The Scientist's evil potato bake

Many years ago (something like twelve or thirteen urk) I made a friend in college. She was a local and used to periodically take me home with her and feed me real food, as opposed to hostel mess. In fact I used to carry a toothbrush in my bag so I could disappear at the drop of a hat heh. Her very cool father let us drink from his posh bar and make cocktails and whatnot--there was a notable night involving several blue lagoons, and that's where I learnt to make Long Island Iced Tea. The highlight of those evenings was not the booze, but this INSANE potato bake she used to make.

Wholewheat pizza!

You might remember my excited experiments with pizza in the past. Recently I discovered how easy it is to get fresh yeast in Delhi and since then my pizza making has gone to a whole new level. For starters, please ditch the false lore that states pizzas require sauce and cheese. They don't. No, really. Second, also toss out the idea that they need to be round. Ever since my pizza revolution, as I like to call it, I've been making them all the time in my rectangular baking pans and putting all sorts of things on them. I've done potatoes+cheese+onions, random pasta sauce+cheese, potatoes+sausage+cheese, random veggies+cheese and my most recent favourite, blanched spinach, potatoes, onions and eggs. That's right, no sauce, no cheese. Of course all these things get eaten so fast I rarely get pictures, so here's one I took this morning of reheated lunch, terribly lit in the direct sunlight from my kitchen window and gently speckled by the shadow of the mesh.

Tortilla de Patatas or Spanish Omelette

I've ALWAYS loved this. Yum. And seriously, don't listen to anyone if they tell you not to put other stuff in, I used to fill em full of mushrooms and paprika and whatnot. I wouldn't advise offering that to a Spaniard though. Especially one far from home. I finally took photos of the process this time, so can remove the unwieldy description of how to cut potatoes!

Alu Gobi

Yay! Potatoes are back! This recipe can be used to make dry alu mutter, and gobi mutter as well. Staple food. Serve with rice/chappatis and dal.

Breakfast

Is so important to me. Living the US made me just so happy, because they take breakfast almost as seriously as we do down south. There are pancakes, and waffles, and eggs, and toast, and lordy lordy, home fries! Never been so happy in my life. Whenever I have the time, I like to make sure I have a nice cooked breakfast, otherwise i make do with cereal or porridge or something. This morning, I managed to have a cheese omelet, home fries and a slice of my oat bread.

Now there are tons of recipes for home fries, and everyone has their favourites. I remember one place in Berkeley that puts SOUR CREAM and green onions on their home fries. The horror. Me, I like em Burger Heaven style, with green peppers, caramelised onions and a titch of paprika. Or like EJ's, in big chunks, with the skins on and loads of paprika. Today's was a super simple recipe, that took about 20 minutes to make.

Eggs are also deeply subjective, I hate mine runny, and have never willingly eaten a sunny side up fried egg. I usually like them scrambled, but nice and creamy, with only cheese and salt - egg bhurji is for other meals. Omelets are I like with minimum additives, especially not tomatoes or green chillies!

Kerala Stew

But you're vegetarian you protest. Tis true,but this won't be the first time stew's been adapted. My dear friend Mungi will also shriek in horror to hear of green chillies, cinnamon AND a bay leaf all being used at the same time. However, much like sambar, I think everyone has their own recipe. Et voila.

Traditionally, this stew is made with mutton. I make it with root vegetables and tubers. This time it only had potatoes, but I also use yams, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Sometimes green beans!

Potato Knish!

On my first non jetlagged day living in New York, my cousin's girlfriend, just done with law school, was kind enough to babysit me all over town. She took me a bakery somewhere on Columbus (never went back cos I'm too lazy to walk TWO avenue blocks) in the 80s, and fed me this amazing Jewish thing, Knish. I swear it was like the samosa made for me, because it has no spices, only delicate flavours and such lovely pastry!

This weekend, three (four?) years later, my dear Israeli friend came over for a big cookout and taught me to make it. Along with challah bread, no bake cheesecake, and a pavlova. But more on those later.

Potato Mushroom Thingummy

I know, I know, I need a better name.

This morning I found a packet of mushrooms that had to be cooked. I also needed something for lunch. The only other vegetable (yes yes) in the house was potatoes. Much googling came up with lovely, drool-inducing things like potato mushroom gratin and so on, but they really were pushing the trying to eat healthy boundaries. Plus I simply didn't have the time before I left for work. So I invented this.

Chilean Empanadas

There are many kinds of empanadas, fried, baked, corn, wheat, samosas, big flat pies.... This here is snucked from the Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook. If you're ever in a secondhand bookstore and find one of their books, don't think, just buy it. I'm still too cheap to recommend firsthand cookbooks. Hee. Invent your filling, this here is what they use in the book. I think this is a great dough to adapt for samosas.

