Potatoes N Peas in a curry

I lived a considerable part of my life in North India, winter is the best season in Northern India, the sun is glorious and the nippy air is perfect between bouts of strong sunshine. I have so many memories of sunny nippy afternoons. Sitting outside in the warm winter sun with hot adrak (ginger) chai…oh, that’s something that money cannot buy. Aloo mutter reminds me of Indian winters. It was my favorite while growing up, With hot puris and raita……best thing ever.  It pairs well with rice, puris or even rotis. Comfort food taken to the next level.  I love to use baby potatoes for this curry and I love to use it with the skin, the skin is so thin and it adds flavor. If you are new to Indian cuisine, this is a great way to start. Very simple and everyday curry. 

This Week has been super hectic to say the least, I have been wanting to post this since Thursday …it’s already Saturday Monday. I really wonder where the week went. My list of to-do items for the blog and photography assignments are growing in such huge proportions that I cannot keep up. I am planning to take a week off between now and the end of the year, it’s so hard to take time off from something you love. But I seriously need to do this for myself. There is so many books I want to read and I do want to spend some time doing ’nothing’. I hope I can give that to myself…

3 cups of baby potatoes
1/2 cup peas
1 medium red onion
2-3 medium ripe tomatoes
2 inch ginger, peeled and grated
2 tbsp oil
1tsp cumin seed
2 tsp all purpose masala - recipe here or 1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp sugar
salt to taste


In a saucepan add water and raw washed baby potatoes and cook till done, takes 10-12 min. If some of the potatoes are a bit bigger, cut them in half. Drain after it's cooked and keep aside. Do not overlook .

Blend onion and ginger, keep aside.

Blend tomatoes, if you need to remove skin before blending, poke a skewer or fork, rotate it over an open flame, the skin will shrink and tear and will be easy to peel off once it's a bit cool.

Take oil in a a saucepan, heat, add cumin, let it splatter, add the ginger-onion paste and roast till it starts leaving sides, add the tomato purée, let it simmer till thick.

Now add multipurpose masala, cumin powder, salt, turmeric and salt to taste. If you need it a bit spicy, add red chili powder, roast for a minute or two.

Add 2 cups of water and add the cooked potatoes, frozen peas rinsed in warm water. Bring to a boil, add chopped cilantro for garnish. Add a chopped tomato and simmer. 

Serve with puris, naan or cumin rice.

Here is the recipe for meethi puri ( fenugreek flat bread)

Meethi Puris

Finely shop methi leaves (without the stem) about a medium size  bunch. Microwave for 5 minutes, let it cool. 

Make sure the cooked methi does not have too much water...that will make the dough  soggy...and for puris you always need a tighter dough.  To the meethi add 2 cups of wheat flour,1 tsp jeera, red chili flakes - per taste, about 1 tsp grated ginger, salt to taste,  1 tbsp - fine rava i.e to make the puris crisp and warm water to kneed.

Make small balls out of the dough, roll out small disc with a help of a rolling pin. If dough sticks to the rolling pin use some all purpose flour.

Heat a heavy bottom dish/pan/kadai with oil ...a little more than half full....take care it will be hot. You can test if the oil is hot by dropping in a small bit of the puri dough...if it rises ...your oil is ready for the puris. Lower the heat to medium- high and keep monitoring it...as oil has a tendency to heat up and smoke and that may not be a good idea. Slide in the rolled puris and let the oil do its job…turn,  remove from oil when the puri is golden brown and crisp….serve hot.