Aloo Posto (Potatoes, Bengali Style)

Ingredients:

1-2 tbsp mustard oil

1kg/2lb potatoes, peeled and diced into 1cm/½in cubes

½ tsp dried turmeric

½ tsp red chilli powder

salt to taste

For the tempering:

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 tsp five spice mix (panchphoran)

1 green chilli finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

Method:

1. In a wide non-stick pan, heat the oil to a medium-high heat and add the potatoes.

2. Sauté the potatoes until they are nearly cooked. Add the turmeric, chilli powder and salt and fry until they are cooked through.

3. In a separate small shallow frying pan heat the oil until it begins to smoke. Mix together the five spice mix ingredients, and add two teaspoons to the hot pan. The seeds will crackle and pop, so be careful when handling the mixture. Add the green chillies and the chopped coriander and stir for a few seconds. Pour this mixture onto the cooked potatoes.

4. Serve immediately.

(Recipe from Indianfoodsco. Image courtesy the recipe hunter)

Kuhelee's yummy Green Chutney

Ingredients for Chutni:

* lots of tender kadi patta

* some dhania

* some pudina

* mirchi - according to how hot you want it to be

* adrak - ditto

* onion

* curd - this can be mixed in later too, because this is what will make the chutni go sour quickly

* salt

* sugar

Note:

* you can put in kakdi as well, to give more bulk to the chutni without contributing too much to the taste

* you may add some sev to add colour, taste and bulk

* you can add coconut - but that will change the taste completely

* you can add lime juice - as well as curd or minus the curd - it lends a different type of khattapan

Method:

* plonk all these things in a mixer and grind fine.

* taste the chutni and fine tune by adding a bit of this, a little of that. remember you cannot take away anything once it is put in but you can nullify the effect

Enjoy :)

Kuhelee Khandelwal

simble green gram thoren

simble = mal for simple

green gram = we all know

thoren = a poriyal types/ dry stir fry

Stuff:

- a coffee mug full of greengram (soak it overnight)

- a pinch of saffron

- a handful of grated coconut

- a table spoon of coconut oil

- green chilli (3 - 4)

- dry red chilli (2 -3)

- garlic (5 - 6)

- curry patta (12)

- mustard (enough to make a circle in the middle of your palm)

- salt (enough to make a quarter of the circle above)

Do:

Pressure-cook the green gram. Two whistles should do.

While this is pressure-cooking, take a tawa and splutter (the mustard, green chilli, red chilli, garlic and saffron powder) on a low flame.

Add the pressure-cooked green gram to this.

Heap the grated coconut onto it.

Mix well.

Simmer for a minute to dry up any extra water.

Ta- da!

Goes well with:

- Red Rice

- Chappatis and curd