THE RECIPE LARDER

Rum Wale Aloo – a la Ajit.

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My friend Ajit invented this absolutely unusual recipe on the spot.

 

the husband and ajit

We were all in Mahabaleshwar, wondering about the dinner menu. Naan, and Kaali Dal were already in the picture, and he volunteered to make an Aloo (Potato) veggie. This jovial, happy – go – lucky, man waltzed into the kitchen at 10 am, fiddled around with pots and pans, and waltzed back out. Then at 7 pm, he took a stiff drink of whisky in his hand, asked for a bottle of rum, (leaving me wondering, as to how we will get him off the kitchen floor and into bed!!) and marched into the kitchen again. I confess to taking a few peeks into the kitchen, just to check if he was still standing. The one time I peeped in, I saw him drain the bottle of Rum into the pan of simmering potatoes. I heaved a sigh of relief, and went about my business grinning, impatiently waiting to taste these crazy Rum laden potatoes.

Rum Wale Aloo – a la Ajit

I really don’t need to tell you how good it was, because I know as soon as you read the recipe you will definitely want to try it at least once. After that you will be hooked. And all those who eat it with you will be hooked. I have already made it thrice in a span of three weeks, and I am a very very happy person when mealtime arrives.

This dish takes a little bit of planning, a little bit of sweat and a great deal of Rum. I really suggest you make it just the way I have mentioned. Everything that Ajit, has put into this Rum Wale Aloo – a la Ajit – has a purpose and imparts some sort of flavor.

Get hold of the smallest potatoes you can. And please see that all of them are approximately the same size. This way, they will all cook uniformly.

Marinate it for a at least 6 hours. I did a huge boo boo, last week. I was asked to make this recipe for a friend’s party and so I marinated the potatoes, a night before to make it next morning, only to realise that I have miscalculated the dates. It was not due for yet another day. I just said a fervent prayer and popped the potatoes into the fridge and let it marinate for yet another 24 hours. So in all – 36 hours of deep marination. Whoa! It cooked faster, tasted bloody good and it did not smell like over worn socks.

So yay!! Go for it – marinate it for as long as you can.

Besides a long marinating time, it also takes a little while to cook. I would suggest good Jazz music in the background (Why Jazz? – well it just seems to set the right tone for this dish! All sultry and seductive. Something good waiting to happen!) A good drink in the hand, and a happy go – lucky nature like the inventor of this dish.

 

Oye AJit – Cheers!!

Enjoying a Cigar, after a hard days work.

 

 

 

Rum Wale Aloo - a la Ajit
Print Recipe
Marinated for hours, drenched in black rum, cooked patiently on slow fire - to be eaten with grins and smiles!
Servings Prep Time
6 pax 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
1 hour 8 + hours
Servings Prep Time
6 pax 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
1 hour 8 + hours
Rum Wale Aloo - a la Ajit
Print Recipe
Marinated for hours, drenched in black rum, cooked patiently on slow fire - to be eaten with grins and smiles!
Servings Prep Time
6 pax 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
1 hour 8 + hours
Servings Prep Time
6 pax 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
1 hour 8 + hours
Ingredients
Marinade for Potato
Initial Tempering
Final Tempering and Ingredients
Garnish
Servings: pax
Instructions
  1. Wash the potatoes very well. Poke holes in all the pcs, with a fork. Please see to it that all sides of the potato are poked
  2. Mix all the ingredients of the marinade into the curds. Mix well.
  3. Toss the potatoes into the marinade. Mix it well and keep covered in a refrigerator for 8 hours.
Making the final dish
  1. Pour the oil in a wok (kadhai), and set it on medium to high flame.
  2. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the ingredients of the intitial tempering. Cover it so that the flavours retain within the oil
  3. In exactly 30 to 40 seconds, open the lid and take all the tempering material out. Leave the oil inside the wok.
  4. Reduce the flame.
  5. Add the hing, and within seconds add the onions.
  6. Fry onions really well. Keep stirring. They should become brown but not burnt. This will take appx 25 to 30 minutes.
  7. Pound the garlic, ginger and green chillies in a mortar pestle, and add to the onions.
  8. Add the turmeric, corriander powder, salt and red chilli powder as well.
  9. Fry well.
  10. Drain the potatoes from the marinade. Keep the marinade aside.
  11. Add the potatoes. Mix well.
  12. Cover the wok, and leave the potatoes to steam. This should take appx 25 to 30 minutes again.
  13. Keep mixing once in a while so that it does not stick to the wok.
  14. When the potatoes are cooked, take off the cover and add the marinade.
  15. Mix well and let the marinade dry up.
  16. All this while the fire should be at medium to low. Keep it this way.
  17. When the marinade has cooked and dried up add the rum. (finally!!)
  18. Let it cook coating the potatoes by stirring and tossing.
  19. The colour will turn black.
  20. When the rum reduces to half, add the lime juice and tomato puree.
  21. Toss and mix well.
  22. When the tomato cooks, take off the fire. You will know its cooked when it does not smell raw anymore.
  23. Garnish with corriander leaves and serve hot with any form of Roti.
Recipe Notes

