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
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