15 minute Rasaaloo also known in some north Indian states as Taariwale Aloo is perhaps the sole potato-only dishes that goes well with rice, especially white rice. Potatoes in India are often cooked in combination with some meat or other vegetable.

This recipe has a rather soupy gravy

This is another of Dhiraj Srivastav’s 15-minute office lunches and as yummy as it comes.

INGREDIENTS:

250gms Potatoes;

2 Onions (peeled and finely chopped);

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander leaves;

1 tablespoon Ginger-garlic Paste (made from 6 to 8 garlic cloves and ½ inch piece of peeled ginger);

1 large Tomato chopped;

1 tablespoon Cumin seed (Jeera);

10 to 12 Fenugreek seeds (Methi);

1 tablespoon Chili powder;

½ tablespoon Turmeric powder;

1 table spoon Garam masala powder;

1 tablespoon Coriander powder;

Salt to taste;

1 tablespoon ghee or oil (Cooking medium of your choice).

The taste of the dish will change with the cooking medium. Ghee best, failing which peanut oil highly recommended.

METHOD:

Boil the potatoes whole and unpeeled;

Peel and roughly mash with your fingers when done;

You will get unequal and odd shaped pieces.

Heat the ghee/oil in a pot on a high flame but don’t let it smoke;

Add fenugreek seeds (Methi) and Cumin seeds (Jeera);

When the seeds splutter, add the chopped onions;

Fry till the onions begin to brown (takes about 4 or 5 minutes);

As the onions begin to brown, add the ginger-garlic paste;

Fry for about 30 seconds;

Add chopped tomatoes, Chili powder, Turmeric powder, Garam masala powder, Coriander powder and salt;

Lower the flame to medium and continue to fry the masala till it becomes a homogenous mixture;

Add the boiled potatoes;

Bring the flame down to low;

Continue to fry for a few seconds till the potatoes are coated with the fried masala;

Add 2 cups of water;

Cover and let cook for about 3 to 5 minutes;

Add chopped fresh coriander leaves;

Mix;

After 2 minutes turn off the heat.

Pack with white rice or poori or chapatti or any leavened /unleavened bread of your choice; goes well with all manner of bread except sweet breads like buns or brioche.

A quick and easy recipe for people in a hurry.

15-Minute-Cumin-Potatoes – Jeeraloo, are an office favourite at Dhiraj’s work-place. The recipe from start to finish takes 15 minutes or less and is very easy to make.

Dhiraj Srivastav resides in Mumbai away from his parents and other members of his joint-family. Over a period of time he has developed tasty Vegetarian recipes that take 15 minutes or less to cook. The girls in the office including yours truly, now await Dhiraj’s daily lunch box.

Today we had his specially made 15-Minute-Cumin-Potatoes — Jeeraloo (in Hindi) and 5-grain purees, soft, tasty yum purees to go with the potatoes.

The 15-Minute-Cumin-Potatoes – Jeeraloo is best with purees but taste delicious with any unleavened bread — Roti, Chapatti, Tortilla, Phulka, Dhebras.

INGREDIENTS:

250 gms. Potatoes (skinned, diced and then boiled);

2 tablespoons ghee or oil (Ghee preferred);

1” inch piece of Ginger root, peeled and cut fine;

1 teaspoon cumin seeds;

2 small onions, chopped;

2 small tomatoes, chopped with skin and seeds;

1/8^th teaspoon turmeric (just a little on the tip of a teaspoon);

½ teaspoon chili powder or to your taste;

1 teaspoon Dry Mango Powder (Amchur)

salt to taste.

Three sprigs of fresh coriander, (remove leaves and chop them).

Method:

Heat the ghee on a high flame taking care not to let it smoke;

Add the cumin seeds (Jeera),

When the seeds begin to splutter:

Add the green chilies and Ginger,

Fry for a second or two,

Add the chopped onions,

Fry till golden brown,

Add chop tomatoes, Turmeric and chili powders,

Fry for until the tomato softens, mash the mixture while frying,

Add dry mango powder (Amchur) and salt,

Stir for a second or two,

Lastly add the boiled and diced potatoes,

Stir till potatoes are well coated with the fried mixture,

Add fresh coriander,

Mix,

Cover and cook for about 2 ½ to 3 minutes; taking care that the potatoes do not stick to the bottom of the pan or burn,

Take off the heat.

The potatoes are ready to pack for your office lunch.

Dhebras in Gujarati literally mean ‘lumps or rough thick chunks’.

Dhebras are unleavened bread therefore, which are rolled thick; unlike the chapatti or roti and cooked on a griddle.

You have probably tried the Sweet Dhebras, which Dhebras are made purely of wheat, uni-grained bread. The Savoury Dhebras uses more than one grain and is quite different in its preparation, taste and use. The Savoury Dhebras can is eaten at any meal or as a snack. It makes excellent ‘travel food’; tasty, filling and long shelf-life.

