Onion paratha is an easy Indian style flatbread made with onion stuffing inside. This is an easy method to make onion stuffed bread or paratha, without breaking the paratha. Just like this easy aloo paratha recipe (potato stuffed flatbread), the process is easy to follow and even beginners can make this simple and delicious onion paratha at home!
Onion paratha goes great with just yogurt or curd and pickles or you can serve them with Indian curries like chana masala or chole masala, dal tadka, moong dal fry or any paneer curry like matar paneer, palak paneer etc or you may even serve them with the left over onion masala from the filling that we make!
What Is Onion Paratha?
Onion paratha is onion stuffed flatbread (unleavened bread) which is especially popular in North India.
The onions are mixed with spices to make the filling mixture and it is stuffed inside the bread or parathas and they are cooked on tawa or iron griddle (or use a non stick pan) on stove top until the parathas are lighty browned or golden brown in color.
The traditional onion paratha popular in the Northern states of India is known as pyaaz paratha (pyaz ka paratha) and it is usually used with an onion mixture made using raw onions.
When you use raw onions it is slightly difficult, because of the rolling of the parathas can be difficult for beginners.
In this recipe for onion paratha, we use sauteed onions to make the filling which is super easy to stuff inside the parathas!
This is not an authentic recipe for onion paratha, but it is an easy, adapted recipe for Indian style onion paratha but it’s still very delicious!
The texture of the paratha is flaky and soft on the inside with slightly crispy edges.
They are not super thick parathas but they are slightly thin parathas with a thin layer of onion stuffing that adds the right amount of flavor to the parathas.
Also, the spices used here is mild and simple (not following the authentic recipe but a simple version) which is usually kid friendly as well.
You may add more spices to the onion mixture based on your preferences if you wish.
So here is how you can make this easy and delicious onion paratha from scratch at home.
How To Make Easy Onion Paratha At Home?
To make easy onion paratha or onion stuffed flatbread at home, we use the following ingredients.
Ingredients to make easy onion paratha
onions 2 large
wheat flour or all purpose flour 3 cups (may need more)
salt as needed
garlic powder 1 teaspoon
oil 4 tablespoons
ghee as you need for topping the parathas
water 1 ¼ cup
Step by step instructions
Add water to a large bowl, add little salt and mix well.
Add the flour little by little to the water and mix well. Also add 2 tablespoons of oil and knead well to form the dough for making the parathas. The dough should be soft in texture and slightly sticky but not too sticky nor dry.
Keep the dough covered and let it sit there while you start preparing the filling for the parathas using onions.
To make the filling:
Peel the onions and slice very thinly and finely. It’s better not to make long slices because it will be hard to make the filling using longer and thicker slices. So try to chop finely or in small pieces.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan.
Add the onion, saute for 2 minutes.
Add enough salt and also the garlic powder, mix well and cook the onion mixture for about 10 to 12 minutes or longer in low heat until the onions are soft and all moisture content is evaporated.
If there is any water left in onions you can cook for longer time (you may use little more oil if necessary) until the onions are lightly fried and there’s no water content left.
Transfer the prepared onion mixture for making the filling to a different bowl or plate. Let this onion mixture cool down completely.
To make the onion parathas:
Once the onion mixture is cooled, we can start making the parathas.
Divide the dough into equally sized medium sized balls, you will probably get about 7 to 9 number from this amount of flour. I divided the dough in 8 equally sized balls. The balls shouldn’t be too small but rather they should be slightly large since we need to place the filling inside the parathas.
Take one ball, dust in a little flour and gently roll a little using the roller pin.
Take one tablespoon of onion mixture and place it carefully inside the slightly rolled dough (should be thick enough to hold the mixture).
Seal the open edges by pulling the dough from the sides towards the centre and then roll the ball using the rolling pin. Dust the stuffed ball with some flour. Roll the dough gently using the rolling pin to shape the parathas.
It is important that you don’t put a lot of onion mixture inside each paratha and that you don’t press hard while rolling so that the parathas won’t break.
The texture of the parathas should be slightly thick and not thin and rolling it gently and using just a little mixture inside will help you to make easy parathas without breaking them while rolling and they will have the right amount of flavor too!
To make the parathas:
Once you rolled the first paratha, transfer it to a lightly greased and heated pan (or iron tawa or skillet) and cook until one side is cooked completely.
Gently flip and cook the other side too. Brush with a little oil or ghee or butter on top, if you like!
Transfer the prepared onion paratha to a serving dish.
Similarly prepare all parathas until dough is over. Serve the hot onion poarathas with yogurt (curd), pickles or any curry of your choice!
Note: if there is any filling (onion mixture) is left over, you can save it for later or use it as a simple and delicious side dish with plain chapathi, paratha or poori or you can add it to curry, stews etc in place of sauteed onions.
