Batatachi Poli (potatoes in a roti) recipe

Batatachi PoliMy mum is in Switzerland at the moment spending quality time with her Swiss grandchild. The son is keeping an eagle eye on proceedings – not so much because he is possessive of his grand mum  but mainly because he feels very badly let down by her trip to visit her German grandchild last month.

You see it’s all about her cooking – she made something for the German contingent that she didn’t make for us here. The son found out and was very tight-lipped and disapproving when he met her at the airport on her return. It was no surprise that on her first day back in London, my mum found herself making Batatachi Poli – a quintessential Maharashtrian dish of  potatoes in a roti, very similar to an Aloo Paratha, but not quite so. We normally have it for breakfast with a tomato and onion salad and yoghurt on the side. Delicious! and a personal favourite.

We are now quits with the German grandchild, let’s see what the Swiss one gets that we haven’t got so far.

Here is my mum’s recipe:

Batatachi Poli (potatoes in a roti) Recipe

Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes
Total time 35 minutes
A quintessential Maharashtrian dish of potatoes in a roti, very similar to an Aloo Paratha, but not quite so. We normally have it for breakfast with a tomato and onion salad and yoghurt on the side. Delicious! and a personal favourite.

Ingredients

  • 3 medium sized boiled potatoes
  • 1 small onion (chopped fine)
  • 1 chopped green chilli
  • A few coriander leaves chopped fine
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 small piece of ginger (chopped very fine)
  • 2 tbs. sunflower oil (or ghee for the authentic experience)
  • 2 cups roti flour (you might have to make this less or a bit more)

Note

Note that unlike a paratha, the poli is never fried directly. It is mainly roasted - the outline with oil ensures that it does not stick to the griddle.

Directions

Step 1
Mash the potatoes after ensuring that they are very soft and not lumpy.
Step 2
batatachi poli_mixture
Mix in all the ingredients into the potatoes except for the flour and the oil. This should look like this.
Step 3
Now knead the flour and keep aside.
Step 4
Take a small ball of flour, flatten it out, make a cup-like shape in the middle and fill it up with the potato mixture. Now close the "cup" and roll into a ball so that the potato mixture is inside the ball.
Step 5
Roll this out with a rolling pin into a circular roti shape.
Step 6
Use a griddle or an Indian tawa for the next step and when it's hot put the rolled out roti on it. After a couple of minutes turn it over and with a teaspoon spread some oil around its outline.
Step 7
Cook until brown. Take off the griddle and repeat from Step 4 to make more rotis.
Step 8
Serve hot with tomato and onion salad with yoghurt on the side.