Minty Potatoes

Today’s recipe is Minty Potatoes. In India it is generally known as Pudina Aloo (Pudina= Mint, Aloo= Potatoes). Mint is so refreshing in summers that I feel like adding in every dishes and drinks. In India, the most staple meal is dal (lentils) with rice. So this dish accompanies well with dal and rice. It is such a comfort food that if you are not in a mood of cooking and yet have to feed your family, then this is one of the best option. This minty potatoes is a very interesting dish. It can be served as a starter or as well as in main course both. This dish is perfect for your kids lunch box. Serve it with hot rotis and parathas. You can adjust the quantity of mint and chillies according to your taste. This dish is very versatile, you can make potato salad by just adding sliced red onions, avocados and cream cheese with some seasonings. (The recipe of the potato salad I will share very soon.)

In this recipe, I have boiled 600 grams of potatoes with some salt and turmeric till its 90% cooked. Then I heated some oil in a pan. And crackled some cumin seeds (jeera) and chopped garlic cloves. Then added the diced and boiled potatoes. Seasoned it with spices. Added some yoghurt so that the spices sticks to the potatoes and all the flavours seeps into the potatoes. To finish it off with, I added chopped green chillies , dried mint leaves and Kasuri methi powder. Covers and cooked for 2 minutes and it was ready to be served. (I was running out of fresh mint so I used dried mints, howsoever, if have have fresh mints them go ahead and use that.

The detailed recipe is as follows:-

Preparation Time:– 10 mins  Cooking Time:- 30 mins  Total Time:– 40-45 mins

Number of Servings:-3-4 persons

Measurements:-
1 cup = 250 ml
¾ cup = 200 ml
½ cup = 125 ml
1/3 cup = 80 ml
1 tablespoon = 15 ml
1 teaspoon = 5 ml
½ teaspoon = 2.5 ml
¼ teaspoon = 1.25 ml

Ingredients:-
* Potatoes:- 600 grams
* Yoghurt:- 1/2 cup
* Garlic Cloves:- 4-6 (chopped)
* Green Chillies:- 1-2 chopped (according to individual preference)
* Jeera (Cumin Seeds):- 1/2 teaspoon
* Turmeric Powder:- 1/2 teaspoon +1/4 teaspoon
* Hot Chilli Powder:- 1/2 teaspoon
* Aamchur Powder ( Dried Mango Powder):- 1/2 teaspoon
* Dried Mint Leaves:- 1 tablespoon ( If you are using fresh mint leaves, then take 1/4 cups of chopped mint leaves)
* Kasuri Methi:-1/4 teaspoon
* Salt:- to taste
* Vegetable Oil:- 3 tablespoon

Method:-

1. Take enough water in a pan, add salt and 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder to it. Stir well and bring it a boil. Meanwhile dice potatoes into medium sized cubes. Once the water starts boiling add the diced potatoes to it. Cook till 90% cooked. (Every potatoes are different so cook according, mine took 6-7 minutes to cook over a high heat.) Strain the water and keep it aside.

2. Heat some oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds to it. When it starts to crackle add the chopped garlic to it. Sauté for a minute over a medium heat till the garlic are light golden in colour. Add the boiled potatoes to the pan and sauté for minute or 2. Add all the dry spices to the pan i.e. turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and aamchur powder (dried mango powder) to it. Toss well, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes over a medium heat. ( If you see the potatoes are sticking to the bottom of the pan, you can splash some water to avoid that.)

3. After 5 minutes or so, add beaten yoghurt to the pan. Toss well with the potatoes. Cover again and cook for 4-5 minutes till all the water from the yoghurt is evaporated and the yoghurt is blended with with all the spices and potatoes.

4. Now add the lime juice, dried mint leaves, chopped green chillies and kasuri methi leaves to the pan. Toss well, so that all the ingredients are mixed throughly. cover and cook for last 2 minutes over a very slow heat. Switch off the flame. Your Minty Potatoes are ready to be served.

SHARING IS CARING…!

Note:-
* You can prepare this dish with fresh mint leaves also. Well in that case you will be needing 1/4 cup of chopped mint leaves. And follow the same procedure as mentioned above. ( Do not over cook the mint leaves as the fresh ones tend to become bitter if cooked for longer period of time. )

* People living outside India, and not aware of (Aamchur powder) dried Mango powder and all the Indian spices you will mostly get all of them in the Indian stores near your place.

Serving Tip:- Serve hot with Indian bread like naan, paratha, tandoori roti, or with Dal-chawal ( steamed rice and lentils). You can serve it as a starter also.

Do try my recipe and leave for comments below. Till then Happy Cooking.!