Variation: Aloo Pyaz Paratha (Potato Onion Paratha)
To make aloo pyaz paratha or potato onion paratha, you also add potatoes (aloo) to the make the filling or mixture.
You first cook the aloo (boil the potatoes until soft so you can easily mash) and then peel the potatoes and mash them using a potato masher or use a spoon or ladle.
Then, add enough salt and spices – garlic powder, turmeric powder etc (or any spices that’s used in aloo paratha or that you like) and mix well with the mashed potatoes.
Saute this mixture for a couple of minutes once the onions are sauteed (you can use the same pan) or just mix the mashed potatoes directly with the sauteed potatoes to make the potato onion mixture for making potato onion parathas.
Yellow potatoes like yukon gold potatoes is my absolute favorite for making the potato filling for parathas, but basically you can use any potatoes that you have.
If you want to add potatoes to this recipe for onion paratha, you may use abou 2 medium sized potatoes which should be enough!
Can You Make Onion Paratha Without Stuffing?
To make easy and simple onion parathas without stuffing, simply make the sauteed onion mixture and directly mix it with the flour, oil and salt to make the dough.
Only add the water after you mix all the other ingredients together so you can just use the right amount of water to form the dough.
You may need only less water when you add the onion mixture to the dough due to the oil & moisture content in the sauteed onions.
Also you may add more flour to the dough as need, to get the right consistency for the dough, as you knead the dough.
Once you make the dough for the parathas by mixing the onion mixture with the flour and the rest of the ingredients, you can rest it for sometime just like you do for other parathas or chapathi.
And then you divide the dough to make balls, roll them and make parathas just like you roll and make chapathis since the onion mixture is already added in the flour and we don’t have to make any stuffing.
More flatbread recipes:
aloo paratha (potato stuffed flatbread)
Below you can find the detailed recipe for making easy onion paratha or onion stuffed flatbread.
Onion Paratha, Onion Stuffed Flatbread
Ingredients
- 2 large sized onions
- 3 cups wheat atta flour or all purpose flour (may use little more as needed)
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 4 tablespoons oil
- salt as needed
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ghee or butter as you need for topping the parathas
- more flour as needed for dusting
Instructions
To make the dough
- Add water to a large bowl, add little salt and mix well.
- Add the flour little by little to the water and mix well. Also add 2 tablespoons of oil and knead well to form the dough for making the parathas. The dough should be soft in texture and slightly sticky but not too sticky nor dry.
- Keep the dough covered and let it sit there while you start preparing the filling for the parathas using onions.
To make the filling:
- Peel the onions and slice very thinly and finely. It’s better not to make long slices because it will be hard to make the filling using longer and thicker slices. So try to chop finely or in small pieces.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan.
- Add the onion, saute for 2 minutes.
- Add enough salt and also the garlic powder, mix well and cook the onion mixture for about 10 to 12 minutes or longer in low heat until the onions are soft and all moisture content is evaporated.
- If there is any water left in onions you can cook for longer time (you may use little more oil if necessary) until the onions are lightly fried and there’s no water content left.
- Transfer the prepared onion mixture for making the filling to a different bowl or plate. Let this onion mixture cool down completely.
To stuff and roll the onion parathas:
- Once the onion mixture is cooled, we can start rolling the dough and do the stuffing for making the parathas.
- Divide the dough into equally sized medium sized balls, you will probably get about 7 to 9 number from this amount of flour.I divided the dough in 8 equally sized balls. The balls shouldn't be too small but rather they should be slightly large since we need to place the filling inside the parathas.
- Take one ball, dust in a little flour and gently roll a little using the roller pin.
- Take one tablespoon of onion mixture and place it carefully inside the slightly rolled dough (should be thick enough to hold the mixture).
- Seal the open edges by pulling the dough from the sides towards the centre and then roll the ball using the rolling pin. Dust the stuffed ball with some flour. Roll the dough gently using the rolling pin to shape the parathas.
- It is important that you don’t put a lot of onion mixture inside each paratha and that you don’t press hard while rolling so that the parathas won’t break.
- The texture of the parathas should be slightly thick and not thin and rolling it gently and using just a little mixture inside will help you to make easy parathas without breaking them while rolling and they will have the right amount of flavor too!
To make the onion parathas:
- Once you rolled the first paratha, transfer it to a lightly greased and heated pan (or iron tawa or skillet) and cook until one side is cooked completely.
- Gently flip and cook the other side too. Brush with a little oil or ghee or butter on top, if you like!
- Transfer the prepared onion paratha to a serving dish.
- Similarly prepare all parathas until dough is over. Serve the hot onion poarathas with yogurt (curd), pickles or any curry of your choice!
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