A super tasty flatbread made with sweet potatoes, Indian spices and cilantro. This flatbread keeps well in the fridge and freezer and is great with your favorite Indian chutney. Dust off those Indian spices and try this super easy flatbread recipe!

What Is Paratha?
Parathas are an Indian flatbread that has additional ingredients for flavor or filling depending on your method. Vegetables are sometimes added to the dough or added as a filling and the dough is encased around the paratha. Indian spices are usually added to the dough to give it even more character. Parathas are thicker and more substantial than most other Indian breads such as roti or chapati.
This sweet potato version is also known as Shakarkandi Paratha.
The word paratha derives from parat atta, which means layers of cooked dough in Sanskrit.
Other names for Paratha include:
- parantha
- parontay (Punjabi)
- porota (Bengali)
- palata (Burma)
- farata (Sri Lanka & the Maldives)
Parathas vs. Naan
A paratha is an un-leavened bread while a naan has a leavening agent such as yeast, baking soda or baking powder. Parathas are usually stuffed with vegetables. This can be done by rolling the dough into a circle, adding vegetables, fold over dough and roll out again. The vegetables can also be added to the dough in the beginning such as with this recipe.
Both paratha and naan are thicker than most other Indian flatbreads; paratha due to the folding and rolling or stuffing, naan due to the leavening agent.
Can You Freeze Parathas?
Paratha keeps very well in the freezer, just stack them with parchment paper in between and freeze for up to a month. When ready to use, place frozen paratha on a hot skillet with a little oil and cook on both sides until warmed and golden.
Which flour for Parathas?
Parathas can be made with atta, chapati, whole wheat, all-purpose flour or a mixture of any these. The texture will differ slightly in the end.
How To Make Paratha Dough?
Paratha dough is easy and usually done by hand. Mash the vegetables in a large bowl, add half of your flour and the water and blend well by hand, keep adding flour until most of the stickiness is gone. Turn out the slightly sticky dough onto a very well floured surface and knead with extra flour until the dough comes together and is no longer sticky. Roll into a log and divide into 8 equal sections, roll each section into a circle. You are now ready to cook the paratha.
How To Eat Parathas
Parathas are treated like a utensil. You tear off a piece and scoop up some Indian food and maybe a little chutney or raita and plop in your mouth to get that explosion of flavor that is so common with Indian food.
You can also treat it like a bread you would eat with your dinner. You can eat your Indian food with a fork or spoon and eat the paratha intermittently like a palate cleanser.
You can also treat paratha like a tortilla, make a taco from it. Scoop the Indian food into the whole paratha and fold over like a taco. Your chutney can be your salsa.
Have you tried making flat breads before? I am finding them really easy to make and add a nice little homemade touch to the meal. Naan is one of my favorites.
Flatbreads go well with Butter Chicken and maybe even this chutney.



Panch Phoran is an Indian spice mix that is super convenient. I keep this on hand when I want to make something ‘Indian’ but don’t have a recipe. I have added it to potatoes, eggs and now this flatbread. When I open the jar, it smells just like an Indian restaurant.
Pro Tip – This spice blend can be convenient for new cooks who are building their spice collection. I sometimes use my spice grinder(coffee grinder) to make this blend into a powder. I like this spice blend also because these are whole spices, not powdered so they keep fresh much longer. Powdered spices go stale fast and have a short shelf life.







Bon Appetit!
CRAVING MORE? Subscribe to my newsletter and join me on Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram for the latest recipes and news.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and comment below! Take a picture and tag us @FusionCraftiness #FusionCraftiness on Instagram for a chance to be featured in our Insta Stories:)

