Cubed Potatoes with Fresh Fenugreek
KHATE ALOO METHI
-Recipe from Yamuna mataji
This everyday vegetable is popular throughout North and Central India.
Earth-specked new potatoes –no bigger than marbles –and fresh fenugreek
greens are sold in vegetable bazaars from Amristar to Benares. New
potato skins rub away easily during washing, and what little remains is
paper thin and negligible. Fresh fenugreek greens vary from source to
source – and no matter what the leaf size, be sure to trim off thick
stems –they tend to toughen when cooked. The flavor from young leaves
is pleasingly bitter, something like the nippy heat from sprouted
mustard or cress, and are quite effortless to grow in a kitchen or
window sill herb garden. Fenugreek is usually available fresh at Indian
groceries and is always available dried though the packages usually
contain more stems than leaves. If you can’t get the fresh greens,
substitute spinach and add a pinch of powdered roasted fenugreek seeds
for flavor. For variations, try the dish using different oils –ghee,
mustard oil or peanut oil. All three are surprisingly different and
tasty.
Preparation time (after assembling ingredients): 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Serves: 5 or 6
1 ½ pounds (685 g) medium-sized waxy red
New potatoes or walnut-sized baby reds
5 table spoons (75 ml) mustard oil, peanut oil or ghee
1 teaspoon (5 ml) cumin seeds
1 teaspoon (5 ml) black mustard seeds
1 ½ cups (360 ml) chopped fenugreek greens or leaf spinach, (washed and trimmed)
¼ teaspoon (1 ml) paprika or cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon (2 ml) turmeric
1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
1 teaspoon (5 ml) garam masala
2 teaspoons (10 ml) lemon or lime juice
1.
Wash the potatoes and boil them in their skins until they are
just fork-tender. Do not overcook. Drain them and spread out to cool.
Peel and cut into ¾ -inch (2 cm) cubes.
2. Heat
the oil or ghee in a heavy 12-inch (30 cm) nonstick frying pan. Let
mustard oil reach the smoking point. Sauté the potatoes quickly until
they begin to brown, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3.
Add the cumin and mustard seeds to the hot oil and fry until the
mustard seeds turn gray and sputter. Stir in the fenugreek greens or
spinach, paprika or cayenne, turmeric and a sprinkle of water, cover
and reduce the heat to moderately low. Cook for 8- 10 minutes, then add
the potatoes, salt and garam masala. Shake the pan or gently toss to
mix, cover and cook until the potatoes are heated through. Sprinkle
with lemon or lime juice before serving