PETITE POTATOES

Yes friends, blogging indeed after a long gap!! No excuses!! Have been cooking but not organised with photos and write ups. Too many things happening and changes..Yes, a big move again..back to my home corner soon in April. My bright kitchen at Cherrybrook will be the next lab for me to experiment.  Relocating back to Sydney in April.  You caught me there..I started with a declaration that there won't be any excuses but....actually these are not excuses but sharing the news with you all.

OK to my cooking now- Bongs love their Aloo Dum with luchi , paratha etc. But again I must admit here that I was not a big fan of Aloo Dum as a kid, which of course changed with so many other transformations and adaptations in adulthood. And I must say, one of my very dear and close friends Rima introduced me to this delicious and delectable taste of Aloo Dum. 

This is just another version of Aloo Dum - I just drafted a taste in my mind and tried to play around the spices on the wok. This was last weekend, I had invited my best buddies in Singapore for an adda and of course eating ( which is a part and parcel of adda anyways, right!). I wanted to make a vegetarian dish keeping a friend in mind, who is not much of a non-veg eater but also wanted to make it more interesting for me...hence came up with this from the picture I had in my mind- Petite potatoes. And luckily, I had picked a bag of tiny- minny potatoes from Little India. My hero ingredient here was the Cinnamon powder.

 What I used-

1. 1 bag ( may be around 1 kg) baby potatoes

2. 1 big onion-chopped fine

3. Ginger paste-11/2 tbsp

4. Garlic Paste- 1tbsp

5. 1 Tomato- chopped

6. Shah Jeera- 1 tsp

7. Few whole pieces cinnamon and Cardamon 

   ( just pounded 2-3 times)

8. Cinnamon Powder- Dry Roast Cinnamon and   grind-1 tbsp

9. Cumin Powder-1 tsp

10. Kashmiri Chilli Powder-1 tsp

11.Turmeric- 1tsp

12. Roasted Cumin Powder- 1tsp

13. Some fresh Chillies and Chopped Coriander    Leaves

14. Salt and Sugar for seasoning

 What happened in my kitchen-

1. I peeled the potatoes, which actually takes lot of patience and time...blame it on the size. But they definitely leave their mark as highlight in this dish, which will be missing with the normal sized potatoes. Shallow fry the potatoes, just to coat them with the oil and the spice. I added some turmeric and salt at this stage. Let me stress here I did not fry the potatoes well done or in too much oil. This process of sealing the potatoes lets the cooked spice mix stick to the them. The potatoes were kept aside, waiting for their turn to be back on the drill.

2. If oil is not enough, add some more oil to the wok. Throw in the Shah Jeera and whole spices and let them do their magic..splutter.  Then comes the zingy ginger and garlic paste and wait for them to sizzle up.

2. Add the onions and saute till golden. I do this at high heat to start with ( which could be a bit Chinese cooking influence in me) and then lower the flame to medium. Add the tomatoes and cook till they are pulpy.

3. Add the spices except the Garam Masala and blend with onion mixture carefully and patiently. If too dry, water needs to be added for some moisture in which the spice mix will be cooked. One tip here would be to cook the mix very brown and completely. No short cut in this, otherwise they will not be ready for the potatoes. Also remember to add the salt and sugar at this stage to your taste.

4. Then add the potatoes ( here I would add the "gaye holud makha aloo") and stir to coat the onion mix to all the potatoes. Add the fresh chillies now. Cover and cook for a minute and add about a cup of hot water and cover and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

5. This dish did not have much gravy, but a sticky gravy on the potatoes. Your kitchen will have a lovely aroma of cinnamon. Sprinkle the Garam Masala and coriander leaves and turn off the heat.

6. Enjoy this dish with hot rice or paratha and let me know the outcome.

Dhoka- Bengali Dhokar Dalna

Dhoka- One of my favourite dishes..hindi mein bole to " Dhoke mein mat rehna" ( really hard to translate- Do not live in illusion). As a Probashi Bong, the name would be quite double meaning to me..but no doubt the taste would leave a distinct flavour and texture.
But honestly, every time, I made an effort to cook Dhoka, I would not be impressed as either I would not get the right texture, or the tightness in the dhoka or the flavour. And ofcourse, not to mention.. just at the point of serving, the dhokas would fall apart due to lack of bonding. And then the magic Ready to Cook Masala Dhoka Mix Packet was introduced by my mum...and dot on..since then no failures. Every attempt has been super duper and star attraction on the dinning table. Honestly, this is not praising myself..but what I mean is that I did not have those previous complaints like dhokas falling apart etc.
Hence, these packets are one of those essential items in my suitcase on my way back from my holidays in India. It is just an easier and quicker method to cook this authentic and traditional bengali dish without the complex efforts, although the taste remains intact.

Not many ingredients had been used-
1 packet Cookme Masala Dhoka
2 tsp- Cinnamon powder- I just dry roast the cinnamon and grind them.
Cumin Seeds- 1tsp
Ginger grated- 1 tsp
Cumin Powder- 1tsp
Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
Chilli Powder-1 tsp
Bay Leaf and Dried Red Chilli- 1 or 2 each
Green Chillies- 2-3 nos.
Garam Masala- 1 tsp
Sugar- 2 tsp
Tomato - 1 - I pulsed it in my grinder
Some Freshly chopped Coriander leaves
Salt - to taste

What happened in my Kitchen-

1. Fried the Dhoka diamond pieces as per the packet instructions. Ofcourse this is the time I really have to control myself from throwing in some of the fried dhoka pieces in my mouth..specially the corner pieces.

2. To the same hot oil, added the cumin seeds, Bay Leaf and Dried Chilli. Once the flavour infused, I added the Ginger and the cinnamon powder and let it cook for couple of minutes.

3.  I stirred all the spices except the Garam masala with the tomato paste. Then poured the paste to the oil and let it cook till colour changed to brown. The sugar and the cinnamon powder helps this caramelising stage.

4. After 4-5 minutes of cooking when oil separated on the edges, I poured about 2 cups of hot water and let it boil.

5. Added the Dhoka pieces to the boiling gravy and covered it for few minutes to let it simmer.

6. Just before finishing off, I added 1 tsp of ghee and garam masala and garnish with coriander leaves.

6. There is a very important point to remember, generally after cooking, the gravy thickens on standing. The Dhoka pieces have an amazing capacity to absorb the fluid and get softer and fatter. So I generally finish it with generous amount of gravy. Sometime,  I do keep some gravy separately in a bowl. Just before serving, I reheat the gravy and add it to the dishes if required.