Poori Urulaikizhangu Masala, Potato Curry

          Poori Urulaikizhangu, whenever I make pooris ( which is not often ), this is the side dish that I make with it. Though we can serve pooris with chana masala and kurmas, in my house this is a favorite. This is an easy dish, the flavors are very simple and there is not much oil or cream or coconut in this dish, so it's light and delicious with the deep fried pooris..

Need To Have

• Mashed Potatoes - 2 cups
• Onions - 2 medium, sliced
• Chana Dal/Bengal Gram - 1 tablespoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Ginger - 1" piece, grated
• Green Chilly - 2 or 3, depending on the spiciness
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10 to 15
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tablespoon
• Salt to taste

Method

          Boil, peel and coarsely mash the potatoes and keep. Heat some oil, add chana dal and mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida, ginger and curry leaves followed by the onions and saute it till it turns pink.

          Then add the potatoes, and mix, then add the turmeric powder, about 2 cups of water and salt. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes. Finally add the chopped coriander leaves and switch off..

Note
You can add a handful of fresh or frozen green peas to the curry.
The consistency should neither be very thick or very thin.
Once you add the potatoes, slightly mash it with the back of the laddle.
Onions give the taste to the dish, so don't leave it out.
You can add 1 or 2 teaspoons of besan flour/kadalai maavu, mixed with water, this makes the curry thick, but I usually don't add it, mashing the potatoes makes the curry thick.

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Parwal ( Potol, Pointed Gourd ) And Potato Curry

          Parwal/Potol/Pointed Gourd, we don't use it much in South Indian cooking, but I have seen it widely used in North Indian curries. I have already made Potol Posto, a Bengali dish with this vegetable, this is the second curry that I made with it. I have added some potatoes along with parwal and cooked them in a fresh masala paste, this curry would go very well as a side dish for rotis, naans and pilafs..

Need To Have

• Parwals/Pointed Gourds - 8, peeled and sliced
• Baby Potatoes - 15, peeled and diced
• Tomato - 1, chopped
• Cloves - 3
• Garam Masala - 1 teaspoon
• Curd/Yogurt - 1 tablespoon
• Chopped Coriander - 1 tablespoon
• Salt to taste

To Grind

• Onion - 1 medium
• Garlic - 3 cloves
• Ginger - 1" piece
• Coriander Seeds - 1 tablespoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cashews - 4
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon

Method

          Peel and dice the parwal, heat some oil, add the pieces and saute them for about 5 to 7 minutes till you start getting some brown spots.

          Then add the diced potatoes and saute for another 5 to 7 minutes till the potatoes turn golden.

          Grind together all the ingredients given under 'to grind' into a fine paste.

          Heat some oil in a pressure pan, add the cloves, once it starts sizzling, add the tomatoes and saute for 2 minutes, then add the paste and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, till the raw smell goes away.

          Then add the garam masala and curd and saute till the curd is well mixed, now add the sauteed vegetables.

          Add about 11/2 cup of water and salt, close the lid of the pressure pan, cook till one whistle, then reduce the heat and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes and switch off. When the pressure is fully gone, open the lid and add the chopped coriander, mix and serve.

Note
While sauteing the masala paste, if it sticks to the pan, add a little water and keep sauteing till the raw smell goes away.
If you can't find parwal, we can use other vegetables like beans, tindora, eggplant or just even with the potatoes only.
Can do the cooking in a regular pan too, just cover and cook.

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Potato And Eggplant Dry Sabzi

          The past couple of weeks has been really hectic, travelling and weddings had kept me away from my blog, I have made only three posts this month. I had made some dishes, clicked pictures but didn't have the time to edit and do a post, neither could I visit other blogs, I think everything should fall back to routine by the end of this month. Coming back to today's dish, it's a semi-dry curry with potatoes and eggplant/ brinjal, I had made it along with Gujarati Khichdi and Kadhi. I have another dry curry with potatoes and eggplant here, but that has a South Indian flavor, whereas this curry is more along the lines of a Gujarati Shak, but a dry version. It is a very easy dish and tastes really good with the khichdi and kadhi and it would also go very well with some rotis or puris too..

