America's Test Kitchen

-Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Erin makes Julia alu parathas, Adam reviews ladles, and Keith makes Bridget pakoras.

It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."

"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

Plugr European-style butter was created for all chefs, cooks, and bakers.

Slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and more pliability for flaky crusts.

Plugr -- from professional kitchens to your home.

Sailing with American Queen Voyages brings you to mighty rivers and unique expeditions, where passionate explorers can discover the continent of North America.

You can learn more about our voyages at AQVoyages.com or contact your travel advisor.

Sur la Table, where you can discover an assortment of provisions for your next meal or gathering, from cookware and tools from a wide variety of kitchen brands to hands-on cooking classes.

Visit us at surlatable.com.

-Alu parathas are flatbreads from Punjab, and they're filled with a spicy potato mixture and cooked with a little ghee so that they're steamy on the inside with a spotty, crisp, brown exterior.

And they're often served alongside a tomato-onion salad and a little yogurt.

-Absolutely, Julia.

There's many different versions of alu parathas, and I'm gonna show you the version of our coworker Kaumudi Marath.

-Mm.

-And her mom, Meera, has made this for many, many, many years, and she has shared with us some of her special techniques and her version.

-Oh, I love it.

That's so special.

-Yeah, yeah.

So let's start with the filling.

The filling starts with the potatoes.

-Mm-hmm.

-So we have one pound of russet potatoes in here that are cut into about one-inch pieces.

-Mm-hmm.

-And they're topped with cold water by about one inch.

And we're just gonna bring this up to a boil.

And once it comes to a boil, I'm gonna reduce the heat down to medium-low, and we're gonna simmer it for about 16, 17 minutes until they're nice and tender.

-Okay.

-Okay?

All right, Julia, so our potatoes have been simmering for about 16 minutes.

And then to test the potato, you just want to kind of pull one out and just put a knife into it, and it should easily slip right out.

So these are perfect.

Now let's just go strain them over in that sink.

There we go.

Shake off most of the water.

Doesn't get any better than that.

And now we're just going to -- we're gonna mash them.

So I'm just gonna use a potato masher.

And you can also use a ricer, whatever you prefer.

But the key is to make sure that they are mashed so that they're very fine.

-Mm.

-Now we're just gonna let these cool for about 20 minutes.

-Okay.

-Okay.

All right, Julia, our potatoes have cooled off.

It's been about 20 minutes.

So this is the filling for our alu parathas.

And we're gonna add quite a few ingredients.

-Yeah!

-We really want this to be very bold filling.

One thing that Kaumudi's mom really loves is cilantro.

So we're gonna add 2 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro, and we're gonna add a tablespoon of grated ginger.

-Hmm!

-This is gonna add a nice spice, nice kick.

Now we're gonna add amchoor.

-Mmm!

-Have you ever had amchoor?

-No.

-It's wonderful.

It's a -- It's a mango powder... -Wow!

-...and it has, like, a nice fruity and tartness.

You should actually take a little pinch, taste it.

-It almost smells like tamarind-y.

-Yeah, it has a... -It has that -- -It has a tartness to it.

-Yeah, that's delicious.

-Okay, so we're gonna add 1 1/2 teaspoons of amchoor.

And cumin -- gonna add 1 teaspoon of cumin.

And then we're gonna add 3/4 of a teaspoon of table salt.

Now we're gonna add one Thai chili that I finely minced.

-Mm-hmm!

-Now we're gonna add some kalonji.

-Mm!

-Have you ever had kalonji?

-It looks like Nigella seeds.

-It is Nigella seeds.

-Oh!

Then yes.

-Yeah, it's another name of Nigella seeds.

-Mm-hmm.

-So we're gonna add 1/4 teaspoon of this, and this is gonna add a nice, subtle allium flavor to it.

And last but not least -- ajwain.

This is often used in Indian cooking.

It's -- -Oh, wow.

-It's kind of like a digestif, and it has, like, a little hint of oregano to it.

-Mm-hmm.

-So we're just gonna add 1/4 teaspoon of this, all right?

-Mmm.

That smells delicious.

-Now I'm just gonna mix all this together.

