Sunday, April 22, 2007

No Couch Potato This!


It was a shot in the dark. I vaguely remember reading somewhere or someone telling me that you could marinate potatoes in curds/yoghurt and fry them later so when I found some nice-looking spuds in the store, I brought them home as they held out the promise of lasting long. Well, that was not to be, as they started sprouting no sooner than they went into the storeroom so last night found me scrubbing and peeling and dicing rather than turning into the couch potato that I love to be at that time of the day!

Potatoes processed, I marinated them in a mixture of curds and spice powders, stuck them in the fridge and went off to the Land of Nod. This morning found the marinade had become pale yellow buttermilk (well, that’s the consistency) – though it looked pretty, I was rather dismayed because I had no clue how to use it in the stir-fry I’d planned these potatoes for, until the Spouse said we could use it in the lamb he was cooking for lunch.

I acquiesced, but as things progressed, knew it wouldn’t gel with that dish as it already had gravy of its own. By this time, I had picked the potatoes out of the marinade, stir-fried them on high heat, then turned it down to simmer, covered them and softened them. I hated the idea of pouring the marinade down the drain so in sheer desperation, I poured the marinade into the potatoes and let it take its own course!

And wonder of wonders! The curds did not disintegrate into a million particles as usual but went on to thicken ever so slightly into gravy of the perfect consistency that I’ve only ever seen in other people’s homes! What an accomplishment!

Here’s how you go about it:

Potatoes – 500 gm, peeled, diced into 1-inch pieces
Mustard powder – 1-1/2 tsp
Cumin/jeera powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – 1/2-1 tsp
Turmeric – a pinch
Salt – to taste
Curds/yoghurt – 1 cup
Oil – 2 tbsp

Beat the curds, add the spices. Add it to the potatoes, marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Pick the potatoes out of the marinade. Reserve marinade.

In a pan, heat the oil, stir fry potatoes on high. Turn heat down to simmer mode, cover and let the potatoes cook till half done – they should yield when you try to cut through, but grudgingly, not too easily.

Then add the marinade, mix, and cover the dish again. All through, make sure the dish is only simmering, never on high or even moderate heat.

I'm sending this off to Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Sher of What Did You Eat.


Check for done-ness and turn off the fire. Enjoy!

20 comments:

  1. Looks great sra.We use sour cream here to marinate which is thick and creamy and doesn't curdle on medium heat.Great entry for WHB:)

    It's not couch spuds but HOT potatoes!;D

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  2. I love your recipe...simple and nice...and the gravy does look good...

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  3. Being Irish-American and genetically predisposed to loving potatoes, my heart began to beat faster as soon as I saw the picture of your dish. Yum!! I would love to have that right now!!!

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  4. Asha, I'm privileged, oh great one, that you commented on my blog on the weekend! LOL! I would imagine sour cream is more fattening than yoghurt, right? I was shocked to see family in the US open tubs of sour cream and serve it for curds! So tasty, though!
    Sunita, thank you.
    Sher, yes, I've heard of the Irish's love for potatoes.

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  5. that looks good
    marinating overnight is smt i never did.

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  6. It´s a perfect recipe! and so yummy. sure I try it!!

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  7. he he he...ur titles r always funny and witty:)
    love this idea of cooking potatoes. very easy recipe with few ingredients and i can be a couch potato too;) thanks sweetie for the recipe as i am surely gonna marinate some potatoes today itself. will let u know hw it turns out:)

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  8. now that one is very new and nice. I liked all the combi of powders you used. Mustard powder hmmm:))
    just one doubt. the yogurt wouldnt curdle when cooked?
    nice entry.

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  9. Sra
    That sure would be yumm. So your experiment was a success. yeeeeeeeeh !!!

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  10. Thank you Anusha, try it!
    Helene, do let me know if it works for you.
    Sia, are you being a couch potato now? :) This title took a long time to come - difficult to live up to a (good) reputation :)
    Thanks Sharmi, it didn't curdle, I was afraid of that too. Probably what helped was that I put the entire thing in simmer almost 10 minutes before I put in the curds, so the temperature must have been low enough.
    Sandeepa, yes, I've been craving it ever since I left it behind at a relative's place we went for dinner last night. Have to wait till tonight's milk sets into curd!

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  11. sra, this one looks yum and so simple. potato in any form is tasty.

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  12. My Sister used to prepare a chicken dish similar to this recipe. she used to marinate the chicken pieces in curds,ginger garlic paste , salt, chilli powder and garam masala powder. then she used to saute the chicken along with the marinade. when it becomes thick it would have a lovely colour and flavour. I haven't tried with potato but ur picture says it should be wonderful .

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  13. Love the combination of spices you are using here. It sounds like an experiment which turned out very well!

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  14. hey sra,
    tried this yest. it was awesome. guess what i made it in good qty but finished it at one go:) i also added little bit of chat masala in the end and also 2 tbsp of sour cream. thanks for the recipe:)

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  15. hi SRA,
    nice Dish Again..
    thnx for sharing..
    triyng to mk it by myselff..ha ha..i will make Roasted one..how are you ..long time..bye.

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  16. Hi Reena, yes, they are tasty, which is why I try not to cook them too often :)
    Prema, yes, I've done that with chicken myself, probably will make it soon now that you've reminded me of it
    Kalyn, thanks, it worked, yes
    Sia, I'm so flattered! I don't stock chaat masala at home but will now, to see how it goes with this potato
    Pankaj, hello, happy roasting!

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  17. mustard powder? wow. where is this recipe from?

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  18. Swapna, thanks.
    From the great creative out-of-the-box that's my mind, Bee (heh heh, whoever said humility helped)? And having some leftover mustard powder from pickle-making doesn't hurt. But seriously, I just threw it together, it's not any regional speciality.

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  19. What a lovely recipe....looks great...thanks for sharing...

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