It’s not a curry puff : Indian spiced potato and peas

Posted by Vicky on | November 19, 2011 | No Comments

Didn't cut mustard as a curry puff!

Initially my aim was to create a curry puff suitable for children, with just a hint of spice and a taste of India. This is a delicately flavored dish that does not however stand up to being wrapped in pastry. This works very well as a side dish to curry or as a stand-alone meal. It is very easy to make, and tastes even better if you can make it in advance and leave in the fridge over night.

What You Need

• 4 medium potatoes peeled and diced
• A handful of curry leaves
• 1 medium onion
• Handful of cherry tomatoes (or any sweet tomato available)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 4 cardamom pods
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp curry powder
• Glug of Rice Bran oil
• 1 cup of frozen peas

How To Make It

• Firstly you need to make the curry paste. Roughly chop the onion and peeled garlic. Tip into the blender and add the ground cumin and the tomatoes. Blitz until you have a rough paste – you don’t want it liquidized.
• Over a medium temperature heat the oil. You can check the oil is hot enough by using a wooden spoon – if little bubbles start to form around the end the oil is hot enough. Add the cardamom and curry leaves and fry until fragrant.
• Add the paste and stir for a few minutes, until the onion is softened and cooked.
• Add the curry and chili powder and stir until mixed.

Add the spice!

• Fish out the curry leaves and the cardamom at this point if your children don’t like to find them n their food!

• Tip in the potatoes and mix with paste and fry for a few minutes to ensure the potatoes are fully coated. Add about a ¼ cup of tap water and cover with either a lid or double layered silver foil wrapped tightly over the pan.
• After about five minutes have a peak, give a good stir and add some water if needed. Cover.  Best to check more often, and add a little water at a time rather than add too much water and over cook the potatoes. You don’t want mush.
• When the potatoes are cooked add the frozen peas and give them a good stir. I like firm peas so I did not precook them, and by mixing with the hot potatoes they were defrosted and yummy by the time I served the food.
• Have a little taste and season with salt and pepper as required.

All in all, after I added the potatoes this dish took just over 10 minutes to cook. This is not an exact science though, and the cooking time will depend on the size of the diced potatoes. As a general rule, the smaller the potato the shorter the cooking time.

This is a dish that has a taste of curry, with the hint of the spices but it is not chili hot. Children will love this dish as it is sweet, subtle with a touch of spice –  not a kick of spice!

Enjoy

~Vicky

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