Aloo/ Batata Vada

Makes: 8 vadas
Ingredients
2 cups potatoes, boiled and mashed
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon grated ginger
½ cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon chopped green chillies
¼ teaspoon asafoetida powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
oil for deep frying
salt to taste
Ingredients for batter
1 cup gram flour
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt to taste
Method
Combine all batter ingredients in a wide mouth bowl. Add a little water at a time to make batter thick enough to thickly coat back of a spoon. Make sure to whisk the batter well until light and fluffy. Keep aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan, add mustard seeds and allow it to crackle. Stir in the onions and sauté for a couple of minutes till onions are soft and light golden in colour. Add ginger, green chillies, asafoetida, turmeric and salt and sauté for a few more minutes.
Finally stir in the mashed potatoes and sauté for a couple of minutes. Allow the potato mixture to cool down, stir in the coriander leaves divide it into 8 portions. Shape into round balls and keep aside.
Heat oil for deep frying in a heavy bottom pan on medium heat; dip and coat each of the potato balls in the gram flour batter and gradually let it into the oil and deep fry until golden brown in colour on medium heat.
Take care not to turn the heat to high as this will not evenly cook the batter and you might just end up with over browned and uncooked portions. Drain the fried vadas on absorbent paper and continue the frying process for the remaining vadas. Serve hot.

Fricassees

Ingredients (for 20 fricassees)
For the dough, you will need:
- 500g flour
- 1 tablespoon of oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of yeast
- salt
- warm water

For the stuffing, you will need:
- a potato boiled or steamed and then mashed
- 140g of canned tuna
- 50g of pitted black olives
- 2 boiled eggs
- 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise (optional)
- harissa diluted in water (optional)
- salt and pepper
- oil for frying

Preparation:

For the dough, start by diluting the yeast in some warm water. Then put the flour in a container, form a well and add salt, egg, oil and yeast. Mix everything slowly while adding some warm water. Knead well until you get soft and pliable dough.

Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Make small balls of dough, the stretch them slightly on both tips and flatten them into an oblong shape. Arrange them on a plate dusted with flour and let them rise another 30 minutes. Finally, fry fricassees in a hot oil bath, brown them well and then place them on absorbent paper.

For the stuffing:
In a container, mix the mashed potatoes, tuna, hard-boiled eggs (crumbled), olives (broken into pieces), salt, pepper and mayonnaise.

Cut open the fricassee on one side, put some harissa if you prefer it spicy and then stuff it with the mixture.

Your appetizing fricassees are ready to be served!

Bombay Potato Curry

 

Ingredients

• 500g Halved new potatoes
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Large sliced onion
• 1 tbsp Medium Curry Powder
• 400g Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
• 2 tbsp Mango Chutney

Preparation

Add the potatoes to a saucepan and cover with cold water.
Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, add the curry powder and fry for a further 2 minutes.
Stir in the halved potatoes, chopped tomatoes and mango chutney and potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Potato wedges

Ingredients
Dip:
½ tsp paprika
3 tbsp half-fat crème fraîche
1 tsp tomato purée
½ lime, juiced
2 spring onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
3cm piece cucumber, deseeded and finely chopped
Black pepper

3 medium baking potatoes (about 600g total), scrubbed
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp crushed garlic
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp mixed dried herbs

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Cut each potato into 8 wedges. Drop into a pan of boiling water and cook for 8 minutes. Drain. Leave in the pan in a warm place.

Meanwhile, combine all the remaining ingredients (not those for the dip) in a bowl. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, coat each of them in the spicy paste. Place on a baking sheet, skin side down.

Bake the potatoes for 25 minutes or until brown and crisp. Meanwhile, make the dip by mixing together all the ingredients. Serve the wedges hot with the dip.

Aloo Tikki

Ingredients:
3 large boiled aloo (potatoes)
1 tsp salt or as per taste
1/4th tsp ground black pepper
For Stuffing:
2/3rd cup matar (green peas) cooked or frozen peas defrosted
1/2 tbsp scrapped and minced ginger
1/4th tsp garam masala
1/4th tsp salt or to taste
Red chili powder to taste (optional)
1tsp coarsely ground dry-roasted cumin seeds
Oil for pan-frying.

Method:
Take the cooked or defrosted peas (matar) and mash them using a spoon or a fork. Add all the stuffing ingredients except oil and mash briefly.
Divide the mixture into 10 equal portions and keep aside.
Peel the potatoes and mash them very finely into smooth mashed potatoes. Add salt and pepper and knead until properly mixed.
Divide it into 10 equal portions.
Now wash and dry your hands and rub them with little oil.
Take each portion of potato mixture and make a ball.
Now taking one at a time, gently flatten each ball into a round patty of about 1/2-inch thick and place a portion of stuffing in the center and fold the edges together very finely so that mixture does not come out.
Now very gently flatten it into a 2-inch patty. Repeat the procedure for all pieces.
Heat 1 tsp. oil in a non-stick pan over a low heat. Slip in the patties, not too many at a time, and pan-fry on both sides till crisp golden brown, adding oil if required, on a very low heat.
Serve aloo tikki hot with chutney and stirred curd.
Note : Boil potatoes until fork-tender. Preferably, potatoes should be boiled well in advance before use. It would be better if they can be refrigerated for a short time.