Veggie/Fruit of the Month - Potato Roundup

Hello Friends,
Here I am with the roundup of Veggie/Fruit of the Month Potato. Thanks Priya for giving me the opportunity to host this lovely event. Also, I extend my thanks to my fellow bloggers for sending in their delicious entries. I have categorized the entries into sweets, appetizers, side dishes and main dishes. Hope you enjoy them!

Sweets
Neetu Srivastava - Aloo Halwa
Harini-Jaya - Aloo Burfi/Potato Fudge

Appetizers/Finger Foods
Ayeesha - Potato Rolls
Shobha - Cheesy Potato Slices
Neetu Srivastava - Aloo Tikki Stuffed with Green Peas
Vatsala - French Fries Chat
Deeksha - Aloo Masala Chaat
Kavita - Mixed Platter of Fritters
Krithi - Fiestaa Potatoes
Shobha - Potato/Aloo 65
Jaleela Kamal - Simple Potato Chips
Priya - Oats Crusted Banana Blossom Cutlets
Anamika - Cheesy Bread Rolls
Kankana - Potato Bread Tikki
Dr.Sameena Pratap - Oats Potato Cutlet

Side Dishes
Shri - Potato and Red Chard Subji
Seema - Potato Pumpkin Subzi
Seema - Potatoes Coated with Semolina and Tawa Fried
Chaya - Sweet potato peanut butter sauce
An Escape to Food - Aloo Matar
Krithi - Spicy Potato Fry
Denny - Panchphoran Potatoes
Denny - Aloo methi masala
Priyanka Bhattacharjee - Colorful Mash
Priya - Potato and Fresh Lilva Beans Stir Fry

Neeraja - Aloo Stir Fry

Anita Patel - Aloo Masala

Akheela - Fenugreek Leaves and Potato Curry

Ila - Potato Roast

Honeybee Cooks Jackfruit - Methi Aloo Sabji
Usha - Potato Fry
Swetha - Aloo Methi
Radhika - Aloo Gobhi
Tahemeem - Potato Fry

Main Dishes
Mythreyi - Roasted Potato Medley
Bizzy B Bakes - Potato Gratin
Chaya - Cheddar Potato Soup
Krithi - Masala Sambar
Krithi - Methi Aloo Paratha
Satya - Stuffed Idlies
Neeraja - Mixed Vegetable Korma
Ambreen - Sliced Potatoes in thin gravy
Reva - Masala Dosai
Santhosh - Dum Aloo
Seema - Alu Bharta 
Kavita - Dum Aloo
Priya - Nilgiri Potato Kurma
Priya - Tangy Potato Rasam
Priya - Aloo Paratha
Harini - Jaya - Aloo Paratha
Ayeesha - Potato Kibbeh
Priya Srinivasan - Aloo/Potato Roti
Priya Mahadevan - Fingerling Potato and Cheese Casserole
Vidhya Venugopal - Potato Gnocchi in Spinach Sauce
Ambreen - Egg and Potato Curry
Nandini - Kadappa
Padmini - Aloo methi ka Saag
Dhivya Shankar - Chettinad Style Potato Kurma

Veggie/Fruit of the month : Potato

This event was started by Priya and is all about veggies and fruits. Every month a veggie or fruit will be features and you could share your delicious recipes made out of the star ingredient. Thanks Priya, for the opportunity to host this lovely event. The star vegetable chosen for this month is Potato.
Who does not like potato right? We have countless recipes using the humble potatoes and countless varieties of potatoes - Baby Potatoes, fingerling Potatoes, Red potatoes. Purple Potatoes and the list goes on.. The potato is a versatile vegetable that is available in almost every country and all through the year.

Here are some guidelines for the event..

Cook any dish featuring POTATO. It could be a breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner. It could be any course of the meal. But the main ingredient has to be potato. It can be cooked in any way or it can even be in raw form.

The recipe has to be vegetarian. Eggs are allowed.

You HAVE to make new recipes for this event. Archived posts are not allowed.

Please send in your entries by January 31st, 2011 to divyablogs[AT]gmail[DOT]com with the following details.

Name:
Recipe URL:
Picture attached:

Please link you blog post to the original event post along with this event announcement page.

Link your post to the original event post along with a link to this announcement page.

Feel free to use the logo.

Non bloggers can also email me your entry with a picture of the dish.

