Aloo roast

Dear Appu,

Right after Amma’s amazing ginger tea, her aloo roast deserves a separate mention of its own. She would be so tired after a long day at school, that dinner on most nights would comprise of aloo roast and rice. We never complained about it, because who in their right mind, would complain about yummy potato crispy curry??? But more than the weekday nights potato curry, its the Friday afternoon potato curry that I remember best.

Glorious Friday afternoons, after waking up late and having some of her tea, followed by a nice long oil bath, really fired up our appetites and that was the one day she would go all out and prepare a slightly more elaborate lunch than the weekdays, when we all ate a mostly cold lunch from our lunch boxes. It would be late by the time she finished cooking. Almost 2′o clock and we’d be ravenously hungry by then. We’d lay out the mat and sit down to eat, and not say a word. On such afternoons, it would almost invariably be aloo roast with some piping hot avial or thenga araccha kuzhambu and good old fashioned laban yoghurt to wash it all down at the end. And once lunch was over, and everything cleared away, Appa and Amma would go off to take their naps, and we would curl up on the couch and doze off too. The perfect and only way to digest a delicious meal! Without further ado, here’s how I tried to recreate that magic today…

Ingredients

Potatoes – 6 medium (boiled in pressure cooker for 3 whistles, and skin peeled and cubed)
Spices – Either Sambar powder or Chilli powder/Coriander pwd/cumin pwd/garam masala
Channa dal – 1 tsp for seasoning
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – a stalk
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Oil – 4 tbsp
Coriander leaves – chopped, for garnishing

Method

1. Take 2 tbsp of oil in a cup, add the sambar powder and some turmeric powder. Pour it over the cubed potatoes like a marinade. Mix in well.

2. In a pan, take the remaining 2 tbsp of oil, add mustard seeds and when it pops, add the channa dal and the curry leaves. Then add the potatoes, sprinkle the needed salt and cook open. Keep tossing the potatoes inside the pan so all the sides get evenly crispy. This is to be done on a medium flame and takes a little time to get that crispy texture. This process should take about 20 minutes or so.

3. Once done, remove from fire, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and its ready to indulge in!