Potatoes in creamy coriander buttermilk gravy
A wise person said, "Learning to unlearn is the toughest".Or was that wisdom my own!! Thankfully for a food blogger, this unlearning has lot of fun and taste as well. Yes truly, though coming across unknown dishes and cuisines have their own charm, yet the true fun lies in changing the mundane to anew. To create a fresh flavour from the done to death dish. And to recreate a new combination. All within the routine recipes. And helping me in this endeavour is one person, is one Mr. Iyer I should be thankful to!
(This is not coriander used in recipe, but an indicative prep pic)
During my last trip to India, one of the few things that rated high on the to-get priority list was the cookbook - 660 curries by Raghavan Iyer. Now for those not familiar with the book, its actually an of Indian cooking. From vegetable curries, to lentil curries, to seafood, to p encliopedia oultry to egg to rice, it has curries in all forms. In simple words 660 curries to fit all the occasions, moods, timeline, preferences to availability of ingredients.
But blame it on my sheer laziness, that even after few months of having such a gem of collection, I have yet not shared a single recipe with you all. Well its not that I didn't try out recipes from the book. I did make the roasted masoor dal, fried plantain curry and cauliflower manchurian; yet they were always made for dinner and never saw the light of my camera. Secondly due to lack of a single picture in the book, I have to really scan the recipe well to visualise the outcome. My husband being more fond of food from his comfort zone, and having a dislike for coconut - shredded or milk (which many of the recipes use in generous measure), I got to shortlist the recipes to suit that.
So when I chanced upon this "matthe wale aloo" (Potatoes in buttermilk gravy), my antenna was immediately up. Now this is huge favourite and quite a regular dish, made by my mother in law. And being an avid potato lover, I surely love it. But in all honesty, its quite a humble dish. So much so that it hardly crossed my mind to share it on the blog. But what caught my fancy after reading the complete recipe was the amalgamation of this humble dish, with another favorite - 'dhania aloo" (Potatoes in coriander sauce). That too with an addition of cream to buttermilk. Surely that would make a flavourful combination. And its well within my husband's list of likes (Facebook lingo). So off I go to the kitchen.
One of the best things I liked about this book, apart from the umpteen choices is the way it helps me 'unlearn' my style of cooking. So while there are so many routine dishes I cook with my eyes closed (and sometimes mind too)...the recipes in this book, makes me stop for a minute. To roast a few spices, to blend a few ingredients, and to an extra step here and there to create something new. So that I'm cooking the same "mathe wale aloo" 5 years after learning from my MIL. Though I got to wait and see the look of approval on her face, on tasting the modified dish :).
Potatoes in creamy coriander buttermilk gravy:
Minimally adapted from 660 curries
Ingredients:
3-4 medium potatoes (Peeled, cut into chunks and soaked in cold water)
1/2 cup roughly chopped coriander, washed & drained
2-3 red dry chillies, soaked in 1 cup hot water for 10-15 mins
4 garlic cloves
Pinch of turmeric
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Minimally adapted from 660 curries
Ingredients:
3-4 medium potatoes (Peeled, cut into chunks and soaked in cold water)
1/2 cup roughly chopped coriander, washed & drained
2-3 red dry chillies, soaked in 1 cup hot water for 10-15 mins
4 garlic cloves
Pinch of turmeric
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp heavy cream
Method:
- Remove chillies from water, and reserve the water. Remove the seeds (to reduce the heat, if desired). Now grind it with coriander, garlic and pinch of salt to a coarse paste.
- Heat oil in a deep pan. Add the ground paste and stir fry for 2-3 mins on medium heat, till it gets slightly brownish.
- Add drained potatoes with a pinch of turmeric. Mix it well to coat it with the paste and fry for a minute. Then add the reserved chile water and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat, cover the pan and let the potatoes cook for about 15-20 mins.
- Mix the buttermilk and cream in small bowl with a fork. And once the potatoes are almost done (fork tender), add the buttermilk mixture. Add salt and stir it well and cook for another 2-3 minutes, to let the gravy warm and flavours develop.
- Serve warm with rice, roti or paratha.
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