Happy cooking and have a great New Year!!

picture source: www.disney.com

Aloo Paratha with purple baby potatoes

Aloo Parathas are our favorite kind of stuffed parathas. I make parathas often for dinner with different kinds of stuffings. I tried these aloo parathas with baby purple potatoes. They were equally delicious as the normal aloo parathas. The potatoes quick really quick and I made these real quick. I mildly spiced the filling and they tasted great all by themselves. We had them with some yogurt, dal and pickle.

Ingredients (Makes 6 parathas)
Atta/ Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Salt to taste
Water to knead the dough

For the filling:
Baby purple potatoes - 6
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1 teaspoon
Fresh coriander leaves/Cilantro - 2 tablespoons finely chopped
Salt to taste

Directions

Knead the dough with enough salt and water. The dough should be soft and pliable. Leave it aside for atleast 30 minutes.

Boil the potatoes until they turn real soft. Since I used the quick cooking baby potatoes, they got ready in less than ten minutes. Peel the potatoes and mash them well. Add the red chilli powder, garam masala, salt and the freshly chopped coriander leaves to the potato and mix well.

Make small lemon sized balls of the dough. Flatten it into a small circular disc using a rolling pin. It should be rolled out such that the ends are thinner than the center, so that the filling does not ooze out. Take a tablespoon of the potato mixture and place it in the middle of the rolled out dough. Grab the four sides of the dough and seal them well in the center to cover the filling. Dip the dough in some dry flour and roll it out carefully using a rolling pin taking care that the filling doesn't come out.

For step by step pictures of how to make the paratha check here

Heat a tawa/saucepan. Place the rolled out paratha on the tawa and drizzle some oil/ghee. Cook on both sides until you get golden brown spots. Add a dollop of ghee if you like :)

Serve warm with yogurt and pickle/ketchup.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo for ICC

This is one delicious curry I prepared for the Indian Cooking Challenge. It goes well with any dish - pulao, plain white rice, chapati, naan roti etc. I loved the tanginess of the curry due to the addition of yogurt. It is a different version of the normal curries prepared at my home. The spices filled my house with aroma and was so appetizing. I made my curry with purple baby potatoes and I shallow fried them instead of deep frying them as the recipe called for. This recipe is a keeper for sure.

Ingredients
(Recipe adapted from Indian Food)

Baby potatoes (I used the purple ones) - 8 or 9 in number
Cumin seeds (roasted and powdered) - 1 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1 teaspoon
Kashmiri red chillies (roasted and powdered) - 3-4 (or) Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Fresh yogurt - 2 1/2 cups (must not be sour)
Ground Ginger powder - 1 teaspoon
Fennel/aniseed powder - 1 tablespoon
Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Mustard oil - 4 tablespoons
Cloves roasted and powdered - 6
A pinch of asafoetida/hing
Cooking oil to deep fry potatoes( I shallow fried the potatoes in 3 spoons oil)
Salt to taste
A cup of firm dough made from flour and water

Directions
Wash the potatoes and prick all over with a fork. Soak them in water for about 20 minutes.

Heat a pan and add 3 to 4 spoons of cooking oil. Shallow fry the potatoes for about 5 minutes till the skin turns its color. Drain on paper towels.

Make a paste of yogurt, chili powder, ground ginger, cardamom and fennel powders. Then add the potatoes well with this paste and keep it aside.

Heat the mustard oil in another pan, add the clove powder and asafoetida. Add about half a cup of hot water and salt to taste and bring to a boil. To this, add in the potato-yoghurt marinade, stir thoroughly and cover the pan.

To do the dum, seal the edges of the pan's cover with the dough made with flour and water to ensure no steam can escape. Alternatively, you could just cover the pan with a lid. Put on the stove, cook on a low flame for 10-15 minutes.

Switch off the flame, remove the cover and add the cumin powder and garam masala. Cover and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.

Serve warm with any dish. Tastes great with some peas pulao.

Colorful lil' Potatoes and a giveaway!

Potatoes are comfort food for many. It can be paired easily with any meal and can bring back memories of holidays and family dinners. The potatoes from Tasteful Selections have bold colors, unique flavors, small sizes and faster cooking times and are perfect for any occasion.

"Baskin-Robbins may have beat us with 31 flavors, but eight flavors of potatoes plus our medleys in three different sizes makes for a lot of potatoes choices and endless meal possibilities." boast the people at Tasteful Selections. The potatoes fit into modern busy lives and offer a great culinary experience because they are quick cooking and appetizing too.

Why They Taste Great: Unique Flavors, Tender Skins and Moist Textures

Why They Are Easy To Prepare: Pre-washed; no cleaning or peeling needed and Small sizes = faster cook times

The potatoes come in different bite sizes. But choice doesn’t end with size—choice also comes in a variety of flavors. Check out all the different flavors available here.

