Palm Sunday and the quickie potato masala!

Yesterday was Palm Sunday...and the first Holy week without A in the 3 years of our marriage :(. For the non catholics out there, Holy Week is perhaps the most important week for us Christians, and the week before our biggest feast ever, Easter. Now some may argue with me saying that Christmas is even bigger, but that's for another time and another place...now's the time for  my 7 minute aloo masala :) For non Indians, Aloo is Hindi for potato. This was just a random recipe from you tube. Unfortunately, she didn't mention her name, neither did she show herself, so I can just thank the Tamilian sister from whom I borrowed this brilliant recipe. This is the first time any potato dish of mine has come out so well, and I do hope you guys enjoy making it as much as I did. Here goes...

INGREDIENTS

• 4 baby potatoes 
• 2 cloves garlic, lightly mashed
• 1 medium sized onion finely sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds (perinjeerakam)
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2-3 teaspoons water
• salt to taste
• coriander leaves to garnish

METHOD

• Boil baby potatoes with salt for about 10 minutes till they are super soft. Once done, run the potatoes under water to cool them and mash them with your fingers.
• Heat a tablespoon of oil. Once sufficiently hot, splutter the mustard seeds followed by the cumin seeds.
• Add the lightly mashed garlic, followed by the onions. In order for the onions to cook faster, add some salt. This also makes the onions taste better.
• Add the turmeric powder and continue to saute.
• Add the red chilly powder.
• Finally add the mashed potatoes and mix thoroughly.
• Spray 2-3 teaspoons of water with your fingers to ensure that the potatoes don't stick to your pan.
• Finally add a tablespoon of oil and saute.
• Close the pan for approx 5 minutes or till the oil starts separating from the potatoes.
• Garnish generously with coriander leaves.

Tada, the dish is ready! Now, I did mention that it is a 7 minute dish, but that's after boiling your potatoes first. But trust me, this is a dish that will be perfect for one of those lazy days when you don't feel like entering the kitchen, but you don't have a choice. Combine this with rice and rasam, and you will feel like a million dollars!




The final product!

 I hope u guys try this out and love it as much as i did. You could combine this with chapatis or rice, trust me, they would both be divine. Happy holy week to all my christian friends, and for the rest of the world, God bless!