All right, our filling is ready, so I'm just gonna set this aside and we're gonna move on to our dough.

-Okay.

-All right, Julia.

So our filling is all set... -Mm-hmm.

-...waiting for us.

Now we're gonna move on to the dough.

I have a food processor here, as you can see, but the dough for alu parathas is typically made by hand.

Kaumudi was very skeptical of using the food processor, and we really wanted to make this a little bit more approachable.

She loved the results, and so here we are.

So we're gonna start with our flour.

Meera, Kaumudi's mom... -Mm.

-...basically, she likes to use maida.

Maida is a type of flour that's a refined white flour, and we're gonna use all-purpose flour 'cause they're most similar to each other.

So I have 8 1/3 ounces of all-purpose flour.

It's unbleached.

And then we're gonna add 1/2 a teaspoon of table salt and 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar.

I'm just gonna pulse this together, about five one-second pulses.

And now we're gonna add a little bit of fat.

We're gonna add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

-Mm-hmm.

-Okay, it's gonna add a little richness to our dough.

And I'm gonna pulse this until it's combined, about five pulses.

Okay, so now I'm gonna add 1/2 a cup plus 1 tablespoon of cold water, and I'm just gonna drizzle it in here slowly until it gets incorporated and a dough forms.

It's gonna take about 30 seconds.

Okay, our dough.

-[ Chuckles ] -Snap.

Now I'm just gonna knead this for about 30 seconds until it comes together into a nice dough ball.

-Now, notice you don't have any bench flour out here.

You're just using a bare counter.

-Using a bare counter and my bare hands.

[ Both laugh ] -'Cause you don't want to incorporate any more flour at this point.

It would change the hydration level of the dough.

-Exactly.

So it's been about 30 seconds.

Just come together nicely into a nice ball.

-Oh, look at that.

-Isn't that beautiful?

-Very tidy, yeah.

-Yeah.

-It firmed up a lot with just that little bit of kneading.

-Yeah.

-Really activated the gluten.

-Yeah, absolutely.

Now I'm just gonna put it into a bowl and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

-Okay.

-Gonna let it rest so it's easier to roll out.

All right, Julia, we're getting closer.

-[ Chuckles ] -Our filling has cooled.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now we're gonna shape them into balls -- eight balls.

-Okay.

-So there's one.

You want to shape that into a ball for me?

-Sure thing.

-Awesome.

Doesn't it feel nice?

It's so soft.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Our filling balls look fabulous.

-Mm-hmm!

-All right, so now I'm just gonna cover this with plastic wrap until we're ready to use them in just a little bit.

-Okay.

-Okay, so now we have our dough, and we're gonna divide this into 1-3/4-ounce balls.

-Okay.

-Okay?

I'm just gonna eyeball it to get us going.

And then weighing it out is just gonna help us to really know for sure.

1 3/4.

Okay.

So now we're gonna shape these.

We're gonna -- We want to form each one of these eight dough balls into a nice, taut ball.

So we're not using flour or anything.

This is a little tacky, which is good, and it's gonna stick to the counter.

And basically what you do is you loosely cup your hand over it and you roll into a circular motion, and you just kind of do it until it just kind of transforms into this beautiful, tight ball.

All right, let's cover these.

-Okay.

-And we want these to rest for another 15 minutes.

All right, Julia, we are ready to roll.

So we have our dough that's rested 15 minutes.

-Mm-hmm.

-We have our cooled balls.

And I'm gonna take a little bit of flour up here.

I'm gonna ask for your help.

Can you dust lightly your work surface, table?

-Sure.

-Now we just want to press this and roll this into a four-inch disk.

-Okay.

-So, again, just four inches.

-Okay, let's see.

Yep, four inches.

-Okay.

Want to take a ball?

-Okay.

-And you put this right into the center.

-Mm-hmm.

-And now what we're gonna do is we're just gonna take the dough, pull it up over it, and then I'm just gonna continue to pull up and pleat around.

-Okay.

Anchoring it in one spot on the top?

-Anchoring in one spot on the top.

-Okay.

-Took the words right out of my mouth.

And now you want to just pinch it, 'cause we want that to stay together, all right?