I made some amazing Potato Pies and Potato Bonda with these amazing small and cute potatoes from Tasteful Selections.

There are umpteen number of options and recipes to create with these cute potatoes! Go check out your grocery store to grab a packet of these beauties for your thanksgiving dinner!

The people from Tasteful Selections have agreed to send some of their exciting products to a lucky reader of Dil Se.. If you would like to win your will have to:
Leave a comment saying what is your favorite potato dish.
Additional entries:

Optional : Follow Dil Se.. publicly in your reader or subscibe by email.
Optional : Follow Dil Se.. in Facebook.
Please leave a seperate comment for each entry.

I will select the winner using a random generator and will announce the winner on monday.

Until then, enjoy your thanksgiving holidays!

Disclaimer: *Please note that Tasteful Selections sent me these samples for review, but as always my opinions are entirely honest and entirely my opinion.

Aloo Baingan / Curried potato and eggplant

This is an authentic combo of vegetables. Potatoes and eggplants beautifully pair each other. Both veggies cooked with a few spices take themselves to a whole new level. This subji makes a great accompaniment with rotis, chapathis, naan or with some rice and dal. It can be made real quick and tastes delicious.

 

Ingredients

Eggplant/Brinjal - 1 big or 4 small ones

Potato - 1 big or 2 small sized ones

Onion - 1 medium sized

Tomato - 2 medium sized ones

Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander/Dhania powder - 1 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida/Hing - 1 pinch (optional)

Oil - 1 spoon

Coriander leaves/Cilantro - for garnish

Salt to taste 

Directions

Dice the potatoes and eggplants into even sized pieces.  Also chop the onions and tomatoes.

In a kadai/saucepan, add the oil and do the tempering with cumin seeds and hing. Add the diced onions and saute until they get translucent. Then add the tomatoes and cook for about two minutes until they turn mushy.

Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt and mix well. Saute for a minute. Add about two table spoons of water, cover and cook for about five minutes or until the veggies turn tender.

Add the garam masala and mix well. Cook for two more minutes, adjust salt and spices and turn off the stove. 

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve warm along with any side - rice/roti/chapati/naan.

 

Sending this recipe to Any One Can Cook hosted by Umm Mymoonah

Aloo/Potato Bonda

I try to avoid making deep fried goodies often. But we couldn't resist these aloo/potato bondas on a chilly rainy day. We had these beauties along with a cup of tea on a rainy evening watching our favorite TV show!

These can be made in a jiffy if you have some boiled potatoes ready. Just mix the batter, dip the potaot mixture and deep fry them! Heavenly bliss! This could be served by itself or accompanied with any chutney of choice or just mighty tomato ketchup!

Ingredients

For the Potato Mixture

Boiled and mashed potatoes - 2 cups

Chopped onion - 1/2 cup

Green chillies finely chopped - 2

Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

Fresh Coriander leaves - 2 tablespoons

Asafoetida/Hing - 1 pinch

Oil - 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

For the batter

Gram flour/Besan/Chickpea Flour - 1.5 cups

Rice flour - 1 tablespoon

Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon

Cooking soda - 1 pinch

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

 

Directions

First prepare the potato mixture. 

In a saucepan, heat one spoon of oil and add the mustard seeds. Once it starts spluttering, add the onion and green chillies and saute till the onions turn translucent. Add the turmeric powder and asafoetida and switch off the heat. Add the boiled and mashed potatoes and mix well. Also add in the coriander leaves and salt. Allow it to cool.

Meanwhile prepare the batter. Mix in all the ingredients listed under the batter section ( gram flour, rice flour, chilli powder, cooking soda, turmeric powder and salt. Add water little by little and make it into a thick batter. it should not be very runny. It should be like idli batter consistency.

Make small lemon sized balls using the potato mixture.

Now heat oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel.  Once the oil turns hot, slowly dip each potato ball in the batter and deep fry in batches of 4 to 5 for about 2 to 3 minutes until they turn golden brown on all sides. 

Using a slotted spoon, remove the bondas from the oil and drain on paper towels.

Serve hot with chutneys/ketchup!

Sev Puri using Tortilla Chips

This is a yummy snack which can be assembled in a matter of minutes with simple ingredients. Who dislikes Indian chaat! I was craving chat one day and did not have the puri and had no mood to make it myself. I had some leftover homemade baked tortilla chips I had made the previous day to have along with the homemade salsa and guacamole.

I just assembled it with some chaat ingredients and voila! Amazing sev puri was ready!