Makes 8 pieces. Large pieces. 1 per person should be enough.
Prep time: 25 min
Cooking time: 25 min

Filling:

• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed. (I used 3 of those giant baking potatoes and ended up with way too much.)
• 2 small onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 cup chopped pimientos (I didn't have and result was still yummy. substituted 1 tsp paprika, but not the sweet kind.)
• 1 cup corn; fresh, frozen or canned (drained)
• 1 cup cream cheese, softened to room temp (I used goat cheese, worked as well)
• 1 cup grated mild cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (I used Trader Joe's Mexican blend!)

Dough:

• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 tbs vinegar (don't worry if you use a little less, it tasted too much of vinegar for me)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached wheat flour
• 3 tbs melted butter, margarine or vegetable oil (Butter!!!)

• Vegetable oil for frying

Cook the potatoes in a pot until soft. Saute onions, peppers and season with spices. If using paprika, add now. Add corn and salt once the peppers are tender. Once tender enough, take off fire and add pimientoes. Drain and mash potatoes. Mix well with veggies and cheese.

Mix the water, vinegar and salt in a large bowl. Add flour and butter. (Yes, dry to wet, who can say why, it worked.) Work dough adding flour until it's not wildly sticky. Roll out in a long roll and divide into 8 pieces. Roll out into 6-7 inch circles. This is not easy dough cos it keeps springing back smaller. Plonk 1/8th of the filling in the centre leaving about 1/2 inch all around to fold over and seal. Scallop edges. In about 1 inch of oil (we used MUCH less. It's basically a shallow fry) fry both sides until golden. This is a good time to have a partner, one rolls and the other fries. Faster AND fun. Drain on paper towels.

Eat!

They're a FANTASTIC next-day meal, on a journey, at work, whatever. very self contained, they can be eaten with minimum fuss and attention.

Patatas Bravas (Strong Potatoes)

Oh sweet jesus. I was watching this movie, L'Auberge Espagnole, sert in barcelona and i was reminded of this delightful thing, one of many many many, that the Spaniards do to potatoes. A regular tapas, its the first Spanish food I ate. And I sit here with a plateful.


For the Patatas:
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced to about 1cm cubes
Oil

For the salsa brava:
4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1/2 small onion, minced
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp white vinegar
6 tsp mayonnaise
salt to taste
cayenne pepper to taste


Shallow or deep fry the potatoes till golden brown. I recommend a low flame to start and then turn the heat up. Fry the garlic and onions in 2 tsp olive oil, add the tomato paste and the spices and salt. Cook for about 10 min on a low flame. Allow it to cool. When the potatoes are done, spread on paper to soak up the extra oil. Add mayonnaise to tomato salsa and mix well. Spread potatoes in plate. Drizzle salsa over potatoes. Serve. Drizzle just before you serve so that they stay crisp.

Recommended: serve with Spanish red wine [Rioja I like best] and tortilla de patatas cut into squares, and croquetas. Recipes will follow. Enjoy!

Chole (with Alu)

YUM!

Serves: 2-3
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 30 min

1 16 oz can chole/chana/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 medium potatoes, diced to about 1 cm cubes, peeled if you wish
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp haldi
1 1/2 tsp dhania
1/2 tsp jeera
1 tsp chana masala
5 tbs tomato paste or 2 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped fine
2 tsp oil
salt to taste

Heat oil in pot. Fry ginger paste for 30 seconds. Add onions and fry till translucent. Add spices and stir. Add tomato paste and fry for about 1 min. Add potatoes. Fry for 1 min. Add chana. Add water to cover the chana and potatoes. Add salt. Cover and cook for 20 min.

Voila!
YUM!

आलू मटर or Alu Mutter

Saturday morning I awoke with the Greatgrandmother of all hangovers. And all I wanted was पूरी आलू। Of course I couldn't get at any, but here's what I came up with.

Serves: 3-4
Cooking time: 30-40 min

4 medium potatoes, washed and diced into small cubes. I like the peel, but it's optional
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
4 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 tsp धनीया (coriander) powder
1/2 tsp जीरा (cumin) powder
1/2 tsp हल्दी (turmeric powder)
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Chilli powder to taste
Chopped धनीया (coriander) leaves to garnish

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot, preferably nonstick. Add the onions and saute till translucent. Add the spices and chilli powder if using and stir for about 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and stir for 1 min. Add potatoes and peas and stir for 1 min. Pour enough water to cover the vegetables. Add salt, cover and let simmer for about 20 min or till potatoes are cooked to your liking. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Serving options:
With roti or paratha. Good option is wholewheat tortillas heated on a skillet.
With rice and curd on the side.