Curried Potato and fenugreek sprinkled with sesame seeds
There’s an old adage in Kannada that says “Hoovina jote naaru swarga seritu“. Never mind if you could not wrap your tongue around that, it translates to “when the garland went to heaven, along with the flowers, thread went too”. What I come to say along those lines is, pair it with potatoes and any leafy green happily gets eaten without a tiny murmur.
Aloo needs no introduction and perhaps Aloo Methi does not need one either as it must be the most popular North Indian potato and leafy green combo side-dish right after Aloo Palak. I don’t think anybody needs a nudge to try an Aloo recipe, it does all the marketing by itself don’t you agree?
Googling around might show just how many thousands of Aloo Methi recipes are out there and everyday another few get added including mine here. So, I will not try to claim this recipe as mine, instead I will certainly say it is inspired.
I do not quite remember how I learnt to make Aloo Methi in the first place, but I do vaguely remember having read about Tilwale Aloo recipe on Tarladal.com ages back. Besides, these days I derive spoonfuls of pleasure in tinkering with tried and tested recipes, though not all of them. With that as the theme, I wanted to enjoy the methi flavored potatoes with a few minimum spices and hence, have totally avoided garam masala as it can be quite overpowering by itself. Sesame seeds tend to be easily forgotten sitting in the back bench of the spice cabinet and this I feel, is a simple way of using them in an everyday recipe. It is tastier than it is photogenic and totally worth every single minute you spend on making this dish.
Things you’ll need:
- 2 medium potatoes diced into 1/2″ with the skin (red or white will do)
- small bunch of fenugreek leaves washed and finely chopped
- 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
- 1″ ginger grated
- 2 big cloves of garlic minced
- 2 green chillies torn in half and seeded
- 2-3 tsp oil
- 2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp amchur/dry mango powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 3 tsp white sesame seeds
- salt
How it’s done:
- Place a medium-sized pot with oil poured in it over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot enough, add cumin seeds. As they crackle, add urad dal and let it turn golden brown.
- Follow it up with torn green chillies, grated ginger and minced garlic and sauté until garlic turns golden brown as well. Add in the onions and turmeric and sauté until onions turn translucent. Now add in the potatoes and methi, stir well and cook covered for 5-10 mins.
- Sprinkle in some salt, stir and cook covered until the potatoes are tender and a spoon passed through them cuts smooth.
- Sprinkle Amchur powder, red chilli powder and sesame seeds and give it a good stir. Let cook for another few mins and switch off.
- Serve hot with Rice and dal or Chapati/Roti and yogurt.
Tips:
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While chopping the Methi bunch, cut off the roots and discard any stems that are hard to snap-cut when trying to break them, to avoid those mature fibrous stems that potentially get stuck between the teeth.
Arpana says
Hey Radhika,
we tried it yesterday and it came out awesome !!! 🙂 Can you post some karela recipes too?
Thanks.
Radhika says
Sure, some really yummy karela recipes! I can’t wait to post them too, hopefully soon enough..
Mujersuela says
This is very new to me, looks yummy, will try it sometime.thanks for your loevly entry to summer coolers. though I have used kokum in dishes but nevr make sol kadhi