Mar 1, 2007

JFI: Potato

Being a new blogger, I am slowly getting to know all the blog events. When I visited the blogs of some food bloggers, I used to get confused reading terms like JFI and MBP. Then I got accustomed to these terms. JFI (Jihva for ingredients) is a wonderful monthly event that focuses on a new ingredient every month and people need to cook a dish with the decided ingredient as their main ingredient. There’s so much you can cook with a single ingredient – soups, starters, vegetables, desserts, parathas..your creativity is the limit. When I saw the ingredient for this month’s JFI, I was very excited to participate. I knew that our hostess Vaishali was going to be flooded with recipes:)

Potato, the world’s most famous tuber, with its rich nutritional values is a part of our daily diet. Potatoes contain lots of carbohydrates and starch. They also contain abundant vitamins and minerals. Potatoes are produced in a plethora of varieties including russet, long white, red, and Yukon gold. Potatoes can be cooked in a number of ways – peeled, cut, boiled, and mashed. Stay away from potatoes that have any kind of green spots – these can prove to be toxic.

Potato reminds me of a childhood game called “Batatyachi Sharyat”. It is game of collecting potatoes placed one after the other. It reminds me of snacks like sev batata puri, batata wada, batata bhajji, aloo tikki; of aloo paratha, dum aloo, samosas..It reminds me of a silly song,"Jab tak rahega samose mein aloo, tab tak rahega Bihar mein Laloo"..My teachers often used the expression that a not so intelligent kid's head is filled with potatoes and onions..Potatoes remind me of the street vendors yelling "Kanda Batataaaaaaaaa".There are so many dishes that you can prepare using potatoes. Anyways, I decided to make simple, quick, and easy-to-make vegetable using potatoes. Here’s my entry for JFI - Potatoes.

Batata Rassa




Ingredients

1.4 potatoes
2.1 big onion
3.2 tomatoes
4.2-3 green chillies
5.½ tsp mustard seeds
6.½ tsp cumin seeds
7.Asafoetida
8.¼ tsp turmeric powder
9.¼ tsp ginger paste
10.¼ tsp garlic paste
11.½ tsp red chilli poweder
12.½ tsp garam masala
13.Salt to taste
14.Sugar
15.Oil for frying

Method
1.Boil the potatoes and cut them into big pieces. Finely chop the onion and green chillies. Cut the tomatoes in huge pieces and puree them in the mixer.
2.Heat the oil in a pan. Add the mustard and cumin seeds. When they splutter, add a pinch of asafoetida and turmeric powder.
3.Add green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Fry for some time.
4.Add the chopped onions and fry till the onions turn golden brown.
5.Now, add the tomato puree, red chilli powder, garam masala, salt, and a pinch of sugar.
6.Stir for some time on low flame.
7.Add the boiled potatoes and some water. Boil for some time.
8.Garnish with coriander.

Till then,looking forward for the next JFI!

9 comments:

Latha said...

Me first Swaps! My first time here and I love u're blog! From the sound of it, you're a Maharashtrian ...great! now u must give us some original maharashtrian recipes :-)
Thanks for visitng my blog! I enjoyed reading about batata ...especially the fun line about laloo :-)
Keep it going. Will add u to my blogroll when I do update soon...
Cheers
Latha

swapna susarla said...

Hi swapna
very nice write up..funny cartoon!!
dish is looking yummy!!!

TNL said...

hi Swapna...nice cartoon! and a nice entry, I love this batata curry. your version is a bit different..which I liked, I normally don't add onions..will try it this way!

trupti

Swapna said...

Latha: Thanks for your lovely words. Just posted a nice Maharashtrian dish, and hope to post some more.
Swapna: Thanks for stopping by!
Trupti: Do try out this version and let me know if you like it.
Swaps

Manasi said...

Hi! Nice entry for JFI! and a sure fire hit , when we fall short of vegs in the pantry!!
I like rassa bhaji with puri!

Anonymous said...

Seems like another great variation of potato curry!
Look forward to more!

Anonymous said...

Hi, i am first time here.

Avery good writeup and cartoon.
Ofcourse not to say the dish looks very delicious too.

Anonymous said...

Swapna .. just tried your recipe .. it really taste well!

- Rahul

Biryani Recipe said...

Yummy Potato Recipe. I will try it. I like the combination of Potato and Tomato sauce. Thank you very much.