Aloo Pyaz ki Subzi (Potato and Onion curry)

This Rajasthani delicacy is quite time consuming to make an exceptionally heavy on the tummy. But tastes divine with hot rotis. I'm not going with the original version but using my edited version that is simpler to make.

You need:

1. Potatoes - 2 large
2. Onions - 6-7 small onions and 2 medium onions
3. Tomatoes - 3-4
4. Garlic - 10-15 cloves (you can use less if you want less garlicky flavor)
5. Ginger - 1" piece
6. Green chillies - 1
7. Curd - 1 cup (preferably sour)
8. Black Cardamom (badi ilaichi) - 1
9. Cinnamon (Dalchini) - 1 stick
10. Peppercorns (kali mirch) - 2-3 corns
11. Cloves (laung) - 2-3
12. Salt - to taste
13. Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
14. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
15. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
16. Garam masala - 2 tsp
17. cumin seeds - 1 tsp
18. Asafoetida (hing) - 1 pinch
19. Oil to fry
20. Fresh coriander to garnish

How to:

1. Remove the peel of small onions and make a slit lengthwise
2. Peel potatoes and chop lengthwise in to thick slices (like french fries)
3. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the small onions and potatoes. Keep aside
4. Make fine paste of the medium onions, tomatoes, green chillies, garlic, and ginger in a mixer.
5. Heat 6 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add asafoetida and cumin seeds and temper
6. Add the tomato-onion paste. Cover and cook well for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and add water if needed
7. Tie the cardamom, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns and cloves in a muslin cloth and add to the pan
8. Mix the remaining spices in the curd. Add this to the pan and mix well.
9. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes till the oil leaves sides. Stir occasionally and add water when needed.
10. Remove the muslin cloth of spices.
11. Add the fried potatoes and onions and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
12. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot with rotis.

Bajre ka Khichda and Matar ki Subzi - 1

This is a traditional rajasthani dish.. meant for cold weather. It's your typical comfort food that makes you feel nice and warm all over. You can the salty version with peas or the sweet version with Bura (powdered sugar). The ingredient that gives it the taste is ghee (Clarified butter).

I'll split this post in 2 parts. One deals with the Khichda (that's a kind of porridge) made from Bajra (Pearl Millet) and the other with a peas preparation that you eat the khichda with.

So part 1. For the Khichda:
You need:
Pounded Bajra - 2 cups
Water - 6 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 1 cup

How to:
In a large cooker add the pounded bajra, water and salt. Close the cooker and give 5 whistles on high flame. Let the cooker cool. Open and put it back on medium flame. Add milk. Keep cooking for another 15 minutes stirring occasionally to avoid the khichda sticking on the bottom of the cooker. Add more water if needed. The consistency should be semi-liquid. Cook till the millet is soft to eat. Add the ghee and beat it into the khichda. Serve hot with matar ki subzi, green, chutney, and pickle.

Shortly coming up - post 2 with the matar ki subzi.