-Okay.

-Pinch and roll it over.

So seam-side down.

We're gonna roll this out into 1/8 of an inch thick.

So we need to be very gentle here.

We don't want any breakthroughs.

-Okay.

-Okay?

And again, use flour.

It's really important to make sure that this does not stick to the counter.

Roll nice and gently, okay?

-All right.

How big should this be in the end?

-This should be an eight-inch circle.

-Okay.

Okay, I think I am pretty much there.

It's not exactly a round, but I think it's pretty close.

-That's great.

-Okay.

-So now we just want to transfer this to the parchment paper.

-Okay.

-Awesome.

And now we're gonna move on to the next one.

-Ooh!

-Want to keep going?

-This is fun.

-Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you for your help with rolling.

-Mm, my pleasure.

-That was great.

They look beautiful.

Now it's time to cook them.

So I have a 10-inch cast-iron skillet here, heated for about five minutes over medium heat.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I just turned the heat down to low.

So I'm gonna brush off the extra flour... -Mm-hmm.

-...and brush the other side.

So we put the dry paratha in.

-Okay.

-All right, but this is gonna take a few seconds if you flip.

So be patient.

-Okay.

-That has been about 30 seconds or so.

I'm just looking.

Yep, you can see little blond kind of flecks right there.

-Mm-hmm.

-I'm gonna flip it, okay?

-Okay.

-Now we're gonna cook the other side that has not seen the heat yet.

And now I'm gonna brush this side with ghee.

-Mm-hmm.

-Do you know what ghee is?

-Yeah, it's a clarified butter, essentially.

-Exactly.

Yep.

So I have 1/4 cup of ghee here, so it's just melted butter that solids kind of separate from the fat, and it just adds a little bit of nutty flavor to it.

Yep, seeing spotty -- spotty golden brown.

So I'm gonna flip it that side down.

-Ah, there's the sizzle.

-Yep.

-Whoo!

-Just gonna press this down so we have that big bubble, wouldn't you say?

[ Both laugh ] I'm gonna brush this side now with some more ghee.

-Mm-hmm.

Oh!

-And we're cooking it fat-side down for about 30 seconds, and as we cook, it's gonna continue to take on color.

-Mm-hmm.

-And that's what we want.

All right.

See that?

-Mm-hmm.

Beautiful.

-All right.

Fat-side down.

-Mm-hmm.

A little more browning on the second time.

-Little more browning, yep.

All right.

I think we're there, Julia.

-All right.

-Okay.

So we're gonna put that right there.

And if you could cover that over.

-Yep.

Keep it nice and warm.

-You got it.

Yep.

We have one resting.

I'm wiping out the pan.

-Mm-hmm.

-Getting ready for the next one.

All we have to do is finish cooking off these parathas, and then we can eat.

-Sounds good.

-Okay.

The moment we've been waiting for.

-Yes!

-You ready?

-Yes!

-Okay, so I'm gonna give you one and I'm gonna serve it with traditional accompaniments.

-Mmm!

-So this is plain yogurt, and this is our tomato-onion salad.

-Ooh!

-And this just makes it complete so that it has tomatoes, onions, cumin, cilantro, and it's garnished with coconut.

Isn't that cool?

-Oh, is that what that is?

-Yeah.

-That's beautiful.

-Isn't it?

And you can get this recipe on our website.

-Oh, I can smell the cumin.

-Yeah.

-All right.

-Okay.

You ready?

Oh, my gosh.

-Yes.

-The time is here.

-Oh, look how thin that is.

-Mm.

-Mmm!

There is so much flavor.

-Mm-hmm.

There's so much going on.

-Yeah, but it's delicate and thin.

-Yeah.

-I mean, the texture is incredible.

-Mm-hmm.

And the crust and the ghee, it just, like, adds, like, this nice nuttiness to the exterior.

Very complex.

-Yeah.

-Mm-hmm.

-And the potato filling -- I get the sense of potato... -Mm.

-...but it's not an overwhelming flavor.

It really just allows those spices... -Mm-hmm.

-...to shine through.

-This salad -- it just makes it complete.

-Mm.

Mm-hmm.

