Jeera Aloo | Alu Jeera | Cumin Potatoes

You all know by now that how much I love these baby potatoes as I have already posted many recipes with it and I would like to use them where ever they can be easily replaced with the regular potatoes.Aloo jeera is generally prepared with cubes of alu but I feel that these baby potatoes add a pretty look to the dish.I tasted this for the first time from a colleague's lunch box,she had brought parathas with jeera alu and some North Indian achaar.I still remember how every one attacked her lunch box for a bite of this delicious potato and pickle with paratha.I fell in love instantly with the extremely flavorful jeera alu and I immediately took the recipe from her.The freshly roasted and ground masala does the trick and always keep the spices minimal to get the actual taste of the dish.This is a very dry dish and is ideal for traveling as well.Try this simple but extremely flavorful cumin potatoes and I am sure even you will fall in love with them like I did.

Jeera Alu Recipe:
(Serves 2-3)

Ingredients:
15-18 Baby potatoes or 4 normal Potatoes
1 tsp Red chili powder
1 tbsp Coriander seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Amchur powder
1 tbsp Coriander leaves
1 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

for tadka:
2 Green chillies,finely chopped
1 tsp Cumin seeds
a pinch of Hing
1 tbsp Oil
Method:

• Pressure cook baby potatoes for 1 whistle and simmer for 5 mins and switch off the flame.After the pressure drops,drain and cool the potatoes and peel the skins off.Prick the potatoes once or twice using a fork.If using regular potatoes,peel the skins off and cut into 1" cubes.
  
• Dry roast cumin seeds and coriander seeds until dark brown and then pound them in a mortar and pestle to a coarse powder.Take care not to burn those spices otherwise it will spoil the taste of it.
  
• Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and add pricked boiled potatoes and shallow fry them on low-medium flame for 7-8 mins until you get to see the brown patches and they become crisp.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add hing and crackle cumin seeds and then add finely chopped green chillies and fry well until they are crisp.
• Add freshly ground coriander-cumin powder,amchur powder,red chili powder to the oil and add crispy fried baby potatoes and add enough salt and mix them well and let them roast on medium to high flame for another 3-4 mins.
• Add chopped coriander and mix well.

Serve them with parathas and North Indian achaar or with rotis or pulavs as a side dish.
Serve them hot as they are crispy when hot.Even when served at room temperature they tastes very nice and flavorful.
Notes:

1. This can be carried for journeys along with rotis,just avoid coriander leaves in the recipe.
2. Pricking the baby potatoes helps in not bursting and also it absorbs the masalas.
3. Always use freshly ground masala to this,it really gives a nice flavor to potatoes.
4. You can even add 1/2 tsp lemon juice to it for extra tangy punch.

Read More»

Pudina Aloo | Minty Potatoes

Recently I won a give away at pari's place and it was the first give away which I ever won after I started blogging and that is why it is really special to me.I won a book named 'Pure and Simple' by 'Vidhu Mittal',which is really a very well written book with wonderful recipes.This book is quite an essential for a newbie in kitchen as it covers almost all from basic stuff to the creation of a exotic meal and I must thank Pari for choosing such an excellent book for the give away.Today's recipe is prepared from this book and you will see many more recipes from this book in my space soon,so stay tuned!!!
Coming to the recipe,this is a really simple but flavorful recipe and potatoes do wonders in absorbing the flavors of any dish.I like to use baby potatoes in my cooking very often and I have already posted many recipes using baby potatoes and now even this recipe added to my list.If you have boiled potatoes in hand this entire process can be finished in 15 mins.This dish can add charm to your dining table and is a good side dish with roti or pulav or you can even serve it as an appetizer.
Pudina Aloo | Minty Potatoes Recipe:
(serves : 3-4)

Ingredients:
18-20(400gms) baby potatoes
3 tbsp mint,finely chopped
2 tbsp coriander,finely chopped
1 tsp mint paste(roughly from 1/4 cup)
1 tsp dried mint powder
1 1/2 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tbsp green chilli paste
salt to taste

dry masalas needed:
2 tsp coriander powder
3/4 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp amchur powder
1/4 tsp chaat masala
1/4 tsp Garam masala

for tadka:
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
a pinch of hing
2 tbsp oil
Method:

• Pressure cook baby potatoes for 1 whistle and simmer for 5 mins and switch off the flame.After the pressure drops,drain and cool the potatoes and peel the skins off.
• Heat oil in a pan and add hing and crackle cumin seeds.
• Add ginger paste,green chilli paste and mint paste and fry well.