This dish requires patience. But your patience will be well rewarded when your palate tastes the punch of rum with the soft but spicy potatoes.

Use the hing liberally. If its very good quality you may reduce it a little, but its store bought use the entire specified amount.

Be careful with the salt. The marinade already has salt, then you add some more while cooking.

Please use all the ingredients as specified. The longer you marinate the potatoes, the faster it will cook. If you want some gravy (this is just coated in the rum and onion gravy - not a runny gravy), then add appx 1 Cup of water in the end, after the tomato cooks. Give it a good boil and you are ready to go.

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Cucumber Boat Salad

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Chilled Cucumber Boat Salad

The Daughter made another demand — I’m so pleased she has got into cooking! The chef in me feels fulfilled and the mom and me feels happy! 😛

I make this salad very often at home. It needs to be served really really chilled, so its a good idea to make it a wee bit in advance.

It’s a messy salad though! Be prepared for a white moustache and a few drips down your chin! But it’s worth the dishevelled look you will sport while eating it.

Look for crisp cucumbers with a clean green interior. I always cut off the side of the cucumber and taste it before using it. Sometimes cucumbers can be very very bitter, and even one bitter cucumber in a salad of 20 cucumbers can spoil the entire dish. Taste it and throw it away if its bitter. (You can always chuck it in the compost pile of course!)

The yoghurt should be thick, so hang it for an hour or so if you want. There is zero neatness in this salad, so there really isn’t any right or wrong way to fill it. Slice the spring onions really thin and small. Garlic can be upped as per your taste. To my mind, too much garlic takes away the sweetness of the yoghurt and the original taste of the cucumber.

I add a little chilli flakes, but you can always add some herbs too – parsley, thyme, oregano. Don’t use very strong herbs. Again – it takes away the original flavours.

The boats can get very wobbly, as the base is rounded. You can slice off a small part of the cucumber from the bottom to make a little steadier base. But – mostly, it will wobble and fall a little to the side, but if the yoghurt is not to drippy things should not slide out and drip into the plate.

I’m attaching a quick video for you.

I hope you enjoy this salad. Do write in.

As always – Cheers! and Happy Times!

