Rich blend of spices – sookhi aloo ki sabji
Lot of good things happen in Mahabaleshwar. One of the finest things is – something about that place makes people want to cook.
The kitchen is airy and has huge windows opening out to our kitchen garden. The fact that it’s a biggish sized kitchen also makes it easier to have people milling around and experimenting with various home grown and organic ingredients.
I had my cousin uncle and aunt over. The fact that he is my age does not deter me from calling him uncle. Some childhood habits just don’t get out of your system.
Kunal’s father my grand dad’s brother, was a legendary cook. After he passed away, Kunal was craving for his dad’s aloo, and managed to hunt down the recipe. He tried it and it turned out exactly like his father’s.
I hope in time, he manages to scavenge a few more recipes. I firmly believe that family recipes should be handed down into capable hands.
While making it I was warned not to balk at the number and quantity of ingredients going in. “It’s a recipe with excesses”, Kunal told me. “The flavours just explode in your mouth one after the other!”
My eyes did open wide a couple of times when he lavishly put in the spices and flavours. And a few times I had to take a deep breath and just wait for the outcome. Kunal comes from a very refined cooking lineage, so I had full confidence in his culinary skills.
As one aroma after another wafted up, I had to hold on to my patience really really hard.
As soon as the dish was done, he told me to try it. Now, I cannot eat hot food at all. But as soon as I was able, I popped a piece of the potato in my mouth — AND OH! MY GOD!!
At first I got the charred onions and a hint of burnt ginger. Then came the taste of spices, specially the coarsely roasted corriander seeds (dhania). The whisper of chilly was balanced with the sugar. That sugar and spice taste was the most surprising. The sapidity really hit home. The squishy softness of the potato, the spices blending with the sweet, implications of chilly – everything, just about everything goes to make this a perfect aloo ki sabji.
Don’t reduce anything – not the spices, not the sugar and definitely not the oil. Try not to substitute the oil too. In fact you can increase the spices if you are able to tolerate spicy dishes. I actually recommend you do so!
Amazing dish to be savoured with Naan, Tandoori Roti, Chapatti, Puri. You can also make it and serve it on it’s own, in toothpicks, as a cocktail snack.
However you decide to eat it, just give it a try. You will not be dissapointed!
Cheers!
PS: Here is the video that explains the various stages of the preparation.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 4 pax | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 20 minutes | 10 minutes |
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A recipe of excesses, which go into making one of the best potato veggies I have ever eaten.
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- 500wo gms Baby potatoes dice into two, leave the peels on
- 1/2 cup Mustard Oil
- 1/3 cup Corriander seeds whole (dhania seeds)
- 1 Tbspn Cumin Seeds (jeera)
- 2 Bay Leaves (tej patta)
- 1/4 Tspn Asafoetida (hing)
- 2 Tbspn White Sesame Seeds (safed til)
- 1/3 Cup Ginger Very thinly sliced
- 3 Red Chillies whole, cut into pieces
- 1 onion cut into rings
- 1/2 Tspn Turmeric powder (haldi)
- 2 Tspn Chilli powder (lal mirch)
- 3 green chilles slit - but not divided into 2
- 1 1/2 Tspn salt
- 1 1/2 Tspn sugar
- 2 Tspn Dry Mango Powder (amchur)
- Dry roast the corriander seeds and grind them very coarsly. Each seeds should not cut into more than 4 pieces
- Wash and slice the potato into two, leaving the peel on.
- Turn the flame to medium. Pour the oil into a pan (with a fitting lid) and when hot, put in the potatoes and fry. Toss the oil well into the potatoes.
- Cover with a lid and cook. Keep opening the lid and stirring once in awhile.
- When the potatoes are cooked 70%, ie - a knife should slide in easily but should be difficult to cut, then take it off the pan, drainging the oil.
- Leave the oil in the pan.
- Add the cumin seeds and bay leaves. When crackling, add the sesame seeds.
- Stir and fry.
- When sesame seeds are crackling add, the asafoetida.
- Mix, and then add the ginger strips.
- This part is very important. The ginger should be fried really well, till it is completely dehydrated.
- Now add the pieces of red chilly.
- Toss well, and add the onion rings.
- Keep stirring, and cooking. All the masala should coat the onion slices.
- Now add the turmeric and chilly powder.
- Mix and add the coarsely ground corriander seeds.
- Mix very well. Now your masala will start charring and looking black. Don't worry.
- Add the potatoes mix and toss and cook with lid.
- Keep checking to see that the masala does not burn at the bottom of the pan. Keep mixing.
- When cooked, and potatoes slice well when cut through, add the sugar and salt. Mix well and cook again for a minute or so with the lid on.
- Take off the lid, and add the dry mango powder. Toss really well, so that the mango powder coats all the potatoes really well.
- Now your masala will start looking burnt. Don't worry. This is what you want.
- Take off the pan, serve hot garnished with fresh corriander leaves.
- Goes really well with roti, naan, tandoori roti, paratha etc. You can also serve it as a starter, on toothpicks.
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