Hara Aloo

This is a curry that I first made almost 9 years ago and is a recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor. I remember my friend & me enjoying it quite a bit but unfortunately I lost the recipe and didn't make it after that. So I was thrilled to see this on Lakshmi's blog and was able to recreate it after all these years and it was really delicious. My family really liked it and I particularly relished this with curd rice - very satisfying. Hara Aloo translates to green potatoes and the coriander leaves lend such a bright, fresh burst of flavour and offers for a great varatiation to our ubiquitous potato fry. In her recipe, she's first baked them in the oven and though that's a fabulous idea, with the hot weather that prevails, I didn't want to switch on the oven, so instead tossed them on a wide pan in 2 batches.

HARA ALOO (Spiced Coriander Potatoes)


Ingredients:
Potatoes - 4 medium, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch slices
Onion - 1/4 of a big red one, sliced thin into 1 inch pcs (optional)
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp + 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Water - couple tablespoons

To Grind:
Coriander (Cilantro) leaves & stems - about a cup, washed
Green chillies - 5
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 2 small cloves

Method:
1) You could toss the potato slices in some oil (the 2 tbsp) & salt and bake them in an oven until browned or pan fry them in a wide pan as a single layer until lightly browned. Flip over and cook the other side as well. I had to do 2 batches to finish all the potatoes. Remove them and keep aside.

2) Meanwhile grind coriander leaves, green chillies, garlic & ginger to a slightly coarse paste.

3) Heat a tsp of oil in the same pan and add cumin seeds, then add the ground coriander paste and cook this for a few minutes (so the raw smell goes away). Rinse the jar of the mixie with a few tbsp of water and add this to the fried paste and a bit of salt to taste.

4) Toss in the potatoes at this juncture and stir gently (with a spatula) so they are coated with the coriander masala. Keep the flame on a medium high until all the water is absorbed, which only takes a few minutes.

5) After that, reduce the flame to medium and keep tossing the potatoes until browned and dry. Serve with rice and rasam or my favorite combination curd rice and this - bliss.