Chile Potato Wraps

Made some fun wraps Sunday morning.  Another of the great recipes in the VegNews food issue.  this one is by Terry Hope Romero.  She's got a nice blog called Vegan Latina. This  is an "Indian Burrito" . The blend of spices and potatoes with the hot chiles and roasted cashews had a party in my mouth.  That's how my granddaughter says it anyway.  They were a nice surprise.  It's a pretty easy recipe, but took a little more time than I liked.  I made the mashed potatoes the night before, but since I was making the wraps, or parantha, I probably should have prepped more of the vegetables the night before too.  The article says these are great made ahead of time and wrapped for lunches or snacking.  I guess I'd have to make a big batch if I did that.  I doubled this recipe and the three of us took good care of making sure there was no evidence of these meal besides the pictures we took.

 The wraps are called "parantha" which is an Indian flat bread.  I do get some kind of pleasure when I make our own tortillas or wraps.  I  giggle every time because they are so easy, yet not too many of us make our own.  I always wonder why I don't make them more often at first, but then when I'm rolling that last one out, I know why.  They do take some work.

 
I had most all the ingredients on hand. The vegetables all came from the garden. The only thing I was lacking was the fresh cilantro. I have some dried from the garden, but this looked like I should have the nice fresh green leaves so that was worth a quick trip to the grocery for me.  I used whole wheat pastry flour and organic unbleached whole wheat all purpose flour.

Chile Potato Wraps

        Terry Hope Romero

Makes 4 large rolls

For the parantha:

1 1/4 cup chapati (atta) flour or 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour plus 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour.
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup warm water
3    tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
       Additional flour for dusting.


For the Filling:

3 tablepoons vegetable oil, divided
2 to 3 small hot green chiles (jalapeños or serranos), deseeded and finely chopped.
1/2 cup mined red onion
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
1 pound potatoes, peeled, cubed, boiled until soft, and mashed
1/4 cup chopped roasted cashews
1 medium tomato, seeds removed and diced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1.  For the paratha, in a bowl, mix together flour and salt. Pour in warm water and mix with your fingers to form a soft dough—if too dry, dribble in extra warm water 1 tablespoon at a time; if too wet, sprinkle in a little extra flour.  Knead the dough until smooth, divide into 4 balls, and set aside.  Add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the bow.  Return the dough balls to bowl, roll on the bottom to coat with oil, and cover with plastic wrap.  Set aside in a warm place to rest for at least 30 minutes wile you prepare the filling.


2.  For the filling, in a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil.  Sauté chiles and onion until soft and remove from pan onto a dish.  Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and mustard seeds, and once mustard seeds begin to pop, stir in cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne.

3.  Return onion mixture to pan and stir in potatoes, cashews, tomato, lime juice, and salt.  Reduce heat to low, and fold potatoes to completely incorporate spices, vegetables, and nuts.  Taste mixture and adjust seasonings as desired, then fold in cilantro.  Turn off heat.

4.  While the potato mixture is still warm, perpeare the paratha.  Lightly dust work surface with flour and roll a ball of dough into a very thin circle about 9 inches wide.  Brush with remaining oil.

5.  On a large cast-iron skillet over high heat, cook bread on each side until bubbles begin to form in the dough and edges appear dry.  Flip only once; dark marks on the paratha are desirable.  Wrap hot paratha in a large clean dish towel to keep soft and warm.

 
6.  Scoop the filling into the wrap, roll it up, and enjoy.