Ingredients
Papdis/ Tortilla Chips - around 20 pieces
Chopped red onions - 1/2 cup
Chopped tomato -1
Boiled and mashed potatoes - 1/2 cup
Green chutney - 2 teaspoons
Tamarind / Imli chutney - 3 teaspoons
Salt to taste
Chaat masala - 1 teaspoon or as per taste
Chopped fresh coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Thin Sev - 1/2 cup
Fresh lemon juice - 2 tablespoons

Directions
In a serving plate, arrange the tortilla chips or papdis.
Place one teaspoon each of the boiled potato, tomatoes and onions.
Top the mixture with the imli chutney and green chutney. Sprinkle the emon juice, chaat masala and salt as per taste.
Finally garnish with the chopped fresh coriander leaves and the sev.

Serve immediately.

Wheat berry Kidney bean Soup

After posting my sprouted wheat berry salad, I received a lot of questions as to what wheatberry is and where was it available. Since this is the first time I have been using using wheatberries in my diet, I would suggest visiting dear Dhivya's blog. She has loads of information about how to store, sprout and cook wheatberries and several other whole grains. I would say her blog is a one stop shop for all whole grain goodies! She even has umpteen number of whole grain recipes.

Okay! Here is a soup recipe made with wheatberries. I adopted the idea of this recipe from here, making a few changes here and there. I sprouted the wheatberries and then added it t0 my soup and salad. I would say, it is absolutely delicious and there is no compromise for the taste as well as the nutrition. It is filling and makes a whole meal when had with a slice of your favorite bread. We had this for a weeknight dinner along with some garlic bread. So here comes the recipe! The photos do not do any justice to the recipe. So pardon my photos here..


Ingredients

Wheatberries - 1/2 cup soaked overnight and sprouted
Onion - 1 large sized chopped
Kidney beans / Rajma - 1/2 cup
Potato - 1 medium sized
Garlic - 1 tablespoon chopped
Bay leaf - 1
Celery - 1 cup chopped
Tomato Salsa - 2 tablespoons
Fresh Basil leaves - 4 to 5 leaves
Oil/Butter - 1 teaspoon
Salt and Pepper

Directions
Soak the wheatberries overnight and sprout them until you see small sprouts coming out.
Wash the rajma and potato. Peel the potatoes. In a pressure cooker, boil together the potato, kidney beans and wheatberry sprouts together until about 3 whistles. Reserve the cooking liquid.
Meanwhile in a pan, heat some oil and saute the garlic and onions until translucent. Add the celery and bay leaf and soft for one more minute. Mash the pressure cooked potato roughly.
Then add the pressure cooked wheatberries, kidney beans and potato and saute for a minute. Add the cooking liquid and some water/vegetable broth.
Stir in the salsa. You could replace this with tomato paste instead.
Add the fresh basil leaves, salt and pepper.
Cover and allow it to simmer for about 15 minutes.
Sprinkle some cheese and serve with some fresh homemade bread!


Lately I have been quite busy with my graduate classes, and have very little time to cook. So am looking forward to more of cook ahead recipes and frozen recipes. Please do feel free to give your suggestions on such quick cooking and cook-ahead meals! I made a huge batch of this soup and froze it. It freezes well and retains the same taste when thawed and microwaved.

This soup recipe is off to JFI:Rajma being hosted here at Dil Se.. this month and initially started by Indira
Also sending my Rajma Kurma for the event.
Sending this to Healthy Inspirations Event - Soups

Baked Homemade French Fries !

Who doesnt like french fries!! Especially when they are of reduced guilt. I would never say this is guilt-free but theses are certainly a healthier option compared to the deep fried ones. I hear someone saying how can you make french 'fries' without 'frying' them. I definitely assure that these were a close replica of the normal deep fried ones crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I made an Indian kinda seasoning with Indian spices. They turned out perfect and made a great meal with homemade burgers! I added spices and chilli powder to suit our taste, they can be varied according to your liking.


Ingredients

Russet Potatoes - 2 large ones (or any potato variety)
Salt to taste
Spices (I used coriander powder, chilli powder and cumin powder) - 1 teaspoon each
Oil - 2 tablespoons


Directions
Wash the potato. I left the skin on. You can peel it if you wish. Slice them into wedges of about half inch thick. Take care that they are about the same thickness so that they get baked evenly.

Bring a big pot of water to a boil and drop the sliced potatoes for about 4 minutes. They should be half-cooked. Remove them and pat dry with a paper towel.

In a bowl mix together the salt, oil and spices. Coat the potatoes evenly with the spice mixture by rolling them around with your hands.