-It's like the fresh tomatoes and onions and cilantro... -Yeah.

-...and then the toasty-roasty flavors of the actual alu parathas.

-Yeah.

-This is just heaven.

-Mm!

-And then you have that nice cooling effect of the yogurt to kind of like, you know, quell the Thai chili.

-Mm-hmm.

This is spectacular.

-This was fun.

-Yeah.

This is magnificent.

-Isn't that fun?

-Yeah.

Thank you.

-Thank you.

-If you want to make this fantastic flatbread, start by making a bold potato filling.

Be gentle when rolling out the thin disks of dough, and cook in a cast-iron skillet with a little ghee.

From "America's Test Kitchen," with special thanks to Kaumudi and Meera, a terrific recipe for alu parathas.

This is incredible.

-Scientists agree that the longest distance in the world is the area between a pot of hot soup and your bowl.

Getting that soup into the bowl without dripping a single drop of soup is a challenge.

And here with all the single ladles is Adam.

-Oh.

"All the single ladles"?

[ Laughs ] Bridget, we are testing 10 different ladles here with the price range of $8 to $38.50.

We tested them by ladling chili, chicken broth, out of Dutch ovens and stockpots... -Mm-hmm.

-...also by taking them and forcing tomato soup through a sieve to make it as smooth as possible.

-Right.

-And that was with the bottom of the ladle.

There are two operating parts to a ladle.

Let's start with the handle.

One thing that testers really love is a handle that is offset like this at about 45 degrees, because it keeps your hand away from steam.

If there's a lot of steam coming off... -Right.

-...whatever it is you're ladling, this will keep your hand off to the side and safer, whereas something like this... -Mm.

-...which is a much steeper angle... -Yes.

-...puts your hand right into the stream of steam.

Don't want that.

-Yeah.

That's close to 90 degrees there.

-And in terms of the handle, we also wanted a moderate length.

This one is nine and a half inches.

It was very comfortable to use.

-Easier to control.

-Let's talk about the bowl now.

-All right.

-You can see around the edge it's sort of gently rolled over.

That's a pouring edge.

You have one in front of you.

Why don't you make a nice, neat bowl of soup for us, Bridget?

-Yeah, we'll see here.

-Good luck.

-Right.

All right.

Getting my little bit of soup here.

Lovely.

-Isn't that nice?

-That'll do it.

-That rolled edge lets you pour from anywhere in the bowl, and it makes it nice and neat.

Testers also really liked a single piece instead of something like this, which has two pieces.

You kind of want to put your hand up at the top on what is the handle.

-Oh, right.

-But there's a little less control up there.

What testers didn't like as much were bowls with two spouts sort of molded into them, because you can only pour from those two spouts.

It limits you.

-It sure does.

-And last, the bowl capacity ranged from 4 to 6 ounces.

They'd like something right in the middle -- about 5 ounces.

-Okay.

-One other thing about the nonstick-friendly ladles here is when they were pushing the soup through the sieve, if there was a little too much flex, that wasn't good either.

-You're not gonna get every drop of liquid out.

-Exactly.

And it's harder to control.

So we have three winners.

We have the overall winner, which has won past ladle testings, and we love it.

It's this one.

This is the Rosle Hook Ladle with a pouring rim.

This is the one that you used to pour from anywhere in the bowl.

It's got a medium-capacity bowl, a super-comfortable offset handle.

This is a rocking ladle.

It's $38.50.

-It'll last a lifetime.

-It will.

But that's expensive for a ladle.

-Sure.

-So we also have a best buy.

This one is the Cuisinart Stainless Steel Ladle -- $20.

-Oh.

Okay.

-It doesn't have that fancy pouring rim, but you can still get the soup out of it pretty neatly.

-Okay.

-And also, if you want a nonstick-friendly ladle, this is the one to get.

This is the Cuisinart Curved Handle Nylon Ladle.

And it's $10.

-All right.

Lots of soup for us.

Well, if you want to buy the winning ladle, it's the Rosle Hook Ladle with pouring rim.

And that's $38.50.

For our other winners and more information, head to our website.

-What's not to love about pakoras?