• Add cooked potatoes and mix well.
• Add coriander powder,red chili powder,amchur powder,mint powder,chaat masala and garam masala and fry well for 5 mins stirring it occasionally.
• Add finely chopped mint,coriander leaves and salt to taste and mix and cook for a minute.

Serve it hot as a side dish with roti/pulav or as an appetizer.I served this with Jeera rice and Masoor Makhani and it was really a satisfying meal.

Notes:

• The usage of dry mint and fresh mint in large quantities makes it extra tasty,so do not skip adding dry mint to it.
• To make dry mint powder,clean,wash and drain excess water from mint leaves and dry them under shade/sun for a day or two.Powder it in a mixie,if the leaves are still soft and not crisp microwave them for a couple of minutes by checking them in between and then powder them.
• I like my potatoes crisp,so I poked the boiled potatoes a bit with a fork and shallow fried using a tsp of oil until crisp and form brown patches all over and added to the dish instead of boiled potatoes.However it is optional and left to your choice.
• Mine did not turn very green as I did not have much mint while making it and also I added a pinch of turmeric to baby potatoes while frying.If you follow the process I mentioned the potatoes will turn quite green in color with lots of mint flavor in it.

Read More»

Baby Potato Biriyani..ideal recipe for Parties!!

I always buy a pack of baby potatoes as I am really fond of those cute looking small potatoes.They are very versatile and I prefer them over regular potatoes and I use them in various dishes like Dum aloo,Dum aloo chutney wale,Baby potato roast/fry,Aloo palak,Jeera aloo,Aloo methi,Tandoori aloo and Baby potato biriyani regularly as these are my favorites with small potatoes.
I have tried this recipe from Mallika Badrinath's cookbook and we have become instant fans of this Biriyani and is been regular on my menu now.I have made this biriyani many times and especially for parties.It is always a hit among my friends and some of them even took the recipe from me.This biriyani is very easy to make when compared to regular vegetable dum biriyani and is definitely a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients:
1 cup Basmati rice
200 gms(15-16) baby potatoes
2 big onions,thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh curds
3/4 cup tomato juice,freshly extracted from 2-3 tomatoes
1 cup water
1/4 tsp Garam masala
1/2 bunch(approx 1 cup loosely packed) fresh coriander leaves
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
salt to taste
1 tsp ghee
oil to deep fry

to roast and grind:
1 tsp coriander seeds
4 red chillies
2 tbsp grated dry coconut
2 green chillies
1" ginger,chopped
1/2 tsp oil
Method:

• Wash basmati rice and soak in water for 10 mins.
• Cook basmati rice with 1 cup water and 3/4 cup of freshly made tomato juice in cooker for 2 whistles or on stove top until the water is drained.
• Fluff up the rice with fork and spread on a plate and cool the rice completely.Add a tsp of ghee and mix slightly.
• Grind washed coriander leaves to a fine paste.Beat the curds properly and add the ground paste to it and mix well.
• Heat 1/2 tsp oil and add coriander seeds,red chillies and fry until they change their color and add grated coconut and fry slightly.Cool these ingredients and grind along with green chillies and chopped ginger to a fine paste.
• Pressure cook baby potatoes for 1 whistle and simmer it for 4-5 mins or pressure cook for 2 whistles.
• After the pressure goes down remove them and let them cool.Peel off the skins and pierce each potato with fork in 2-3 places.This helps in potato not to burst while frying.
• Heat oil in a deep heavy kadai and deep fry them over medium flame until they are golden brown in color.Drain them on a kitchen towel and keep them aside.
• Also deep fry thinly sliced onions until they are crisp and golden brown in color.Remove them and drain off excess oil in a kitchen towel and keep them aside.
• Take 2 tbsp of oil from the pan and pour into another wide kadai and add ground masala paste and fry well until the raw smell goes away.
• Add baby potatoes and half of the fried onions to it and mix well until the masala coats all the potatoes.
• Reduce the flame and add curds(mixed with coriander leaves paste) and also add cooled cooked rice and salt and cover it and cook over low flame for 5-6 mins giving a dum to the rice which enhances its taste by absorbing all the flavors.
• Remove the lid and mix everything properly.Add remaining fried onions and garam masala powder and mix well and switch off the flame.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve it hot with mixed vegetable raitha and papad.