Sweet Potato Paratha, an Indian Flatbread
A super tasty flatbread made with sweet potatoes, Indian spices and cilantro. This flatbread keeps well in the fridge and freezer and is great with your favorite Indian chutney. Dust off those Indian spices and try this super easy flatbread recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbs fresh ginger, grated or finely minced
- 1/2 tsp chile powder
- 1 Tbs ground panch phoran (Indian 5 spice), ground to a powder
- 2-3 cups flour divided, may use whole wheat, all-purpose, atta or chapati
- 1 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup water
- oil for frying
- 1/4 cup butter, melted, may use ghee
Instructions
- Cook sweet potato in a microwave until soft.
- Sprinkle with salt, add ginger, chile powder, panch phoran. Mash ingredients and stir to incorporate well. Stir in the cilantro.
- Add half of the flour and all of the water, start kneading in the bowl by hand until the dough comes together, it will probably still be somewhat sticky up to this point. If it is too sticky, add more flour.
- Turn dough out onto well floured surface, knead and keep adding flour until it is not sticky anymore and you can roll it out.
- Roll into a log shape, divide into 8 equal sections.
- Roll one section at a time into a ball, flatten with your hand and continue rolling into a circle shape using a rolling pin. Keep a dish towel over the remaining dough so as to not let it dry out.
- Heat a cast iron or non stick skillet over medium heat, add enough oil to just coat the pan.
- Cook paratha on one side until brown dots appear, flip over and brush the paratha lightly with butter, continue cooking until the brown dots appear on the other side.
- Stack the parathas buttered side up and keep covered with a dish towel or plastic to keep them moist.
- Continue until all parathas are cooked.
Notes
You can make your own panch phoran blend by mixing fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard seed and fennel seed.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 parathaAmount Per Serving: Calories: 287 Total Fat: 11g Saturated Fat: 5g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 5g Cholesterol: 19mg Sodium: 218mg Carbohydrates: 95g Net Carbohydrates: 0g Fiber: 7g Sugar: 2g Sugar Alcohols: 0g Protein: 14g
Hannah says
Yum, yum, yum!!!! This recipe is delicious. I ate my paratha taco style with some ground meat. I am really looking forward to my leftovers 🙂
Tina says
Oh that’s brilliant Hannah! I love the Indian flavors in parathas, I bet it was delicious with the ground meat.
Lynn | The Road to Honey says
This education on paratha is super helpful. I’m afraid my knowledge on Indian food is fairly limited and I tend to gloss over when I see descriptions of it because so many of the terms are so unfamiliar to me. The comparison versus naan was also helpful as I was thinking this bread looked very similar to naan.
And since the hubby absolutely adores Indian food. . .well. . .it is something that I really should delve into a bit more.
Tina says
This is a good one to get your feet wet. It’s easy!
Lois. O says
I love potato stuffed chapatis (we call them chapatis in East Africa), and there is a salsa that does perfectly well with it. I am sure this recipe would be a hit with the salsa. I have never tried making chapatis out of sweet potatoes, but I will be giving this a try.
Tina says
I heard chapatis were in North Africa, maybe spread by the Persians or the Romans?
Lois. O says
I love potato stuffed chapatis, but I have not tried making the dough from sweet potatoes. There is an East African salsa that I usually eat with plain chapatis, but I know this recipe will go perfectly with it.
Shadi Hasanzadenemati says
I love this recipe! I’ve had Paratha and love it but never made it at home. Can’t wait to try this!
Susie P says
Hello, Tina.
I eat sweet potatoes a lot but I never had any idea that it can be made into this very tasty dish. This can be a healthier alternative for the commercial bread bought in the market.
Tina says
Hey Susie, that’s what I was thinking too! I think this is a lower carb/healthier option than bread or tortillas. I am planning on making this regularly:)
Kathryn @ FoodieGirlChicago says
Oh, I want to try this! I can think of so many ways to use it and it seems so healthy with sweet potatoes as the base!
prasanna hede says
absolutely lovely dish and my favorite breakfast ☺adding sweet potato makes it healthier too.
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices says
I did not know the difference between paratha and flatbread, thank you for that! I love this bread with sweet potato! Definitely going to try this one!
Carrie @ Carrie's Home Cooking says
I LOVE all kinds of bread, literally all of them! This looks delicious and sounds like it would be great for wraps in a brown bag lunch. Pinned!
Tina says
I had fun with this one Carrie, good luck!
Renz says
I am saving this for sure. We make aloo paratha but your sweet potato version sounds and looks waaay better. Thanks for sharing
Corina Blum says
I love all types of Indian flatbreads although I don’t make them very often. I’d love to have a go at this as sweet potato is one of my favourite veggies.
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
I LOVE all kinds of bread. This looks like a fun weekend project, and would be great for sandwiches and wraps during the week. I will have to give this a try.
Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen says
Thanks for the lesson on the different names for these – I’ve had them out at Indian restaurants and love them. Good to know that they freeze so well, too!
Sarah says
I’ve only ever had naan and the bread that looks like a cracker.. but this sounds delicious! I bet it’s got a lot more flavors than naan with all the sweet potato!
Suzy says
What great information! and I love that you added step-by-step photos!
Jacque says
I have never had Indian bread, but you make it look and sound so easy. I will have to give this a try!
Laura says
You enlighten me with all this detailed information, now I finally get it. Your Paratha looks delicious and I am definitely going to venture into this new recipe
Soniya says
Loved the use of sweet potatoes in the paratha.. it looks so Delish ,can’t wait to try it!
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
I really enjoyed reading about the different Indian breads! I would eat all of them, that’s for sure. But this sweet potato parantha looks so delicious and I think will be my first foray into making these breads!!