Need To Have

• Italian Eggplant - 1, sliced
• Potato - 1 big, sliced
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tablespoons
• Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

To Grind

• Coriander Seeds - 2 teaspoons
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Green Chilly - 1
• Ginger - 1" piece
• Garlic - 2 cloves

Method

          Grind together all the ingredients given under ' to grind ' and keep.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the sliced eggplant and potato and mix for a minute.Then add the turmeric and chilly powders, the ground paste and mix everything well.

          Now add the tomatoes and salt, mix and cook for a minute. Add 1/4 cup of water, cover and cook on low heat till the potato and eggplant is cooked. Remove the lid, add the chopped coriander and sugar, mix and serve.

Note
Italian eggplants are the slightly big, dark purple ones, you can use the very big ones too, in that case, use 1/2 of it, keep the sliced eggplants and potatoes, immersed in water, till you use it, so that it doesn't change in color.

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Aloor Dum, Potato Curry

          After seeing the combination of Kachoris and Aloor Dum ( popular Bengali dish ) in many blogs, I had wanted to try it, but kept putting it off for one reason or the other. And then, last week , I saw these kachoris with aloor dum in a cooking show, and I couldn't wait any longer to try it. I made Radhaballabhi kachoris ( obviously my next post ) along with Aloor Dum, though I made it as an evening snack, we can have this for a weekend breakfast or brunch. I already have a post for Dum Aloo in my blog, a very rich almond-yogurt based curry, but this one is a very simple dish, but very tasty in its own way and a perfect side dish for the kachoris. We just loved this curry and it would go very well even with regular pooris and rotis too..

Need To Have

• Potatoes - 2 big, boiled, peeled and diced
• Tomatoes - 4 medium, chopped
• Green Chilly - 1, chopped
• Grated Ginger - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Bay Leaf - 1, medium sized
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander - 3 tablespoons
• Salt to taste

Method

          Heat some oil, add the bay leaf and the cumin seeds, when it starts sizzling, add the asafoetida, green chilly and ginger and saute for a few seconds, then add the potatoes and tomatoes and mix.

          Add the salt, turmeric, chilly and coriander powders along with about 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for about 5 to 7 mins. Finally, add the sugar, mix, garnish with the chopped coriander, remove and serve with kachoris, pooris or rotis.

Note
Use tomatoes that are not too sour.
The original recipe didn't have red chilly powder and coriander powder, but I added it for more flavor and also, because I felt that one green chilly was not enough.

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Potato And Peanut Curry, Urulaikizhangu Verkadalai Curry

          Couple of weeks back, I had bought about a kg of fresh raw peanuts, boiled them and then shelled them. Apart from eating them as such, I had used the boiled peanuts in cooking too, I used them in the Cabbage Briyani and also in this Potato Curry. It's once again a very simple curry that goes well with sambar rice or curd rice and I think it should go equally well with rotis too. I have also added some chopped mint leaves which gives a nice flavor to this delicious curry..

Need To Have

• Boiled Potato - Peeled and Diced, 11/2 cup
• Boiled Peanuts - 1/4 cup
• Chopped Mint Leaves - 1/4 cup
• Grated Ginger - 1 teaspoon
• Onion - 2 small, chopped
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Crushed Chilly Flakes - 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Lemon Juice - 1/2 tablespoon
• Salt to taste

Method

          Heat some oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida powder followed by the chopped onion. Saute till it turns pink, then add the potato pieces along with the turmeric powder and salt and keep mixing for about 2 to 3 minutes.

          Then add the grated ginger, coriander powder and chilly flakes and keep mixing for another 2 minutes. Now add the cooked peanuts, chopped mint and keep cooking for another 3 to 4 minutes. Switch off and mix in the lemon juice and serve.

Note
You can use dried raw peanuts, cook them and add to the curry.
Can use some chopped garlic too, add it along with the onion and saute it well and leave out the asafoetida and ginger, the curry will have a minty-garlicky flavor.
Also can add a chopped tomato at the end and leave out the lemon juice.

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Potato And Lentils, Aloo Dal

          On weekdays, when I pack lunch, and when it's rotis, I try to make some side dish that has some protein in it, usually by adding some dal/ lentils or some form of soy, so that it's filling and doesn't make you hungry very soon. Today's dish is one such, I have cooked moong dal along with potatoes, and I have added kasuri methi which gives the dal a nice flavor. This is so easy to make, you have to only dice the potatoes and tomatoes and the entire cooking can be done in the pressure pan. This dal goes very well with pilafs, rotis or even with dosas..

Need To Have

• Potatoes - 1 cup, diced
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Moong Dal/ Split, Husked Green Gram - 1/4 cup
• Chana Dal - 4 teaspoons
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 4, broken into 2 pieces
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Kasuri Methi - 2 tablespoon, crushed
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method

          Wash together the two dals and keep. Heat some oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the broken red chillies and the asafoetida and mix, immediately add the chopped potatoes and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

          Now add the kasuri methi and tomatoes and mix for another minute, then add the dals/ lentils, turmeric powder  and mix once.

          Add about 21/2 cups of water and salt, cover the pressure pan and cook. After the first whistle, reduce the heat to minimum and cook for another 6 to 7 minutes and switch off. Once the pressure is all gone, open the lid, depending on the consistency, add a little more water, or if it's very watery, cook for some more time till it becomes a little thick.

Note
Kasuri methi is dried fenugreek leaves and it's available in all Indian grocery stores.
If you don't have a pressure pan, you can do the entire cooking in a heavy bottomed pan, soak the dals for 1/2 and hour to an hour to speed up the cooking process.
Potatoes can be replaced with chayote or sorakkai/ bottle gourd/ lauki/ ridge gourd, the dish becomes more healthy.

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Potato And Capsicum Rice, Urulaikizhangu Kudaimilagai Saadam

          Potato and Capsicum Rice, this again is a very easy and quick dish, it can be put together in a breeze, especially if you have some leftover rice from the previous day. It's a perfect lunch box idea for your busy weekdays, uses the basic ingredients from your pantry and of course, potatoes and capsicums. Just serve it with some raitha or curd and some chips on the side for a delicious meal..

Need To Have

• Cooked Rice - 4 cups
• Potato - 1 big, diced
• Capsicum - 1 big, diced
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Grated Ginger - 2 teaspoons
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 2 teaspoons
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chillies - broken into 2
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tablespoons
• Salt to taste

Method

          Heat some oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the red chillies, asafoetida followed by the chopped onions and saute till the onions turn translucent. Then add the potato and capsicum pieces and saute for another minute.

          Now add the grated ginger and curry leaves and mix for one more minute. Then add the turmeric powder, salt and about 1/4 cup water, cover and cook on medium heat till the potatoes are almost cooked. Then add the chopped tomatoes, chilly powder and coriander powder, cover and cook till the tomatoes break down and the potatoes are cooked fully.

          Now add the chopped coriander and keep sauteing for another 5 minutes till oil oozes out from the sides.

           At this stage, reduce the heat, add the rice and mix everything together till the rice is warmed through.

Note
You can also add chopped garlic and leave out the asafoetida, or make it even without the chopped onions.
When using leftover rice from the fridge, just bring it to room temperature and mix, so that it'll be easy to warm the rice fast.
You can add some cooked chickpeas/ chana, double beans, bean sprouts or even lobia/ karamani/ black eyed peas to make the dish even more nutritious.

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Potato And Bitter Gourd Stir Fry, Urulaikizhangu Pavakkai Vadakkal

          Last month, we had lunch at a Bengali restaurant, though I have tasted Bengali food a couple of times, I cannot talk about the authenticity of a dish. But on that day, I spoke to a girl ( a Bengali student ) sitting at the next table and she told me that she was tasting home style food after a long time, I took that as the verdict. One of the dishes that we ordered that day was a vegetable bajje ( appetizer ), I thought it would be some vegetable, dipped in batter and deep fried. To my surprise, it was a potato and bitter gourd fry, I think both the vegetables were deep fried and then sauteed with some spices. We just loved it, and I wanted to try it at home, I have tried to reproduce it from what I had tasted, I didn't get the recipe, and also I have tried to make it healthy too, try this, even kids wouldn't mind the pavakkai/ karela/ bitter gourd in this..

Need To Have

• Bitter Gourd - 2 medium
• Potatoes - 3 small
• Fennel Seed Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method

          Slightly scrape the outer skin of the bitter gourd, slice into half, scoop out the seeds in the middle and make thin half-moon slices. Peel and slice the potatoes like we do it for French fries. 

          Heat some oil in a pan, add the potato slices and a little salt,  cover and keep sauteing, till the potato fingers turn golden with few brown spots here and there, remove and keep. 

          Add some more oil, now add the sliced bitter gourd and salt and cover and keep sauteing till it gets wrinkled, gets cooked and slightly crispy, remove and keep. 