Try it with the Ripe Mango Curry (Fajeto), or good old Buttermilk or any Lassi, tea or coffee or other beverage or cooked meat or vegetable. The Savoury Dhebras, Doesn’t do too well with Salads, but goes well with Soups especially soups with a stronger flavour like a Tomato soup or Mulligatawny.

For 6 Savoury Dhebras:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup gram flour (Channa ka Atta/ Chick pea Flour);

1 cup Pearl millet flour (Bajra ka Atta);

1 small bunch fresh coriander leaves, chopped fine;

6 green chilies, chopped fine;

2 cloves garlic;

1 inch piece ginger;

1 tbsp Sesame seeds (Til) OPTIONAL;

Salt and ground Black Pepper to taste

1 tablespoon ghee or oil or as needed (Ghee gives it a distinct and traditionally accepted flavour.).

METHOD:

Sieve together the Gram flour, Millet flour, and salt.

Peel and grind the ginger and garlic together into a smooth paste.

Now With water, knead the flour into soft fairly pliable dough.

Do not add Ghee to the dough

Add:  finely chopped fresh green coriander and Chilies, ginger-garlic paste, ground black pepper, Sesame (if using) and knead further.

Roll out into 6” roundels about 1/8^th of an inch / 0.3 cms/3 mm Thick.

Heat a griddle (preferably made of iron),

Brush ghee on both sides of the Savoury Dhebras,

Cook the Savoury Dhebras one at a time on the hot griddle on a medium flame,

Till the one side is brown,

Flip the Savoury Dhebras to cook on the other side equally brown,

Flip once again, and remove within 5 seconds.

Your Savoury Dhebras is ready to eat.

As a VARIATION and a more pungent version, one may replace the green chilies and the ginger-garlic paste with a paste of garlic, dry red chilies

pungent

and salt. In this case adjust the amount of salt added to the dough.

OR

For a more mellow taste, replace the green chillies with coarsely (very roughly) ground Cumin or Coriander Seeds or even whole Cumin or Coriander Seeds.

PARSI LIVER CUTLETS – KALEJI NA CUTLETS

Parsis liver cutlets are no longer part of the Parsi everyday meals and perhaps, many of the present generation have not even heard of the Parsi liver cutlets.

Thought I’d induce some life in these good old Parsi liver cutlets by putting out this recipe. Do try it on a Sunday afternoon; or gladden your Granny’s heart by serving her something from her childhood.

INGREDIENTS:

1 liver of young goat/ Sheep/beef/pork;

250 Gms ghee/ cooking medium of choice;

1 tablespoon grated onions;

1 level teaspoon black pepper powder;

1 level teaspoon red chili powder;

10 Gms salt;

20 Gms ginger;

5 cloves of garlic;

3 eggs;

2 bunch of coriander;

Bread crumbs /semolina.

METHOD:

1) Pluck the leaves of the coriander wash and cut fine;

Peel the ginger and garlic;

Grind the ginger and garlic together to a smooth paste.

2) Wash the liver put it in a pot and add a quarter liter of water and 5 gms salt/ or as per taste and boil till hard;

When done cut the liver into fine slices and put aside.

Further boil the liver slices in a cup of water;

Add salt as needed;

Boil till the liver slices becomes soft and all the water has been absorbed;

Remove from the Fire.

3) In the meantime,

Fry the two grated onions in 5 Gms ghee;

Add the ginger garlic paste;

Fry till onion mixture turns golden.

4) Cover both sides of each liver slice with the fried onion and ginger garlic, Chili and black pepper powder;

Take care not to break the slices. They are very soft and difficult to handle.

5) Use a spatula/tavatha to lift the herbed liver slices and place in a plate of breadcrumbs/semolina;

Cover the herbed liver slices on both sides with bread crumbs or semolina pressing in the bread crumbs/semolina and adding at each stage to make a nice thick cover.

Treat all cutlets similarly and place in a separate plate.

6) Beat the eggs lightly;

Add a tiny pinch of salt per egg while beating.

7) Now again lift the bread crusted liver cutlet with a spatula and dip each one in the lightly beaten egg, one at a time; one side at a time.

8) Shallow fry in very hot almost steaming ghee/oil;

Flip the cutlet once the underside is done;

Add more beaten egg if necessary;

Flip once again and then remove.

Take care not to break the cutlets when flipping, they tend to be rather soft until fried golden brown and the cover is crisp.

9) Both sides of the cutlets should be golden brown and not dark brown.

Serve hot with bread or chapattis and any sweet and sour salad

With the gadgets now available to us and grilling made easy, if you prefer, and if you have a grill, you may grill the liver instead of boiling it, then slice it and then boil the slices to make them soft. In any event the liver slices must be softened before coating with herbs, crusting and frying.

