Trainspotting

A(my better half ;-)) prefers home cooked food to anything else. I take is as a compliment to my skills, though I know that is taking it too far. It was one of those weekends when you plan to go out..but do not want a pizza bloating you up and spoiling the day. And so we thought we would have a brunch and then go out. I thought of making an Aloo tomato curry, but A(with his helping attitude) had already boiled the potatoes so I improvised and made this dry sabji. It is good for carrying over on journeys with methi thepla perhaps. I remember a version of this being a staple journey food.

In my childhood the annual holidays were spent in Calcutta, without fail and the journey used to take better part of 2 days. Of course in those days you really could not think of eating the railway food for fear of the after-effects. So apart from the mound of luggage needed for a month long stay , we would have an extra bag filled with eatables and specially prepared food which would not go bad in the scorching temp of 35°C. Oh and a big Milton water flask..:-) bisleri was way into future. I was always apprehensive and fearing the worst when my father disembarked to get that precious flask filled in. Even when I started travelling on my own I managed numerous journeys without getting down on the platform. Extreme I know!!
I will post these long staying recipes when I start trying them out. But for now here is the recipe for the quick and tasty aloo tamatar sabzi.






Ingredients

• 4-5 medium sized potatoes
• 3 tomatoes
• ½ inch ginger
• Jerre (Cumin seeds)-1tsp
• Holdi(Turmeric powder)-1tsp
• Lal Lonka gudo(red chilli powder) – 1 tsp
• Salt
• Oil.
  
  Boil the potatoes and peel them.Cut them lightly into ½ inch pieces.
  Blend the tomatoes with the ginger. You should not need any water during this , as tomato has a lot of water of its own.
  Heat oil in a vessel(ideally kadhai) if not a pan would do.
  Add cumin seeds. If lightly crushed would be good. Do not add powder.
  Add the tomato ginger paste and the green chilli sliced. Fry it for 5-6 mins on medium flame. Add turmeric powder and chilli powder. Fry for another couple of minutes.
  The test is to be sure the raw smell of the spices have gone...and the colour of the paste will intensify.
  Now add salt and add the potatoes to this.
  Mix well and cook by covering for 5 mins.
  Done!!Taste great with puris or luchi