 

 

Cucumber Boat Salad
Print Recipe
Crips. filling, gooey, and crunchy. Great as a cocktail snack, as well as a salad. Don't let the fancy look deter you from making this perfectly easy and hearty salad.
Servings
4 peopl
Servings
4 peopl
Cucumber Boat Salad
Print Recipe
Crips. filling, gooey, and crunchy. Great as a cocktail snack, as well as a salad. Don't let the fancy look deter you from making this perfectly easy and hearty salad.
Servings
4 peopl
Servings
4 peopl
Ingredients
Servings: peopl
Instructions
  1. Peel and slit the cucumbers lengthwise.
  2. De seed the inner core using a spoon (see video) Chill in refrigerator till you need to fill it.
  3. Chop the green onions finely. Use all the whites and some of the greens
  4. Soak the alfa alfa in iced water, so that it untangles and the sprouts open up. Drain before using.
  5. In a clean bowl, mix the hung curd or greek yoghurt with all the other ingredients.
  6. Taking a small spoon, fill the cores of the cucumbers with the filling. A little will drip out. You can either leave it, or wipe it with a clean paper towel.
  7. Heap the sprouts on the yoghurt mix.
  8. This salad can be filled in advance, or just before eating. Either way, the filled boat, or the filling and cored cucumber should be in the refrigerator till served.
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Garlic Mashed Potatoes

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Our trip to Japan was largely about Japanese food. Tofu meals, Zen meals and meals in the temple. We all developed a love and respect for Tofu and all its variations. This one restaurant that we went to and which was purely fusion was Rigoletto, in the Roppongi area of Tokyo. They had very few choices for vegetarians, but all of them were sumptuous.

I made the garlic mashed potatoes for my husband’s birthday. It was a smashing hit.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Yeah yeah, it has a lot calories and all that. But hey! its really tasty. And you gotta cheat once in a while right? How else will you enjoy life?

The potatoes have to be boiled and later mashed along with all the other ingredients. The entire mixture can be a heavy load for most blenders. Even mine protested mightily, but held its own. By no means am I proclaiming Technora blenders to be the best, but where I am concerned it has stood the test of time and use. I love their inbuilt stirrer. I don’t have to open the lid and stir the food, I can do it while the blending is on. Pure genius.

garlic potatoes

This is a copy cat recipe, so my imagination can take no credit for it. But I added a twist to its story, by cooking it in an earthen bowl. It wasn’t coated inside with any kind of ceramic polish. Just pure earthen ware. So when the garlic mashed potatoes cooked, the flavour and fragrance of the natural clay seeped into the potato, giving it that extra kick and twist.

Wash the earthen ware once and dry it in the sun if you can. Fill the mashed goodness, add dollops of butter, garnish and bake. It’s a quick and easy recipe, and I shall become famous – because everyone is going to ask you for this recipe.

😉

Have fun guys – I promise you a piece of heaven!

Ciao!

garlic mashed potatoes 2

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Print Recipe
Served in earthen ware, so the smells and flavours infuse into one good yummy dish!
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 10 minutes
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Print Recipe
Served in earthen ware, so the smells and flavours infuse into one good yummy dish!
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 pieces 20 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 10 minutes
Ingredients
For the potatoe
To Garnish before cooking.
Accessories
Servings: pieces
Instructions
  1. Boil the potatoes.
  2. Once the potatoes are boiled, peel and run it through the ricer.
  3. Add all the ingredients for the potatoes and load it into the blender.
  4. Blend well. You might have to do it in parts. It should have no lumps.
Garnish
  1. While the potato is boiling, peel the garlic meant for the garnish. Slice the garlic into thin slivers.
  2. Rub the olive oil and salt on it and pop into the oven. Bake for appx 10 minutes, till it is dehydrated and a wee bit brown. You don't want to make it crisp and completely baked
    Rub the olive oil and salt on it and pop into the oven. Bake for appx 10 minutes, till it is dehydrated and a wee bit brown. You don't want to make it crisp and completely baked
Final Dish
  1. Ladle the mixture in the earthen ware / baking dish, garnish with parsley, chilli flakes and the par baked garlic.
  2. Add dollops of butter (the one kept aside for the garnish) on all sides and slide into the oven.
  3. Bake for 10 minutes. First the butter will melt and then cook and infuse into the potato. When the butter sizzles, and the garlic on top looks browned, take out and serve hot.
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