Sukhe Aloo

Recipes that are super quick and take barely few minutes are always on my menu list. As a working woman, these recipes are a great rescue, real time savers. Mondays through Fridays are time when I breeze through my kitchen, washing, cleaning, cooking as fast as I can, to make time for packing lunch or dinner for both of us and rush to work. You can imagine our mornings like a movie played in a fast forward mode! Sometimes, it's a crazy rush we deal with!

Cooking has to be full fledged, be it any day. Especially if it's lunch... rice or rotis, a dal, a vegetable subzi, papad, pickle, yogurt... yes I love all of it on my plate. And it's only when I see my plate full in it's standard fashion, would I be completely satisfied.

With such routine that's streamlined by me, I don't like to bend my schedule when it comes to food. For those days when I am in hurry, I have a few recipes which are boon to me. They are quick, easy, require the basic ingredients off the shelf. A few ingredients I always have in stock are masala powders like fenugreek, cumin and coriander powder which add great flavor and body to recipes which are simple and basic, yet extremely flavorsome. Potatoes, though not my favorites, are always in my stock for their good shelf life, also a great rescue on days when I run out of greens and vegetables in my kitchen.

One such recipe which I humbly learnt from my mother is this Sukhe Aloo or simply translated to Dry Spiced Potatoes have always been our favorites.

Sukhe Aloo

INGREDIENTS

2 large potatoes, chopped to cubes
1 tsp good quality asafeotida/hing powder
1 tsp fenugreek/methi powder
1 tbsp coriander/dhaniya powder
1 tsp jeera/cumin powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves & lime to garnish

DIRECTIONS

You may either use pre-boiled and diced potatoes or freshly cut potatoes. If you use boiled potatoes, the oil consume is lesser compared to the latter. If you have boiled potatoes at hand, this makes the recipe much faster, taking less than 5 mins to complete the recipe.

In a frying pan, heat a tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add in all the dry spice powders, the hing, methi powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder and quickly stir fry for 15-20 sec. Don't let the spices burn, else they will turn bitter and lose their flavors. Add in the potatoes and coat them well with these spices. In case you use boiled potatoes, stir fry everything for about 2-3 minutes till the potatoes heat through and the spices coat the potatoes well. If using freshly cut potatoes, you may add another teaspoon of oil. Cover and cook for few minutes till they are done. Add a dash of lime and garnish with coriander leaves.

Just a few dry spice powders go into making this dish exotic and flavorsome. Do not miss on hing and coriander powder, it's such a perfect medley of flavors. The spice coating on the potatoes take a matter of 2 minutes to be put together, creating an aromatic dish which you will love for sure. Pair with any simple dal and these go great with rotis and rice likewise. Enjoy!