly, and my life has done a dramatic 180 degree flip/somersault/cartwheel to adjust to all the changes.
I will leave the chatter of myself and what I've been doing for another day - since this recipe is called 'Cheats Aloo Paratha', I wouldn't be too far from assuming you're after a quick and low-maintenance recipe that will save you time. And let's get real, we all know there's a nationwide shortage of that. So I will cut to the chase.
This isn't a tutorial on making Aloo Paratha.
What this is, is a shortcut to making Aloo Parathas. I'm cutting down on about 20 minutes of cook time, the boring task of peeling and mashing the potatoes, and I'm also saving you from washing a pot from boiling your potatoes in.
I would like to make a confession.
I sometimes use powdered mashed potatoes to make Aloo Parathas. Smash has become a trustworthy secret ally hidden in the back of my kitchen cupboards.
Am I bad person for doing this?
Is using powdered mashed potatoes unethical? Sinful? Does it make my blog full of real Pakistani recipes made from scratch a farce? A facade?
No, but it's even worse.
It makes me imagine my Mum mouthing the words 'LAZY' at me as I try to hide my Smash from her disappointed looks.
Why would I do such a thing?
The first time I did this, it was completely unmediated and had the best intentions behind it.
You see, my husband asked me to make Aloo Parathas for breakfast the next morning, his only day off in the week. At this point of time, I was pregnant and suffering as aforementioned from the worst form of morning sickness as well as general feelings of rubbishness. I didn't check to see if we had potatoes. The next morning, I waltzed into the kitchen and was slightly confused to find just one potato the size of a large strawberry. It took me a few minutes to put 1 and 2 together and realise this meant there would be no Aloo Parathas for breakfast if there was only one pathetic excuse for a potato in the kitchen.
I realised I'd not be helping myself and my feelings of general rubbish-ness if I didn't magically appear with a bag full of potatoes. And on a rainy Saturday morning? After a busy work week? After vomiting for the 2nd time before 9am? That didn't appeal to me that much, to be honest.
And thus, the Smash Aloo Paratha was born. I was doing quite a fantastic job of not letting my husband onto the fact that these Aloo Parathas were not the authentic, real deal. We had our breakfast as normal, my husband even made a comment on how the parathas were nice and soft.
I felt fraudulent.
I eventually got caught out after a grand total of 15 minutes, when I let my guard down and took a picture of the packet of Smash next to a leftover paratha. My husband expressed he was confused and uncomfortable at the fact that these weren't indeed the authentic real deal, but that he felt even more confused that he couldn't really tell the difference in taste.
Had I made a life-altering achievement? A world changing discovery? Did I deserve some sort of honourary medal for my innovation in the culinary arts?
Not really.
But I did just save time, mess and a trip to Tesco. Won't lie, I was quite chuffed.
So here I am, here to share this cheats recipe with you. I won't ever tell you to forever replace your real mashed potato stuffing with the powdered stuffed.
However, I will tell you this is a fantastic way to save time and effort for an otherwise slightly labourious task.
Enjoy, with love! x
📋 Recipe
Cheats Aloo Paratha - Probably The Easiest Aloo Paratha You'll Make
Ingredients
- 90 g mashed potato powder
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1.5 teaspoon red chilli powder or to taste
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 0.25 teaspoon turmeric
- 0.5 chopped onion
- water as needed
- milk as needed
- 1 small bunch chopped coriander
- 2 tablespoon chopped mint optional but highly recommended
- kneaded atta as needed
- oil/butter/ghee as needed
Instructions
- Fill a bowl with the powdered mashed potatoes, chopped onion and all the spices
- Pour on freshly boiled water onto your powder mixture slowly, one gulp at a time, mixing with a spoon as you go along. Stop once you see the mixture is coming together somewhat but still looks slightly powdery
- Pour on warm milk, again one gulp at a time, until the mixture is soft and looks like regular mashed potatoes. You may need to get your hands involved to ensure the spices are evenly distributed
- Add the chopped coriander and optional mint. Put aside
- Using your kneaded atta, take our two equal sized small rounds of atta
- Roll them both out into equal sized circles
- Load up the aloo stuffing onto one of the rounds. You want to fill it up equally but you also need to ensure you don't overfill, otherwise it may rip during the next steps. You also want to leave some room around the edges
- Once you have placed your stuffing layer, take the other round and put it on top of the stuffing. Line up the rounds and then pinch together the sides
- Roll out until your desired size
- Place onto a pan which has been pre-heated on about a medium heat. Immediately spread a spoonful or two of oil/ghee/butter around the rim of the paratha. Flip the paratha once the colour has changed and allow the other side to change colour. Then flip again once one side has crisped up. Allow the other side to crisp up
Notes
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Daria
Great idea for all busy moms. 😅Thanks for sharing.
Mahin Hussain
Fatima, would it work well with real potatoes? 🙂
Fatima
Definitely!
K
I've been using smash dried potato for paratha filling and making aloo tikia for over 40 years when I've run out of potatoes or short on time when visitors were coming. But always kept it a secret from certain family members as I knew what the reaction would be. Never been caught out, but got compliments on how tasty they were. Lol
Fatima
Haha, awesome!! Seriously, no one can tell the difference!
Zaib
This is so entertainingly truthful! Never even thought to try store bought mashed potatoes for parathas.. Great idea!