Note:

• You can use whole garam masala like laung,cinnamon and biriyani leaf while tempering,however it is optional.
• Use a good quality and possibly freshly ground garam masala powder to make this biriyani as we are not using any other dry masala to enjoy the full flavor of biriyani.
• You can avoid deep drying of potatoes and onions in the recipe and can shallow fry using little oil until they are crisp and golden in color .I shallow fry them when I make it as a regular menu but for parties I definitely deep fry them to enhance the taste of biriyani.

Read More»

Dum Aloo Chutney Wale

I have already posted a recipe for Dum Aloo here,but this version is quite different from the regular Dum Aloo recipe.The addition of ground mixture of greens,sourness from the beaten yogurt,richness from magaz paste,dum cooking takes the taste of this curry to a different level and is really a great party recipe.One should follow some critical tips while cooking the gravies based with curds or milk,if we do not follow them we will end up having curdle mixture.The entire process of cooking this gravy is done without closing the lid and cooked over a low flame in order to retain the green color of the gravy.Try it once and I am sure you will definitely love it.

(Recipe Source : Nita Mehta)
Ingredients:

10-12 baby potatoes or 3 big potatoes,cut into 4 pieces

for chutney:
1 cup fresh coriander
1/2 small raw mango or 1/2 tsp amchur powder
1/2 cup mint
4 green chillies
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

for gravy:
4 tbsp oil(I used just 1 tbsp oil)
2 onions,ground to paste
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 cup yogurt beaten,mix with 1 1/2 cups of water
2 tbsp cashewnuts or 1/4 cup magaz seeds(watermelon seeds)
1 tomato,finely chopped
1/2 tsp Garam masala
salt to taste


Method:

• Wash potatoes and pressure cook for 1 whistle and peel them.The original recipe asked for deep frying the peeled potatoes with out cooking them.But I shallow fried them in a spoon of oil until brown by turning them over in between.
• Grind the ingredients mentioned under the section chutney to a smooth paste.
• As I used magaz(watermelon) seeds,I ground them with 4 cashew nuts to a smooth paste using little water.The original recipe called for only cashew nuts but I like the special taste of magaz seeds in the gravy.
• Beat yogurt properly and mix with the ground magaz/cashew nut paste and keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a kadai,add onion paste and fry until the oil leaves the masala.
• Add jeera and stir fry for a minute.
• Add ground chutney and red chili powder and stir for a minute.
• Remove the kadai from fire and keep it aside for a minute.Add yogurt-cashew nut/magaz mixture and stir it and keep it back on the flame.Stir continuously and cook over a low flame till it comes to boil.This step is critical,if you do not do it carefully you will end up having curdle mixture.Do not cover kadai while cooking this.
• Now add the fried potatoes and salt.Simmer uncovered for 5 mins until oil leaves the masala and gravy thickens.
• Add finely chopped tomatoes and garam masala and stir well and bring to a boil.

Serve it hot with Roti/Naan/Kulcha/Jeera rice/Biriyani.

Note:
Do not cover the kadai with lid while cooking the gravy as it changes the lovely green color of the gravy.

This is again going to participate in Sara's "Only Greens" event started by Pari of Foodelicious.

I am going on a vacation and would be away for two weeks from blogging.I will try peeping into your blogs whenever I get a chance,but I apologize as I would not be commenting to your wonderful posts.I will see you guys only after christmas.