Bafela Eeda Ni Akuri is a breakfast dish but can be used for a quick small meal. An Akuri is usually made from raw eggs scrambled with various herbs and potatoes. Irani restaurants of Bombay (Mumbai) serve Akuri all day as a Mini-Meal— filling, healthy and very, very tasty.

Bafela Eeda Ni Akuri, on the other hand, is not found on any Menu — from the 5 Stars to the humble ‘Irani Hotel’ as the ubiquitous Irani restaurants are spoken of in Mumbai. While the Akuri is quintessentially a ‘Parsi Household Dish’, the Bafela Eeda Ni Akuri is not often seen in our homes.

I chanced upon this recipe amongst some written down by my mother’s family for an introduction to the ‘new daughter-in-law’ (Navi Vau) to the family favourites in the Parsi Cuisine.

The recipe seems to be recorded around the end of 1800s before my Grandmother was born in 1889. The weights and Measures noted in there are old and ni longer in use – Tola, Ratal and such – I have converted these to the nearest Metric Weights and Measures for ease in cooking the Bafela Eeda Ni Akuri.

There is an ingredient mentioned therein which says chutney or ‘VILAYATI SAUCE’. Since I know no one in the family or otherwise who is more than a 118 years old, I have to depend on a good guess to decipher what is the ‘VILAYATI SAUCE’. Most likely, it is the *Worcestershire Sauce or as now termed ‘Worcester Sauce’ (pronounced Wooster), I’d think, from its use in some Meat oriented Recipes or plain old **Tomato Ketchup, if it existed then.

Though both sauces existed at the time this recipe was recorded, I’d lay my bets on Worcester.

* Worcestershire Sauce or as now termed Worcester Sauce, a recipe thought up in 1830 by Lea and Perrins but not marketed as they did not approve of the taste. The Barrels of sauce were set aside and forgotten. Months later, the barrels were rediscovered. The sauce had, by now, matured and the taste mellowed to a full and rich one. The sauce was first marketed by Lea and Perrins in 1837.

However, Lea and Perrins were never able to claim intellectual property rights on the patent for the recipe or on the trademark ‘Worcestershire Sauce’ because of a High Court order in a litigation challenging its origin.

**TOMATO KETCHUP: A sauce of Chinese origin. The word ‘Ketchup’ first appeared in ‘Dictionary of the Canting Crew’ in 1690.

The English colonists were introduced to the ‘kicap’ or ‘kecap’ (pronounced ki- chap or ke -chap) as a fish sauce in the early 18th century in the Malay States (now, Malaysia and Singapore). Somewhere along the way from Malay to England, and then to America (through English settlers) the ‘Kecap’ became ‘Ketchup’.

The sauce was obviously very popular in the British Isles and by 1742, the recipe found its place in a London Cook Book with a distinctly British flavour (addition of shallots and mushrooms).

The popular Heinz Tomato Ketchup was marketed in 1876.

INGREDIENTS:

4 eggs;

250 grams onions;

250 Gms potatoes;

3 bunch of coriander;

3 green chillies (reduce the number of chillies if preferred less heat);

10 leaves of mint;

1 tablespoon ***chutney or schezwan sauce or your favourite flavouring;

IF making Bafela Eeda Ni Akuri in the MANGO SEASON, replace chutney/sauce with 2 finely cut raw green mangoes, absolutely delicious!

2 tbsp Ghee or butter or preferred cooking medium (original recipe specifies Ghee or butter not oil);

½ level teaspoon salt or as per your taste.

METHOD:

Boil the Eggs and let cool,

Cut each egg into 4 slices horizontally or as preferred;

Peel and dice the potatoes to 1/2 cm cubes;

Preserve the potatoes in a bowl of water till required;

Peel and grate the onions or dice to miniscule pieces;

Pluck the leaves off the coriander and cut the leaves fine (only leaves no stems however tender);

Cut fine the green chillies;

Cut fine mint leaves; Now,

Fry the Potato cubes and grated onions in a pan of hot Ghee,

Stirring constantly till golden;

Add coriander, mint, green chillies and Green Mangoes/chutney/ sauce and fry till a light brown,

Lay oiled eggs on top of the fried mixture,

Mix gently so as not to break/damage the egg slices.

Return the pan to the fire, cover and cook the egg and herb mix for 30 more seconds taking care not to let it burn at the bottom.

Garnish with coriander leaves and eat immediately with preferred bread or chapattis Best with Portuguese Pau.

***If you do not have favourite CHUTNEY, try this:

GRIND together to a smooth taste: 1 tbsp grated coconut, 1 tbsp coriander leaves, 2 green chillies, 1inch piece of dried tamarind, a pinch of dry mint powder or 4 fresh leaves, 1 centimeter  piece ginger (peeled) , 2 cloves garlic (peeled),  ¼  teaspoon cumin seeds, ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds, 1 pinch sugar , A Pinch of salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning.