Jeera Aloo

It is dry, cumin-led, and its article says it is not hot unless you make it so.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 700 g potatoes, boiled and cubed
• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
• a 3 cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 15 curry leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red chilli
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 20 g coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1. IT IS DRY, CUMIN-LED, AND ITS ARTICLE SAYS IT IS NOT HOT UNLESS YOU MAKE IT SO. The ingredient list is short and its order tells you the dish: potatoes, aloo, cumin seeds, jeera, and Indian spices, with red chilli powder, ginger, coriander powder, curry leaves, oil and salt after. And then it says plainly that the dish as usually made is NOT SPICY, though it CAN be spiced up with cayenne. So this is a side dish built on one spice in quantity rather than on heat -- two tablespoons of cumin seed for four people, which looks like too much and is the point.
2. THE CUMIN GOES INTO HOT OIL AND IS WATCHED. It should sizzle, swell and darken one shade in about twenty seconds. Black cumin is burnt cumin and it is bitter all the way through the dish.
3. THE POTATOES ARE BOILED FIRST AND COOLED BEFORE CUTTING. Boiled whole in their skins, cooled, peeled, then cubed. Cut warm they crumble, and this dish needs pieces that hold an edge to take any colour.
4. THEY GO INTO THE PAN DRY. Surface water turns the fry into a steam and nothing browns.
5. THERE IS NO LIQUID IN IT AT ALL. No tomato, no water, no yoghurt. Everything here is potato, fat and spice.
6. THE GROUND SPICES GO IN AFTER THE POTATOES, NOT BEFORE. Sprinkled over and tossed. In the bare oil they catch in seconds, because there is no onion or tomato to cushion them.
7. IT IS LEFT ALONE IN THE PAN TO COLOUR. Spread out, untouched for three or four minutes at a time, then turned. Constant tossing gives a pale, soft dish.
8. THE SWEET POTATO VERSION IS ITS ARTICLE'S OWN. It names variations using sweet potatoes instead of regular ones, which want two minutes less and no chilli at all.
9. ITS ARTICLE NAMES WHAT IT GOES WITH. Hot Puri, as on its own page, Chapati, as on its own page, or a dal.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes