Aloo Peas Masala

Aloo in hindi is potato.  So the recipe below is potatoes and peas with mild spices.  The dish reminds me of my university days. I had a friend from north India whose mother would prepare the best aloo peas masala to be eaten with the softest chappatis ever.  I loved this simple recipe for the flavours, the colours and the memories I associate with it.

The recipe below calls for some ingredients to be ground to a paste.  Rather than making the paste smooth, I like to leave it coarse to taste and feel the ingredients.  But again this is up to each person's taste and choice.  I like to generally see and feel the texture of my food.  But then I remember I came across a man once who hated to see or feel tomatoes in his food.  So his wife would painstakingly always grind the tomatoes in the food so he could eat it.  

Preparation Time: 30 mins
Serves 4

Ingredients:

Potatoes & peas, tomatoes and masalas

4 potatoes, boiled and cubed

1 cup peas, boiled

2 tomatoes, cubed

½ cup yoghurt

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

½ tsp cumin powder

2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp ghee

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnishing

For the paste:

Ingredients for the paste

2 onions

2 green chillies

1” ginger

6 pods garlic

Method:

Grind the onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic.  Heat oil and ghee together in a pan.  Add cumin seeds, tomato, ground paste, garam masala, cumin powder, chilli powder, curds and sugar.  Fry well.  Add the cooked potatoes and peas, half a cup of water and salt.  Cook till the gravy thickens.  Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.