Aaloo Curry (South Indian version)
Posted by Supriya Raman on March 29, 2008
Here is one of my all time favorite side dishes to serve with Pooris or any Indian bread. This was a standard Sunday feast my mum used to make when I was a kid. It brings back endearing memories and the smell of home whenever I make it.
3 large potatoes ( I use yukon gold)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 green chillies, finely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/3 cup curry leaves, finely chopped
1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp channa dal ( Bengal Gram Dal)
1/2 tsp Split Urad Dal ( split Black gram Dal)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Asafoetida powder
3 tbsp ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp salt
Fill a large pot of cold water, salt liberally and add in the potatoes. Place over high heat and boil the potatoes for about 10 minutes or until fork tender. Drain, cool and peel them.
In a nonstick pan, heat the ghee over medium heat and add in the mustard seeds. Just when it beings to splutter, add in the channa dal and Urad dal. Let the dals slightly brown. Now add in the chillies, ginger, turmeric and asafoetida powders. Fry on heat for about a minute and then add in the chopped onions. Fry until the onions are translucent and just begins to brown.
Break all the boiled potatoes with your hands over the onion mixture. You do not want to mash the potatoes, just roughly crush them with your hands so that there are still big chunks of potatoes in the curry. Sprinkle the salt and stir everything well together. Be gentle, over stirring could make the potatoes mushy and break down.
The mixture will be quite dry now, add in 1/2 cup of water to give it more of a gravy consistency.
Let it boil over mediumlow heat for 5 – 10 minutes just so that all the flavors blend in well together. Finally add in the cilantro and curry leaves, stir one final time and Serve with hot Poori, Chapathi or Naan
