Afghani Bolani...these little flatbreads are out of this world! Homemade dough is stuffed with potatoes, green onion, cilantro, and green pepper then shallow fried to crispy, golden brown perfection! Surprisingly easy to make, you won't believe how fast they disappear!
Years ago, I had a lovely Afghani neighbor who brought me all sorts of goodies from her kitchen. These Bolani were one of my favorites. Of course, mine are much less spicy than hers!
Use any type of green chili that you prefer depending on how mild or spicy you like it.
Afghani Bolani - Potato and Green Onion Stuffed Flatbread
Ingredients
Scale
For the dough:
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour (580g)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons oil (I use canola)
- 1 ¼ cups water (300g)
For the filling:
- 1 ½ pounds potatoes (680g)
- 2 cups, packed sliced green onion (140g)
- 2 cups, packed cilantro (60g)
- ½ cup chopped green pepper (60g) or to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- • Additional oil for shallow frying ( I use canola)
Instructions
For the dough:
- Combine flour, salt, and oil in the bowl of a food processor. With the motor running, add water until the dough comes together in a ball. It should not be too sticky or too dry. You may use a little more or less water than 300g.
- Remove the dough from the processor and give it a couple of kneads on the counter. Wrap in plastic and let rest about 20 minutes.
For the filling:
- Wash potatoes, prick with a fork, and microwave until soft, approximately 10 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes. Potatoes are done when you can easily pierce them with a knife and they feel soft.
- When the potatoes are finished and cool enough to handle, remove the skins and coarsely mash with a fork.
- Roughly chop the cilantro.
- In a skillet, heat olive oil.
- Sauté green pepper for 1 minute.
- Add green onion and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in chopped cilantro, salt, and pepper.
- Gently stir in the potatoes.
To form the bolani:
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll into balls. Keep them covered on the counter while you roll them out.
- Divide the filling into 8 equal portions.
- Roll out a ball of dough on a lightly floured surface to a 8-9 inch circle.
- Put a portion of filling on the top half of the circle, leaving a half inch border around the edges.
- Fold the bottom half up over the top half and seal the edges, pressing firmly all around the edge to seal it shut.
- Repeat with the remaining balls of dough.
To shallow fry:
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet on medium high.
- One by one, shallow fry the bolani one one side until golden brown. Flip and fry on the other side til golden brown. Press down gently on the edges of the bolani while cooking to ensure that they brown evenly.
- Place cooked bolani on a metal cooling rack while the others finish to stay crispy.
Notes
The flour was measured using the dip and sweep method of unfluffed flour. This came to 680g for me.
Bolani can be served with coriander chutney or mint yogurt, but it's also delicious simply by itself.
- Cuisine: Afghan
It's so similar to the Indian Paratha
Hi Komal, yes it is!
"Afghani" is money. "Afghan Bolani" and "Afghan neighbor" would be the correct terminology. =) - Guy who made this mistake in country.
Well, you've certainly got the wheels in my brain turning!
I thought the same thing when I saw it! (Afghanis are paper money) I also found it curious that the cuisine type was correctly listed as "Afghan" just below the title. That said, it is a very common mistake.
skipped the potatoes and filled with fire roasted poblanos and pan-seared and minced garlic, green onion, shallot and seasoned w/ fresh dill, cayenne and coriander powder. wrapper in basic dough, but added very little salt and a lot of black pepper. Ended up deep frying, but these were some pretty thick ones. Made 2, reduced dough proportions.
★★★★★
Sounds fabulous, Tyler!
These are delicious! They reheat marvellously in a toaster oven. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
★★★★★
So happy you liked them! Thanks so much, Suzie!
This sounds delicious! I'm curious if they can be baked instead of fried.
Hi Tricia! I'm sure that would work!
Easy and fun to make with the kids!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Nash!
Can these be frozen for use later?
Hi Robin. Yes they can be frozen either before or after cooking. I like freezing before cooking so that they can be cooked fresh and crispy. I thaw them before cooking.