Read More»

Dum Aloo(Baby potatoes cooked in Dum style)

Before entering this phase of cooking,I was under the impression that "Dum cooking" is some what different from the regular cooking and is more complicated.Might be I was under the misconception just because of the tedious process involved in preparing Dum Biriyani's.But when I started learning the complete cooking I got to know the basic differences between various types of cooking and cuisines and got to know the process of Dum cooking.Dum basically means slow cooking and it is achieved by closing the vessel with a lid and sealing it with atta dough in order to avoid the steam from escaping and which results in enhancing the flavors of the dish and this kind of process is generally followed for preparing Biriyani.But also the other dishes do call for this type of cooking where we can simply cover the vessel with a tight lid (which avoids steam from escaping) and is cooked on very low heat for longer time until the flavors are well infused.Here comes one such recipe of Dum style cooking called "Dum Aloo".

Ingredients:

18-20 Baby Potatoes
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium onion diced
1 big Tomato finely chopped
1 cup Curd,beaten
1" ginger,chopped
2" ginger Julienned
4 cloves
1" cinnamon stick
2 tbsp chopped cashewnuts
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
a pinch of hing
salt to taste
1-2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp oil


Method:

• Grind the diced onion and chopped ginger to a fine paste.
• Grind together slight dry roasted cloves,cinnamon and cashewnuts into powder.
• Par boil the potatoes,drain and cool them.peel the skin and rub turmeric over it.Prick all over with a fork and deep fry in oil.(I prefer shallow fry or oven bake method for this job).
• Heat oil in a kadai crackle jeera,add bay leaves and hing.Add finely chopped onion and fry till golden brown,add ground onion mixture to it and fry for 2-3 mins.
• Add chopped tomato,chilli powder,cumin powder,coriander powder,salt(required for gravy),haldi and cook until oil separates out from the mixture(approx 3-4 mins).
• Add curd to the mixture and mix properly until mixed well with the other ingredients,add water if necessary and boil it on low to medium heat.
• When the gravy starts bubbling,add fried potatoes to it and enough salt required only for potatoes and cover it and cook on low flame for 8-10 mins until potatoes are cooked.
• Add ghee to it and give a good stir to the curry.
  
• Garnish with Coriander leaves,beaten curd and ginger juliennes.

Serve it hot with roti/Naan/Paratha/Kulcha or Pulav.

Read More»

Aloo palak

I try to include more Greens in my daily diet and one such green is spinach,which i use in preparing gravies,curries and dal's.Aloo palak can be prepared either in the dry form or a gravy and both go well with roti's.Here goes the gravy form of this.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of spinach
12-15 Baby potatoes or 3 Big Potatoes diced into cubes
1 Onion sliced
1 " Ginger
5-6 garlic pods
6-7 green chillies
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp Dhaniya powder
1/2 tsp Jeera powder
1 tsp Amchur powder
1/2 tsp jeera
2 tbsp Cream(optional,i did not use it here)
salt to taste
1 tsp oil


Method:

• Blanch the spinach in the boiling water for 5-6 mins until soft,run under cold water to retain the color.Cool the spinach and run it in the mixie to a nice smooth puree.
• Grind Sliced onions,ginger,garlic,green chillies to a fine paste in the blender.
• Deep fry the baby potatoes(or diced potatoes) in oil or you can even shallow fry (I placed them in a greased oven tray and baked it until it browns on top approx for 10-12 mins).
• Heat oil in a kadai,crackle jeera and add the ground onion mixture and fry until the fat separation happens,now add all the dry masalas and salt and cook for a minute,add the spinach puree and cook for 5-7 mins on a slow flame(Do not close it with a lid which helps in retaining the color).
• Now add the fried potatoes to it and cook for 2 mins.Pour the cream all over.
• Serve it hot with Roti/Naan/Poori and raitha(I made boondi raitha).

Note:

• Avoid cream in the recipe for a Vegan version.

I am sending this to the sowmya's SWC: Cooking with greens Event which was originally started by Lakshmi
and as green is one of my favorite colors and as it is dominated in this dish, this also goes to Curry Leaf's "FIC:Favourite" event which was originally started by Sunshinemom of TongueTicklers .

Read More»