These crispy, savory two-bite fritters are so easy to eat, and they're infinitely customizable.

And Keith is here, and he's gonna show us some keys to pakora success.

-Yeah, these vegetable fritters are great.

They're crunchy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside.

And like you said, they're customizable.

So you can use virtually any type of vegetable to suit your taste or what you might have in the refrigerator.

-Love it.

-So I'm gonna start with one large red onion that's been halved, and I'm gonna slice these.

You want to use an allium.

So shallots are good.

White onions are fine.

Now, we want to make sure that we're using the proper ratio of vegetables to batter.

So I'm gonna actually measure these out.

I'm looking for 1 1/2 cup of onions.

That's about 5 ounces, if you want to use a scale.

-All right.

-So that's 1 cup.

And here is our 1/2 cup.

So our next vegetable is a large russet potato.

So I'm just gonna shred these on a box grater.

I like potatoes in here, but you can use other dense vegetables here -- carrots, butternut squash.

-Mmm.

-Okay.

1 1/2 cups of potato.

Now we have 1 ounce of baby spinach here.

Like the greens.

-Mm.

-We like the color it adds, a little bit of freshness.

Just kind of a rough chop.

But again, you can customize the greens that you're adding here.

Kale, Swiss chard, arugula -- all good options.

And that goes in our bowl.

Now for the heat, I have one serrano chili here.

It's gonna add a nice, fresh, grassy heat, which is lovely.

-Mm-hmm.

-So I just half this, and then I'm gonna leave the seeds in.

-Yes.

-I want this to be spicy.

It should be spicy.

-It should be spicy.

-So half it, and then I'll just cut them across like this... ...into thin strips, and then, again, turn 90 degrees and then just run across this to a nice, fine mince.

-Lovely.

-Okay, that is our chili.

Now to spice these.

-Okay.

-So I'm gonna start with 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of coriander, 1 teaspoon of ajwain seed.

So this is often in fried foods in India.

It aids with digestion.

It has a kind of a woodsy... -Mm.

-...kind of thyme-like flavor.

It's very nice.

1/4 teaspoon of fenugreek, 1/2 teaspoon of table salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of Kashmiri chili.

So now for the fun part -- I'm gonna get in here.

I'm gonna mix this with my hands.

And I'm gonna start to break down these vegetables.

We want to tenderize these vegetables just a little bit before we start to mix in the other batter ingredients.

So we're gonna do this for about 45 seconds.

And really what I'm looking for is to kind of break down those onions, break down the spinach.

-Mm-hmm.

-And you'll start to see some liquid form in the bottom of the bowl.

And I can actually hear it.

It sounds moister... -Yeah.

-...than it was earlier.

-I can see it.

[ Chuckles ] -Okay, so I think that is good.

So I'm just gonna wash my hands really quickly, and then we can finish up this batter.

-Sounds great.

-Now we have our vegetables.

They're ready to go.

And we can finish up making the batter.

-All right.

-So I have 3/4 cup of besan flour here.

So this is made from ground brown chickpeas that have been peeled and split.

You can use white chickpea flour here, but you have to change the recipe a little bit.

And you can find that on our website how to make that change.

So 3/4 cup of besan flour, and I'm gonna add 1 teaspoon of baking powder to this.

I also have 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric.

So I'm just gonna give this a quick whisk to make sure that everything is mixed in there.

Now I'll take this and I'll sprinkle it over our vegetables.

I'm just gonna start to mix this in here.

And what I want is that water from the vegetables to start to absorb and hydrate that flour.

That's good.

Now, one final addition.

All I have here is 1/4 cup of water, and that will finish the batter.

Make sure that I scrape the bowl, bottom of the bowl, to get all that flour off the bottom.

Okay, our fritter batter is all set, ready to go.

So we're just gonna let this rest.

And that besan flour is gonna absorb some of that liquid.

-Okay.

-While that happens, we're gonna heat our oil, and then we can get to frying.

-Yay!

-We've been heating our oil over medium-low heat.

I have 2 quarts of vegetable oil in this Dutch oven.

And what we're looking for is a temperature of 370 to 380 degrees, somewhere in there.

