I have traveled to India twice now and every time I come back craving the food. Indian food has so many rich flavors and I love how the spices smell in my kitchen. To be honest, it is really hard to replicate a traditional Indian dish without having the right spices. I often have to make modifications to my Indian dishes because I don’t have curry leaves or a specific spice. Even with tiny adjustments, I can never make my Indian food taste as it tastes in India. But, the key to making an excellent homemade Indian dish is to add a lot of spices! Don’t cut back because it is supposed to be filled with flavor. When I visited my friend's place in Delhi, I learned the cook had a tray of spices laid out for him and he would never measure his spices. He would take a pinch with his hands of each spice and constantly be adding more cumin! Don’t be afraid to play around with the different spices because I do that every time I make this dish.
All the spices of India! If I had access to these fresh spices I would make Indian food every night.
Two Potato Curry
Serving size: 4
Total Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
Source: Plenty cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds or powder
8 cardamom pods or 1 tablespoon cardamom
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large shallots, sliced
½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds
½ teaspoon fenugreek
25 curry leaves or lime zest
2 tablespoons ginger, chopped
1 red chili, finely chopped
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
⅓ apple cider vinegar
1 ½ cups water
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
Salt to taste
4-5 waxy small potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 small red peppers, cut into chunks
1-2 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
Mint or coriander leaves, to serve
Step 1: Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pot. Add the shallots, mustard seeds, and fenugreek. Sauté on high heat for eight minutes, or until the shallots brown. Stir in the curry leaves or lime zest, ginger, chili, cumin, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, paprika, and cinnamon. Cook until spices are slightly browned and are giving off a strong aroma.
Step 2: Add the tomatoes, vinegar, water, sugar or honey, and some salt, bring to a boil, and leave to simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peppers, and simmer for another 20 minutes. Make sure all the vegetables are just immersed in the sauce (add more water if needed) and continue cooking, covered, for about 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Step 3: Remove the lid and leave it to bubble away for about 10 minutes, to reduce and thicken the sauce.
Step 4: Serve hot with plain brown or white rice and garnish with the herb leaves.
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