I literally raised my girls who are now in college on these flavored Indian flat breads. They still beg me to make them! I call this a cross between roti and stuffed parantha. Typically, the chapati flour is mixed with leftover dal, but in this case I use cooked sweet potatoes. I make these with so many things including spinach, grated or cooked carrots, cooked and mashed cauliflower, and cooked yellow moong dal. But, for some reason it's the sweet potato version that makes my girls squeal. Yes, no matter how old they get they do still squeal over their favorite foods. Maybe it's that touch of sweetness? I've updated this recipe to cut out the water entirely and instead increase the sweet potato. If you want to learn to make the avocado version, click here. In it I used a touch of ajwain or carom seeds, which I felt elevated the flavor profile. In these below I just used salt. Feel free to add other spices.
One of the biggest challenges to newer Indian cooks is where to find the flour we use. Chapati flour is a specialized whole durum wheat flour stone ground and easily found in Indian grocers. If you don't have one near you, just look for whole white wheat pastry/baking flour. The reason we don't use typical whole wheat flour found in most mainstream American grocers is that it comes from a harder red wheat, which is a little bitter and not as soft. You can use standard whole wheat flour and mix it with all-purpose flour (use a 3/4 whole wheat to 1/4 all purpose ratio). Keep in mind that white all-purpose flour has minimal nutritional value and is not our go-to for roti, chapati, or parantha. Again, it can be used but you want to gravitate towards whole grain soft white wheat.
Sweet Potato Paratha
3 medium cooked sweet potatoes, diced (about 4 cups)
3 cups + 2 tablespoons chapati flour
2 teaspoons salt
NO water!
1. In a food processor or stand mixer, add half of the sweet potato chunks, the flour, the salt, and the remaining sweet potato in that order. Adding the sweet potatoes on the bottom helps process them completely. There is enough moisture in them, so you won't need to add water. If you feel that it's too dry, add water 1 tablespoon at a time. I like to bake my sweet potatoes in the over at 420 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes until completely soft and cooked on the inside.
2. Process the ingredients until everything pulls together like pizza dough.
3. Place the ball of dough in a deep bowl and knead by hand until you have a beautiful ball. Roll it into small balls, roll out into roti/parantha, and then cook on the stovetop on a griddle or skillet. While the dough does not need to rest, you can cover it with a damp cloth until you are ready to use it. You can also refrigerate or freeze portions of the dough. When you are getting ready to make it, just be sure it sits out and comes to room temperature first for the best results.
Watch me make it! For more of my videos, please subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking right here.
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Anupy
May 16, 2023
Hi Daniel. Thank you so much for your support and your comment. I just updated the recipe to give you a cup measurement – use 4 cups of diced sweet potatoes. Remember, there’s not hard and fast rule, it could be a little more or less. But, I found the sweet spot for me was 4 cups. I hope that helps!