We want a fairly high temperature because we want to fry these really, really quickly.

-Okay.

-So they just take one and a half, two minutes to cook, so very, very fast.

So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna start with a tablespoon measure and another spoon in my hand.

So I'll load some in, use my second spoon to kind of tidy up the edges, and just slide them right in.

-Mmm!

Ooh, that's a good sound.

-So I'm just gonna continue to take heaping tablespoons of this batter and then plop them in the oil like that.

Now, see that I'm stirring the batter after every time that I take some of the fritter batter out to make sure that I have a good distribution.

Okay, so I'm gonna fry these five at a time.

This is really quick -- one and a half to two minutes.

-Oh.

-That's all it takes.

-Really quick.

-And that's gonna be deep golden brown, and you can go in with a spider skimmer and kind of move them around to make sure that they're evenly cooking.

It's been two minutes, and these are looking... -Ooh!

-...mighty fine.

-Yes!

-Nice, deep, dark, golden brown.

-Oh!

-Okay, and also, before I put the next batch in, I want to get any just little random pieces here so those don't get too dark and burn, because they'll attach themselves to the second batch.

-Right.

-And you don't want that.

-No.

-So I'll just put those over to the side.

Now for our second batch, I want to make sure that the oil temperature gets back up to 375 before we start our second batch.

-All right.

-But it's great.

So I will just take this.

And, again, it's stirring, spooning, and dropping.

I'm gonna continue to fry these five fritters at a time.

And the earlier batches I'm gonna keep warm in a 200-degree oven.

-Okay.

-Fritters are fried, and now it is time to eat.

-Yes.

-Look at these beautiful fritters.

-Ah!

-So I love the lacy texture of these.

Those little kind of fingers that are off the sides... -Right.

-...those are gonna be the little crispy, crunchy bits.

Now, I also have a carrot and tamarind chutney here.

The pakoras are hot and spicy.

-Mmm.

-You want something here to kind of cool it down, provide a little bit of a contrast.

-Lovely.

-So let's try these.

-All right.

I mean, look at that.

-It's great.

-Those are heavenly.

-Those crispy fingers on the outside add a lot of crunch.

-So light.

-Yeah.

It is so light.

-Absolutely.

-That's the baking powder doing its job.

-Mmm.

-Now with the chutney.

-Mmm.

Yes.

Yes.

Must try again.

-Mmm.

-Mmm!

-The spices in the background -- nothing overwhelming.

-No.

These are spectacular.

-Mmm.

-Nothing short of the best.

Thanks, Keith.

-You're welcome.

-Well, you've got to make these pakoras at home.

Select and measure out categories of vegetables for the proper ratio, massage the vegetables with spices to release their liquid, And stir in besan flour to make a thickened batter.

Fry them in batches, and don't forget to serve with an amazing chutney.

So from "America's Test Kitchen," the ultimately customizable pakoras.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with select episodes and product reviews.

Those are all on our website, americastestkitchen.com/tv.

Still crispy.

-You think cauliflower for the next batch?

-Ooh, yeah.

Let's go with that.

And shallots.

Visit our website, where you can sign up for our free e-mail newsletter for even more of the recipes and stories you love from all of our cast and cooks.

AmericasTestKitchen.com/TV.

From the cooks and editors of "America's Test Kitchen," Cook's Illustrated Magazine has been all about the why and how of cooking for over 30 years.

Get a year of award-winning reporting, science-based discoveries, trusted reviews, and more.

The cost is $19.95.

That's 63% less than the cover price.

To subscribe, scan the QR code on your screen, or visit CooksIllustrated.com/ TVsubscribe.

"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

Plugr European-style butter was created for all chefs, cooks, and bakers.

Slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and more pliability for flaky crusts.

Plugr -- from professional kitchens to your home.

Sailing with American Queen Voyages brings you to mighty rivers and unique expeditions, where passionate explorers can discover the continent of North America.

You can learn more about our voyages at AQVoyages.com or contact your travel advisor.

Sur la Table, where you can discover an assortment of provisions for your next meal or gathering, from cookware and tools from a wide variety of kitchen brands to hands-on cooking classes.

Visit us at surlatable.com.