Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Maa's Simply Simple Aloo Dum

Warning: A blog post written about 2 years back :) Well, this is the same potato curry I clicked and posted with Poha on 3/18/2012..so here is the recipe and some of my rant from 2 yrs back..wow! Enjoy..I did reading what I had to say but never did! ;) Have a great day, everyone! :)



Hello All!

Glad to be back blogging again! As always, life just took over and I did not have the patience to post even one recipe in the last few months. Thanks to all the readers for their comments from time to time which kept me in touch with this part of me - MY BLOG! Thanks to my friend Sonali and Silu apa for checking on the status from time to time. Sonali's comment that "everything always turns out good from your blog" was very inspiring.

Partly the reason for my absence is since we moved to the new house, I was a bit disorganized in terms of where the camera is, the data transfer cord is - not very streamlined as it was in my old house (though it was a smaller house, I still miss it!) where I could cook and post in minutes! Getting there in this house....hopefully soon.

To update on my whereabouts, after I cleared my thesis proposal last summer I managed to take a 6 weeks break from work and visit family in India. One would think by 6 weeks, I would be waiting to be back here - no, it was the opposite! Even though I have a great bunch of friends and work is just rocking with an awesome group of colleagues (you guys rock!), there is always such a vacuum you feel leaving the place you grew up in. Since I went back after 5 years, the parting was such a miserable feeling - a feeling of anxiety as to when I will be back again - will LIFE take over again and I will come back after 5 years again (touchwood! no way!). Felt so homesick with R busy on endless workdays - went ahead and called over Maa. It was such a blessing that she could come over and we had an awesome 3 months of summer with her. She did have a harrowing experience flying with Air India (word of advice to anyone even thinking of using that @#@$ airline - ^%^ off!) which I will post about some other day.

Ofcourse with Maa visiting, will cooking new delicacies be far behind. I am one person who can eat potatoes for all the three meals of the day! ;) So here is one of potato recipes - it tastes best with small potatoes and based on your need - have it dry or as a gravy-based dish. Hope you like it!



Ingredients (makes 4 servings)



Potatoe - 8 small, boiled and cubed (horizontal cut, vertical cut and cut across half)
Onion - 1/2,chopped into long slices
Tomato - 2.5 medium ones, chopped
Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1.5 tbsp
Dry red chilli - 3
Bay leaves - 3
Green chilli - 4-5 whole, if anyone wants to crush it while eating for added hot taste
Onion-Ginger-Garlic paste - 3 tbsp (optional)
Coriander (Dhaniya) powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tbsp or as per taste

Cooking steps:

Heat oil. Add fennel seeds and let it splutter.
Add dry red chilli and bay leaves.
As it roasts, add the sliced onions.
When onion becomes transparent, add the onion-ginger-garlic paste and let it cook.
As the raw smell is gone, add the chopped tomatoes and let it cook. Keep stirring to avoid sticking to the sides of the utensil.
Add green chilli, turmeric, salt, coriander powder.
As the oil starts separating, add the boiled and chopped potatoes. Cook for a few minutes so that the potatoe is well-coated with the spice mixture. Add water, about a cup, and let it boil.

Note - If you want to have it dry, add a few tbsps of water and let it evaporate. Green peas can also be added for a different taste.

It can be garnished with fresh coriander leaves. However, we had it without the garnish and it was just awesome.

Serve with roti\paratha\puri\luchi!

While growing up, this used to be one of my favorite dishes for breakfast and/or dinner. Yes, I was a kid who liked only two vegetables, if they count as veggies - potatoe and cucumber! :) Simple soul food for me...

3 comments:

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

lovely post as usual... loved the rant and the simple pleasures both!

Spicy-Aroma said...

you have lovely space..happy to follow u!!
Spicy-Aroma

Pragyan said...

Thank you, Somoo and Poonam!