Potato Sabzi - I

I made this sabzi to go with the Mangalore buns. At my home we usually eat buns with tomato ketchup, jam or chutney. Once, we went to visit one of my husband's friend who had called us over to meet their parents. His parents had come from India to visit them. His mom had made a potato bhaji to go with the buns. She told me she uses home made garam masala and coconut to make this sabzi. I don't make buns in winter as the dough never rises well. So, nearly a year later, when we had guests I made buns and this potato sabzi. Everyone liked this sabzi a lot.

Ingredients
5-6 potatoes
handful of peas
1/2 onion
2-3 pods of garlic
2-3 red chilies or as per taste
1/2 inch piece of cinnamon
1-2 pepper corns
4-5 cloves
5 pinches turmeric powder
1/4 inch piece of tamarind or 1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
5 pinches asafoetida
2 tablespoon coconut
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds


Method
Boil potatoes and keep aside. Fry red chilies, coriander, cumin seeds, cinnamon and cloves. Grind all of these into a fine powder. Add tamarind, coconut and the above powder and grind into a fine paste adding very little water. In a pan add 2 tablespoon oil. Add cumin seeds, turmeric and asafoetida. Add chopped garlic and fry for a minute. Add onion and fry till it is golden brown in color. Add the masala paste and fry for 3-4 minutes. Chop the boiled potatoes and add them to the sabzi. Mash the potatoes till they are properly incorporated into the masala paste, adding around a cup of water. Add salt for taste and cook for around 10 minutes. Serve hot with Mangalore buns.



Preparation time: 40 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Marinated Onion rings in ginger

I made this salad long time back in the mid 90's when I was in school. I don't remember exactly where I read about this recipe. I guess I read it in the newspaper or in some magazine which my mother subscribed. My mother works for a Bank and I had the full freedom to use the kitchen in the afternoons. I would make this and I and my sister would have it as a snack with roti's. It goes well with tandoori's and naans. I prefer the red onions as they give a distinct beautiful color to the salad.

Ingredients
1 red onion
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
1 tablespoon grated coconut
1 teaspoon sugar
salt for taste

Method
Peel the onion and chop it into thin rings. Separate the onion rings. Sprinkle lemon juice and grated ginger on these onion rings and mix well so that all the rings are well coated with lemon juice and ginger pieces.


Marinate these rings for 2-3 hours. Discard the marinate and remove as many ginger pieces as you can from the salad. Sprinkle salt, sugar, grated coconut and mix well. Serve with tandoori or chappati.

Preparation time: 10 minutes excluding the marination time
Serves: 2 -3

Sai Bhaji

I first tasted Sai Bhaji at my friend AK's home. She tells me that it is one of the Sindhi comfort foods and is very nutritious as a lot of vegetables, palak and leafy vegetables are used. She does not use carrot or methi in the recipe. But as I had these at home, I added them to the sai bhaji. Sai Bhaji can be enjoyed with rice or roti.

Ingredients
2 bunches palak or spinach
handful of methi or fenugreek leaves
1 medium onion
2 tomatoes (medium or large- depending on how sour you want it)
5 tablespoon chana dal
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 green chilies
1/2 cup chopped eggplant, pumpkin, carrot
1-2 medium potato
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder (optional)
1/2 cup carrot (optional)
1 teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 tablespoon oil

Method
Wash the chana dal and soak it in warm water for 2 hours. Wash the palak and methi leaves multiple times in water till all the sand particles are cleared. Heat oil in a pressure cooker or pan. Add cumin seeds and turmeric. Fry for a minute. Add ginger, chopped green chili and onions and fry till the onions are golden brown. Add chopped tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are soft. Add coriander powder and chili powder and mix well. Add chopped eggplant, potato and carrot and chana dal. Add chopped palak and methi leaves. mix well and cook for 5 minutes. Add salt and 2 cups of water. If you are making it in a pan then cook with lots of water till the chana dal is soft (this may take 45 minutes to 1 hour). Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles. After the pressure drops, open the pressure cooker and mash the sai bhaji till all the ingredients are mixed well. Sprinkle garam masala on the sai bhaji and serve hot with rice or roti.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Potato Brinjal Sabzi / Aloo Baingan

Potato is a very versatile vegetable and eggplant combination is one of my favorite combination. My uncle's maid in Calcutta cooks very simple sabzi's with variety of vegetables. Though she uses the same spices as we do, her sabzi's taste much better and flavorful. Her secret- cook using minimum water on a very low flame. She just sprinkles a bit of water on the vegetables just to keep them from burning and stirs continuously so that the vegetable are evently cooked. Here is her recipe for eggplant and potatoes.

