Baby Potatoes dry curry

It has been ages since I made these.  On our recent trip to Oregon, my husband’s youngest cousin made these for us.  I was so thrilled to see the size of the potatoes.  They were similar to the baby potatoes we get in India. 
 

Gayatri made so much good food – including these delicious baby potatoes!  Siva, Gayatri’s husband, quickly figured out that my family loved potatoes, and raved so much about Gayatri’s recipe, that she had no choice but to make it for us.  Siva's praise was completely justified - they tasted great!

In Colorado, we get baby potatoes, but they are too big to make without cutting(at least in half).   So when I found the right size potatoes in Sprouts, I was really excited.  The potatoes I got came with their own spice mix, which I promptly discarded.

I made a very simple, dry potato curry that you can have with rasam and rice, or with rotis.

Here is what you need:

• 20 – 25 baby potatoes, boiled and peeled
• 3 Tbsp. oil
• ½ tsp. mustard seeds
• ½ tsp. jeera (cumin seeds)
• ¼ tsp. hing
• few curry leaves
• ¼ tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• salt to taste

 

 

Here is how I made it:

1. Heat oil in a kadai.  Add mustard seeds.  When they start sputtering, add the jeera and hing.
2. When the jeera changes color, add the curry leaves.
3. Mix the turmeric powder, chili powder, and coriander powder with a little bit of water (about ½ cup).
4. Pour this carefully into the pan.  Mix it well. Let this cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the potatoes to the pan.  Toss to coat all the potatoes well wit the masala.
6. Cook uncovered on medium-low heat tossing occasionally.
7. Once the potatoes look happy and well done, turn off the heat.

Serve with rice and rasam or with rotis.  To make it a complete meal, end with a little bit of thayir sadam (yogurt rice).

Note:  My husband saw me writing this post and has decided to make it for dinner tonight :)

Inji-Poondu-Thakkali Rasam (Ginger-Garlic-Tomato Rasam)

Our spring break is almost done!  We spent most of it visiting family on the west coast.  My husband has a lot of cousins in this country.  Three of them live in the northwest – Portland – Seattle area.  Since it has been a while since we went to that part of the country, we decided to go there over spring break.

The whole trip was fantastic.  I fell in love with the greenery – especially going from my brown lawn with dead trees to the gorgeous, green, lush landscape, was refreshing! 

We were also treated to some super delicious food – starting with authentic Mumbai pav bhaji and sev puri, mutter paneer, rajma, homemade phulkas, pulav, raita, baingan bartha, carrot halwa, idlis, sambar, chutney, vadas, yogurt rice, potato curry, avial, rasam, green vatana curry, dal fry, kovakkai curry, more potatoes, sambar, rasam, dosai (and a few other dishes that I am sure I have forgotten)…. And not to mention the food outside!  It is an understatement to say that we ate a lot!

Anyway, once we got back home, I was ready to make some simple food to recover from the culinary overload.  What better way to do that than with wholesome rasam?  This recipe is the same as my regular rasam, but with a slight twist.  It tastes great with rice, but I have friends who love to pour this into a katori and drink it up!

Here is what you need:

• ¼ cup toor dal, boiled (I cook this in my pressure cooker till the dal is cooked completely)
• small lime sized ball of tamarind (you can substitute 2 tsp. tamarind paste instead)
• 1 large tomato – washed and chopped
• 2 tsp. rasam powder (I use my mom’s rasam powder – any store bought brand should work)
• 2 green chillies – washed and slit lengthwise
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1” piece ginger
• salt to taste
• ¼ tsp hing
• 1 tsp. ghee or oil
• ½ tsp. mustard seeds
• ½ tsp. cumin seeds
• ½ tsp. crushed pepper
• few curry leaves washed
• few sprigs of cilantro – washed and chopped 

Here is how I made it:

1. Put the tamarind in a cup of warm water for a few minutes.  Squeeze out the juices.  Add some more water and repeat. Discard the pulp.  If you are using tamarind paste, mix the paste with 2 cups of water
2. Add the chopped tomatoes and crush them with your hand.
3. Add the rasam powder and salt.
4. Take the ginger, green chilies, and garlic in a mortar and pestle.  Crush it to a coarse paste.  Add this to the rasam.
5. Bring this mixture to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium. Let this mixture cook for about 10 minutes.
6. Mix the cooked toor dal with 2 cups of water and add it to the tamarind mixture.
7. Add the hing and curry leaves and let this simmer (don’t let it come to a boil) till it if frothy on top.
8. Turn off the stove and add the cilantro.
9. Heat the ghee or oil in a small saucepan.  Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and crushed pepper.
10. Remove from heat when the mustard seeds start to sputter and pour this over the rasam.

Serve with rice, papads, and vegetables of your choice.  My family likes it with potato curry.