Aloo Patakha ~ Spicy Potatoes

e

It was only a few days back that we were welcoming the new year and now the first month of the new year is already gone. I hope all of you are still sticking to your new year resolutions and implementing all the new plans you had in mind.

I had been trying to eat healthy as much as possible and I hope to continue the trend. When I talk of eating healthy, the first blog that comes to my mind is this. It is an amazing space with a variety of recipes and there is not a single deep fried dish. I have bookmarked and have tried a number of dishes from her space and they turned out every bit delicious! The recipe of today's post comes from there too.

Potatoes are very versatile and I make something of it very often. The day I spotted the very small variety of baby potatoes in the supermarket, I knew instantly what I had to make of them. This dish is versatile too and you can have it as a chat all by itself or as a curry with chapattis. There was a time when I didn't use garlic in my cooking because, I found the smell too overpowering and it was only slowly with time I began to appreciate the flavour it added to dishes. Still, I use it in moderation so that my dishes would have a very subtle garlic flavour. But, this one is an exception. Although I have used less garlic than stated in the original recipe, it has a predominant garlic flavour, which I actually LIKED in this dish. I have made only a few tiny changes to the original recipe, I grilled the boiled potatoes instead of baking them and I reduced the garlic and chilli to my taste and increased the tamarind. Thank you Rachana for this amazing versatile recipe.

Recipe Source: Veggi Fare

Serves 2

Ingredients 

400 grams baby potatoes, boiled and peeled

4 tbsp - sunflower oil + to grease the baking tray
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp - coriander powder  

3-4tbsp - tamarind pulp
salt  to taste

To be coarsely ground together:

 
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped  

4 pieces - whole red chillies
2-3 inches of ginger
1 tbsp - cumin seeds 

little water to help in grinding

Lemon juice and loads of finely chopped coriander leaves to garnish

Click here for the printable version

Process

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C on grill mode. Grease the baking tray with a little oil. Place the potatoes and mix lightly so that the oil coats the potatoes. 
2. Place the tray in the upper rack of preheated oven and grill until slightly golden. It took 15 minutes in mine and I tossed them around once in between so that they were grilled uniformly.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds, bay leaves and the coarsely ground paste.
4. Saute the paste on a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the coriander powder and salt and cook for another 6-7 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. 
5. Add the baked potatoes. Mix lightly, cover the bowl and let it cook for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. 
6. Add the tamarind pulp. cover and let cook for another couple of minutes. 
7. Remove from the heat, but leave the pan covered. To enhance the taste and the flavours, prepare a few hours in advance.
8. Serve at room temperature, after garnishing with the lemon juice and coriander leaves.

Linking it to Spice Your Food and Health With Spices- Cumin seeds by Tomato Blues. It is an event started by Anu, New Year, New Dish by Nupur , This Month Potato Mania by Siri and to my Event Healthy & Hearty.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Creamy Veggie Filling In Potato Bowls ~ For Blog Hop Wednesdays ~ From UK Rasoi!

The second edition of Blog Hop Wednesdays is here. This week I am paired with Nupur of UK Rasoi. To give you an insight into how this event works - every alternate wednesdays, bloggers participating in this event are paired with a partner and each of them has to chose a recipe from their partner's blog, prepare it and blog about it. To know more about it and participate check this.

Nupur has a good collection of scrumptitous recipes on her blog and it was a hard choice for me. But finally I decided on her Twice Baked Herby Potatoes. Using this recipe as an inspiration, I created Creamy Veggie Filling In Potato Bowls using the ingredients I had at hand. As, I was preparing them as appetizers, I just used half of the measures as given in the original recipe.

Ingredients:


2 baking potatoes.
2 tbsp butter
11/2 tbsp AP Flour.
1/2 tsp ground white pepper.
 salt to taste.
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup or little more warm milk.
2-3 tbsp cream, optional.
2-3 tbsp chopped green pepper.
2-3 tbsp sweet corn.
3 tbsp shredded mozarella.
1/2 tsp mixed herbs.

Process:


1. Microwave the potatoes for 6-8 minutes. Read the instruction given on the packet for cooking them in microwave.
2. Let it cool down. Once cooled, cut them in half and scoop out as much flesh as possible without distorting the shape. Keep the scooped potatoes aside.
3. Heat the butter in a pan and add the chopped pepper and thawed sweet corn and cook it for a minute. Then add the AP flour.
4. Cook it for a couple of minutes stirring, till the raw smell goes away. Add salt, pepper, herbs and sugar and stir. Add the warm milk, stirring all the time. Make sure there are no lumps. Add 3 tbsp of the scooped potatoes. Cook for another 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Keep the potatoes with the scooped side up. Fill them with the prepared filling and sprinkle the shredded cheese.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 C for 15-18 minutes till they are golden brown.
7. Enjoy them as they are or add a dash of tomato sauce. Serve them fresh from oven.

Check out other Blog Hop Wednesday Bloggers and what they are up with for Blog Hop Wednesday

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Fruit Salad ~ Fruit Chaat ~ Colourful and Healthy!

 If you followed the few recipes I have posted here and I am sure you must have noticed they are mostly on the higher side, if you count calories and also higher if you count the indulgence and taste.

Well, that does not realy mean I love only high calorie food. Let me tell you a little secret of mine.. Well! not really a secret.. I am a fruit-o-holic!! I absolutely love fruits and can have lots of it. So, today I am sharing the recipe of a fruit salad. I won't really call it a recipe ~ it is simply a few fruits, spices and lemon juice. Toss it and ready to serve. Yeah really that easy and looks pretty colourful. Did I say super healthy? Let it bring little bit of sunshine to your day!

Ingredients:

Any fruits you like, I have used grapes, apple, banana, oranges, preferably cold. You can also add kiwis, pineapple, pomegranate pearls

Use 1/2 cup of each.

1/2 tsp chaat masala

a generous pinch of freshly ground pepper.

1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

1 tsp lemon juice.

Serves 2

Process:

In a bowl add all the fruits and other ingredients. Toss well and serve immediately!

Note:

If you don't have chat masala, add black salt/sea salt and pepper to taste.

Linking it to Fun N Sun & Kid's Delight -Heathy Meal Ideas.

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!