Monday, March 06, 2006

Oscar Night Dinner - Simple and Comforting - Potato/aloo/bangaladumpa fry wrapped in a Flour Tortilla


While the stars at the Oscars ate very expensive caviar and took home gold dusted chocolate Oscars, I enjoyed the night watching them with a very simple meal.

I got home late after a visit to a friends house and the Oscars had already started. I realized that I have NO dinner preperations done and was looking for something that I can prepare watching T.V (you see, unlike some lucky people, I don't have a T.V in the kitchen). I thought up of something that takes more time to prep and less time to cook. As usual, I moved my set-up to infront of my T.V to prep.

Software
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  • 10-12 small golden potatoes
  • 2 tbsp chana dal/shanaga pappu
  • 2 tbsp urad dal/minapa pappu
  • 2 tsp cumin/jeera/jeelakarra seeds
  • 1 tsp black mustard/aavalu/rai seeds
  • 1 tbsp coriander powder
  • 1-2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil/any other oil you prefer
  • salt to taste
  • chopped cilantro/coriander leaves

Hardware
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  • Non-stick fry pan

Method
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  • This is the step that takes the most amount of time in this preperation. Peel and dice the potatoes into tiny pieces. See the picture, above for an idea of the size of the diced potatoes. Have patience, it will be rewarded :).
  • Take the non-stick pan, put it on medium-high heat. Add the chana dal, urad dal. After a minute or so, add the jeera and mustard seeds.
  • After the seeds splutter, add the diced potato pieces and stir once after a minute or so. Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to medium.
  • Go watch your Oscars or do whatever you please, come back and check on the potatoes and stir every 5 minutes.
  • After the potatoes look and feel tender, add the salt, the chili powder and the coriander powder and stir. Taste and adjust the ingredients.
  • Since I like my potateoes, extra crispy, I just let them fry a little more on the stove without the lid.
  • Garnish with the cilantro/coriander leaves.
At this point, this fry can be served with rice, roti, paratha. I put mine in a couple of flour tortillas with a couple of spoonfuls of my zucchini chutney!

4 comments:

Shalini said...

this simple and yummy potato fry had been my favourite from school days... would be in my lunch box atlease twice a week...long since i had it...must do it for tonite...thx for reminding me...

Unknown said...

Very nice & simple.

Kitchenmate said...

Really comforting recipe and love the way you present recipes, very clear. Looking forward to your upcoming recipes:)

Shammi said...

Hey, I'm like that too - I try to do as much of the prep work while watching TV. So far I havent chopped off any fingers by mistake ;)

Very nice photos, by the way!