Ingredients
1 medium eggplant
3 potatoes
3 green chilies
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt for taste
4-5 pinches of asafoetida
1 teaspoon oil

Method

Peel and chop the potatoes into small cubes. Add oil in a heated pan. Add cumin seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder. Add slit green chili and fry for a minute. Add diced potatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Cut the eggplant into small cubes and mix in well with the potatoes. Sprinkle handful of water and cook on low to medium flame for 15-20 minutes. Add salt and mix well till potato is soft. Serve hot.

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Serves: 2-3

Potato in Spicy Tamarind sauce / Potato Song

Potato Song is a traditional Konkani speciality. Potato Song is usually made with bland dal, rasam or roti. It is very simple to make and is very tasty. I added mustard seeds to this recipe as my husband likes it, but traditionally we don't add mustard seeds. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 medium red onion
3 potatoes
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (preferably byadgi or kashmiri chili powder)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate or 1/4 cup tamarind juice
1 teaspoon oil (preferably coconut oil)
salt for taste

Method

Boil potatoes and cool them. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add onion. If you are not using mustard seeds directly fry onion. Fry till the onion is just transparent. Don't fry the onion till brown. I fried it for around 4-5 minutes on medium flame constantly stirring it. Then add the tamarind paste, chili powder salt and 1 cup of water. Get the mixture to a boil. Add chopped potatoes and cook till the potatoes are coated well with the onion and tamarind mixture. Serve hot.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2

Chikki

Chikki is a versatile sweet which can be made and stored for a long time. It is very popular in Lonavla and Khandala in Maharashtra. Here they make chikkis from variety of things apart from peanuts. They make it using almond, cashew nut, pista, sesame seeds and coconut. While traveling from Pune to Mumbai by bus, there is a stop at Khandala and Lonavla. The shops there sell a variety of chikkis. Usually it is made by combining more than one of the above ingredient. Also I have seen that in these places they use sugar instead of gur or jaggery to make the chikki and so the chikki looks transparent. In India you get "chikki gur" which is more stickier than the normal jaggery and it gives a lovely golden glaze to the chikki. I have not seen chikki gur in my grocery store in US (I did see kolapur gur at Cash and Carry..but not sure if it is same as chikki gur). If you don't find chikki gur then use the normal gur. I made sesame and peanut chikki and here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup chiki gur (if you don't find chiki gur then use 2 cups of normal gur)
1 cup normal gur or jaggery
3/4 cup peanut
3/4 cup white til
2 tablespoon ghee
1 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder (optional)

Method

Roast the peanuts and squeeze them with hand to remove the peanut peel. If you blow air sharply, the peanut peel will fly to one side and thus can be separated from the peanut. Remove as much peanut peel as you can. Chop the peanut into small pieces (I use the mixer to chop the peanuts..just give a pulse or two). Keep aside to cool. Roast the sesame seeds till light brown and let it cool. Spread 1 tablespoon ghee on a plate and keep aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a pan and add the jaggery. Heat on medium heat till it forms a slightly sticky paste and stir occasionally. Reduce the heat to low. From this stage on, I keep a bowl of water near by and put a drop of the jaggery paste into the water every 3-4 minutes. If the drop solidifies, it means that the gur paste is ready. If not cook on low flame stirring the mixture all the time and check again. When it is ready, mix the peanut, cardamom powder and the sesame into the jaggery. Stir well, so that the peanut and sesame are well incorporated into the jaggery. Now spread the chikki mixture on the ghee greased plate and press it with the bottom of a cup or a wooden roti presser till it is evenly spread on the plate. Apply ghee or oil to knife and cut into squares. If the chikki mixture cools down, then the chikki will crumple when you try to cut it into squares. This can be stored in an airtight container for around 15 days to a month.

Preparation time: around 1 hour