Humble potatoes have
been a crucial part of our diet since ages. Being termed as “poor
man’s food” till a few years ago, they still can be considered quite
frugal in comparison to other vegetables’ prices. Whichever Country or
Region you go to, there is one traditional recipe from Potatoes. Say
England for example, Jacket potatoes are the backbone of this Country.
There
must be at least a thousand Indian recipes for this dry potato sabzi,
every household has one. I have presented my recipe here, which again is
one of the many version I prepare it. A very simple preparation, which
can be assembled in minutes with just a little forward planning ahead of
time. I have posted a similar version of Dahi Aalu before as well,
check the recipe here. This one is only different in terms of mint being
used. Plus the amount of yoghurt I used was a bit less than what I used
last time. So it gives out a semi-dry sort of result, which I really
like. Adding mint is really a bonus, at least for me since I am not a
fan of mint in general. But it goes very well with this sort of
marinated preparations and acts a cooler to beat the heat. Yoghurt and
mint together, make this simple recipe a perfect Summer special cooling
lunch. What’s more – it uses very little oil.. could this be any better ! :)
I prepared this
Sabzi on a weekend. Usually I keep a bit of preparation for my weekend
cooking on Friday itself, so I don’t have to toil in the Kitchen for
long and can catch up with more weekend chores. So on Friday, after work
I had a quick glance into my Fridge and saw the pack of these baby
potatoes which I got from Sainsbury’s Sale. Without any second
thoughts, I decided to prepare this simple dish pairing it with Mint. I
cooked the potatoes and prepared the yogurt marinate in no time and
without any pause! Getting excited about the free time that I would be
getting the next day after I am done with this, I quickly peeled them up
and dumped them all in the yogurt marinate and coved the vessel with
cling film and pushed it to the back of fridge.
The
next morning, I removed the well marinated potatoes from fridge and
proceeded to make Dahi Aloo. Flat 12 minutes later, a big bowl of
delicious, creamy Dahi Aloo without any onion or garlic was ready. This
is actually a fuss free recipe, except for the peeling baby potatoes
part. Next time I may just leave the peels on or just use large potatoes
instead. Since it was marinated for more than 8 hours, the baby
potatoes absorbed all the spices and flavours and turned absolute
delight! Simple, down to earth Dahi Aloo can be served with any
flavoured or plain rice or you can also pair them with any Indian bread.
Or if you are like me, you can simply have it as a delicious baby
potato salad with few splashes of olive oil or cherry tomatoes!
Prep Time: 10 mins (excluding marinating time)
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Serves: 3-4 people
Cuisine:- North Indian
Spice Level: Mild to Medium
Recipe Level: Easy/Beginner
Shelf Life: 3 days when refrigerated
Serving Suggestion: With flavoured or plain rice or any Indian flat bread
What you need?
- 12-15 Baby/New Potatoes (or 3 large Potatoes)
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds ( Zeera / Jeera )
- ½ tbsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves ( Kasuri Methi)
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida ( Heeng/ Hing )
- 1 tbsp Oil
For Yogurt Marinate:
- 2 cups Yogurt, beaten or whisked to remove any lumps
- 1 tsp Ginger Paste
- ½ tsp Red Chilli Powder (adjust acc to taste)
- ½ tsp Garam Masala (adjust acc to taste)
- ½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Powder
- 1 tsp Dhania/Coriander Powder
- ½ cup mint leaves, finely chopped
- Salt to taste
How to make?
- Pierce the whole new or baby potatoes with knife or fork and cook them in pressure cooker or heavy bottomed vessel with enough water. Once cooked thoroughly and cooled a bit, peel them and keep them aside. If using large potatoes, dice them to 1 inch cubes.
- Now prepare the yogurt marinate by mixing all the ingredients listed above. Add the potatoes to the yogurt marinate, and mix them well so that each potato is coated well. Cover the vessel with cling film and refrigerate overnight (8-9 hours) or at least for 1-2 hours.
- Heat oil in pan and add cumin seeds and hing. When cumin seeds starts to crackle and turn light golden, add dried fenugreek leaves and let it cook for half a minute in medium flame.
- Add marinated potatoes along with any left over marinade and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring all the while, till small bubble starts to appear. Make sure that you stir the curry all the while so that it doesn’t curdle. Add chopped mint leaves, mix and turn off the flame.
- Remove from the flame and let it rest for ten minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve this creamy Dahi Aloo with plain or flavoured rice or any Indian flat breads.
Notes:
- For another garlic free version of this Dahi Aalu, click here
- This is a semi dry curry, so its enough to be served with Chapathis. With the rice though, you might need something else like pickle aside. This goes extremely well with spiced Rice preparations like Lemon rice, Biryani etc.
- Mint provides the "cooling" element to this recipe, you may skip it if preparing in winters.
Check out some more Potato side dishes:
Ras waale Aalu :- Semi dry potato curry in rich tomato suace
Jeera Aalu :- Simple and quick preparation with sliced potatoes and cumin
Baby potatoes in youghurt gravy
Batata Chi Bhaaji:- Maharashtrian style cooked potatoes with coconut
Jain style cooked Potato sabzi - No onion garlic used.
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