Knowing my love for potatoes, my Mom made this when she visited us here the first time and true enough, I loved it. A very easy dish to prepare, the only time consuming factor being the peeling of the baby potatoes which as the name indicates are pretty small in size. If baby potatoes are not available, regular potatoes, cut into cubes, can be used.
Ingredients
- Baby potatoes - 1 1/2 lbs
- Oil - 3 tbsp
- Mustard seeds (black) - 1/2 tsp
- Garlic - 1 whole
- Tamarind paste - 1/2 tbsp
- Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (more or less depending on your taste)
- Water - 1/4 cup
- salt to taste
- Besan (chickpea flour/gram flour) - 1 tbsp
- Cilantro - for garnish
Instructions
Wash and preboil the potatoes on medium high for 15 minutes. When the potatoes are about 90% done, throw the boiling water out and pour cold water in the pan. This stops the cooking process and its also easier to hold and peel the potatoes. Peel all the potatoes and set aside.
Using a fork, gently prick holes in the potatoes. This is done so that it absorbs the juices all the way deep inside.
Peel and slice the garlic cloves (thinly) lengthwise or you can also make do with crushed garlic.
Heat oil in a wide open pan. Season with mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, put in the sliced (or crushed ) garlic and fry till it turns golden brown.
Add the tamarind paste and red chilli powder, mix well and fry for about a minute. (Do not fry for more than a minute as chilli powder can get burnt pretty quickly)
Put in 1/4 cup of water and salt to taste. Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the peeled potatoes to this and mix well.
Once the potatoes have absorbed all the moisture, put in the besan/chickpea flour/gram flour and mix well till all the potatoes are nicely coated with the flour. Cook for just a couple of minutes till you can no longer smell the rawness of the flour.
Garnish with finely chopped cilantro.
Serve hot with white rice and daal or with rotis or just hand out toothpicks to your guests and serve as a starter.
Note:
- This dish takes a little more oil than you would use for regular upkaris (stir fries), etc.
- I use garlic which is sliced very thinly because my kids don’t like to eat the whole crushed garlic cloves and I think its a criminal waste to throw garlic away. Since its thinly sliced, it gets very difficult to separate it from the potatoes and they end up eating it. You can use crushed garlic and later throw it away. I know people who like the flavor and smell of garlic and not the taste of it.
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