Aloo Gobi

Aloo Gobi. A delectable marriage of potatoes and cauliflower florets, spiced with Indian herbs and spices. Pair it with rotis (Indian flatbread) or enjoy as a side with simple dal-chaawal, it makes up for a healthy, satisfying meal. Back at my mom's place, cauliflower has a bad reputation of being grown in a toxic, fertilizer and pesiticide ridden environment, so it was brought home rarely, except on occasions when pulao was made or we hosted parties. My mom would make a really good Aloo Gobi and this was one of her must have party dishes that would please the guests. After marriage, I was introduced to a Punjabi version of Aloo Gobi/ My mother-in law-makes a fabulous one, that's spicy and typical of Punjabi Aloo Gobi, one of my all time favorite. Cauliflower is an easy vegetable to work with, also generally loved by all. As children, we would often play around with cauliflower when it was prepared for the meal, it's florets fascinating us into play, as if we were eating mini-trees!

This is my take on the Aloo Gobi. A subtle deviation from what my mom and my mother-in-law make. It's has earthy ginger tones, has deep flavor of coriander-chilly, which I think is a amazing combination and can be adapted to many other recipes, such as potato-cabbage or mixed vegetables. You can go as spicy as you like or just leave it mild. This one will be most loved if one adores spicy food. Here's the recipe for Aloo Gobi.

Punjabi Aloo Gobi

INGREDIENTS

Grind to rough paste:
Half a cup chopped coriander leaves
1 cube ginger
2 green chillies

Vegetables:
1 cup square cut boiled potatoes
1 cup cut cauliflower
Half a cup peas/mutter (optional)

Other Misc Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 spn garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
A pinch of amchur powder (mango powder)
Salt as per taste

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in a kadai/wok. Allow cumin seeds to splutter. Then add the cut cauliflower, boiled potatoes and peas into the pan. Once the vegetables are almost cooked, add salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, amchur powder and chilly powder. Add the ground paste (grind coriander leaves, ginger and green chillies into paste) to the cooked vegetables. Cook for another 10 or 15 mins. Sprinkle with remaining coriander leaves and serve hot with Naan or Pulav.