          Add a little oil, add the fennel seed, chilly and turmeric powders along with the sugar, give a mix and add both the vegetables, mix with the spice powders and keep sauteing for another 5 to 7 minutes. Remove and serve it warm with dal and rice or rotis.

Note

You can deep fry both the potato and bitter gourd, the dish at the restaurant was just oozing out oil.

The final dish should not be crunchy, but sort of soft and crispy at the same time.

The bitter gourd loses most of its bitter taste.

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Aloo Bhindi/ Potato And Okra Curry

          I love potatoes, this vegetable is so versatile, you can make so many dishes with it, gravies, fries, chips, even sweets can be made from this vegetable. It not only tastes good, all by itself, but combines beautifully with almost any vegetable and gives a wonderful taste to any dish. I have used it in combination with eggplants, green peas, spinach, and now for today's recipe, along with okra/ bhindi/ lady's finger. Even people who otherwise don't like okra because of its sliminess would try this dish with potato. This dish has a nice garlic flavor and goes very well with both rotis and rice..

Need to Have

• Potato - 2 medium, chopped
• Okra - 1" pieces, 2 cups
• Garlic - 5 cloves, crushed with the skin
• Onions - 2 medium, chopped
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Chilli Powder - 3/4 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10

Method

          Heat some oil, add the potato pieces, saute on reduced heat, till it turns golden and is almost cooked, remove the potatoes and keep.

          If needed, add a little oil, add the okra pieces and saute till gets light brown spots and is almost cooked, remove and keep.

          Now add some oil, add the cumin seeds, once it starts sizzling, add the garlic pieces and mix till you get a nice flavor from the garlic and it turns golden. Then add the chopped onions and keep sauteing till it turns pink, then add the turmeric, chilli and coriander powders and mix for a minute.

          Now add the potato and okra pieces, add some salt, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the lid, add the tomatoes, cover it one more time and cook till the tomatoes start to break down. Then, remove the lid, add the curry leaves, if needed a little oil and keep sauteing for 4 to 5 minutes on reduced heat, Remove and serve warm with rice or rotis along with some dal.

Note
You can also deep fry the potato and okra pieces, I have avoided it to keep the dish a little healthy.
Can double the amount of garlic if you like it.

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Oven-Bakes Parmesan Rosemary Fries

I don't know who else saw these on OBB but I decided to make them tonight for sunday dinner and they were mm mm good! The only ingredient I had to go get was some fresh rosemary but other then that they are relatively and easy make. And I would definitely recommend getting the fresh stuff. Also, put the pan on a rack closer to the top if you like them crispier.

Ingredients:

4 medium Russet potatoes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 1/2-2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish if desired
Canned Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (lightly crumple it if you want to; that will help ensure even browning) and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Cut each potato into 8 wedges and set aside ( you can also cut them like you do for this recipe). In a large, wide bowl, combine the olive oil, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, corn starch, and rosemary. Add the potato wedges and toss to coat them evenly with the olive oil mixture. Spread evenly over the prepared foil and bake in the preheated oven for  about 40 minutes or until the fries are golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. If desired, sprinkle with additional rosemary and salt. Serve immediately.

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Potato Curry With Fresh Spice Powder/ Urulaikizhangu Podi Curry

          Once again, another potato curry, but do we get tired of potatoes, definitely no. This curry is similar to the Kathirikkai Podi Curry, with only a little variation here and there, but still I thought I should do a separate post on it. It tasted awesome with a mild fenugreek flavor and goes well with almost anything, especially  tastes very good with sambar and curd rice..

Need To Have

• Baby Potatoes - 3 cups, boiled and peeled
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt - to taste

To Powder

• Coriander Seeds - 2 teaspoons
• Chana Dal/ Bengal Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 4
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Method

          Roast the ingredients given under ' to powder ' in  very little oil, in the order given, adding the fenugreek seeds last, taking care not to burn the fenugreek seeds, tastes bitter. Cool, powder coarsely and keep.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the potatoes and keep roasting on low heat for 5 to 7 minutes.

          Then add the turmeric powder, salt, asafoetida and the ground powder, mix for 2 minutes. Add the curry leaves, if needed a little more oil and keep frying for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove and serve warm.

Note
You should do this curry with potatoes that don't become mushy while frying, don't use the ones used for mashed potatoes.

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