Preheat oven to 450 degree F.



Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and spread the potatoes evenly in a single layer.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and toss and turn the potatoes. Bake for another 10 minutes, until you see the potatoes beginning to brown.

Serve warm with ketchup!

Also do check out my
Oven Baked Potato Chips
Sweet Potato Fries


Sending this Oven baked french fries to Cooking for Kids: Evening Snacks started by Sharmi and being hosted this month in Dil Se..
And Sending this to Cook for Yourself event and
Food For 7 stages of life:Kids initially started by Radhika .

Show Me Your Breakfast Roundup Part II

Here I am with the second roudup of Show me Your Breakfast event. I am really overwhelmed by the support and response to this event. With more than 160 entries filling my inbox. I had restricted the number of entries to 3 but I received more than 3 entries from many. So I have included all entries in the roundup. I have also updated the rules for Show me Your Sandwich event, and you are very much welcome to pour in any number of entries.

Hope this roundup gives us several healthy breakfast ideas..I am also planning to give a small and surprise giveaway to one participant. So am planning to conduct a poll here in my blog. Please check if i have included all your entries in the roundup. Please mail me by tomorrow morning[8 am PST] if you find your entry missing here. I will be putting up the poll tomo morning.

Thanks again for all your lovely entries.

You have a week left for sending me your entries for Show Me Your Sandwich!

You can check the first roundup here - Show Me Your Breakfast Roundup I

Kavya Naimish - Tomato Dosa

Kavya Naimish - French Toast

Anupama - Aval Usili

Anupama - Eggless Savoury Toast

Anupama - Thayir Oats

Lubna - Breakfast Recipes

Prathibha - Rawa Upma

Shama - Carrot Dosai

Shama - Tomato Dosai

Shama - Set dosai

Shama - Ragi dosai

Shama - Dalwheat dosai

Shama - Beetroot dosai

Shama - Spicy Dal dosai

Shama - Oats Dosai

Shama - Rava dosai

Shama - Wheat onion dosai

Shama - Masala dosai

Shama - Egg dosai

Prathibha - Paper Rava dosai

Bindiya - Healthy whole wheat sweet bread

Priti - Mango Pancake

Sneh - Egg Burrito

Nivedita - Aloo Paratha

Nivedita - Pasta

Nivedita - Aloo Poha

Siri - Potato Chip Frittata Muffins

BDSN - Cracked wheat upma

Yasmeen - Sunshine Breakfast

Sowmya Arun - Carrot Akki Rotti

Harini - Adai

Shri - Zesty veggie scramble

Ann - vegetable idlis

Sneh - Aloo Paneer samosa

Shobha - Masal Dosa

Shobha - Idli Upma

Shobha - Quick easy mango lemon sevai

Sharmila - Mango jam

Dolon Das - Chole Batura

Jayasree - Whole Moong dosa

Ramki - Simple precooked recipes

Ramki - Full meal salads

Ramki - Quickie breakfasts

Ramki - Muesli recipes

Saraswathi Iyer - Masala Dosai

Saraswathi Iyer - Pesarattu Upma

Sharmistha - Nameless Delight

Sharmistha - Breakfast in a jiffy

Jyoti V - French Toast

Jyoti V - Banana smoothie

Bindiya - Garlicky potato buns

Shaista - Creamy Mango

Usha - Sweet Corn Kernels

Usha - Instant Oatmeal
Vidhas - Semiya upma

Vidhas - Broken wheat porridge

Andy - Veg bread upma

Lissie - Puttu and Kabuli channa curry

Indrani - Scrambled paneer sandwich w/Focaccia

Sarawathi Iyer - Chilled Idlies

The conflicted cook - Bran mini muffins

Sree - Adai

Sree - Bread omelette

Priya - Cucumber sandwich

Mahimaa - Sugar free dry fruit bars

Mahimaa - Semiya upma

Srilakshmi - Banana nut muffin

Srilakshmi - Spicy noodles

Srilakshmi - Bean ball sandwich

Sanghi - Arisi Puttu

Sanghi - Poori Kizhangu

Sanghi - Egg dosai

Sanghi - Dosa and tomato dal chutney

Sanghi - chicken kothu parotta

Sanghi - chapati and kurma

Kalva - Wholewheat eggless pancakes

Kalva - Blueberry smoothie

Divya Vikram - Pesarattu

Divya Vikram - Peanut butter and banana smoothie

Divya Vikram - Granola breakfast bars

Nidhi - Blueberry Pancakes

Nidhi - Birchermuesli

Thanks to everyone who participated and made the event a huge success!