If I could just get myself to an Indian restaurant… I could try something other than Aloo Gobi Mattar. But of course, this would lead to multiple Indian food cravings rather than just one specific dish. I think that’s something I can live with. For the time being, I’ll just keep trying to recreate the only Indian food dish I have tried… and continued to crave.
Aloo Gobi Mattar
Adapted from Veggie Belly
2 cups cauliflower florets, gently broken into bite-sized pieces
2 white potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks, not peeled (medium size)
3 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped ginger or minced ginger
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cardamon pods (didn’t have, unfortunately)
1/4 cup finely chopped tomato + 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, mixed
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri Chili Powder or red chili powder (didn’t have)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Frozen peas, about a handful or 1/2 cup
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoon 0% Greek yogurt or regular yogurt
2 tsp Dried fenugreek leaves / Kasuri Methi (Optional)
In a sauce pan, add 2 cups of water, 1/2 tsp salt. Bring it to boil. Turn off and add the cauliflower florets, let stand 2 minutes to blanch the cauliflower. Remove. Add cut potatoes to same cooking water, cook until fork-tender.
In a wok/kadai, add oil and heat on medium heat. Add cumin seeds and listen for the sizzle. After a minute or two, when you see the seeds turning brown, add cardamom, chopped ginger, and onion. Sauté until onion is translucent, 2-3 minutes.
Add the tomato/salt mixture and sauté 3 minutes. Add turmeric, chili, kashmiri chili powder, and continue to sauté. If necessary add 2-4 teaspoons of water to keep it from sticking.
Add the ground cumin & ground coriander and sauté. Add a handful of frozen peas. Add two tiny dollops (2 teaspoons) of yogurt, and the pre-cooked potato and cauliflower. Mix well–be sure to get all of the sautéed bits from the bottom of the pan to cover the cauliflower and potatoes.
Add garam masala, mix, and close the lid on the wok and let it simmer (There wasn’t much to simmer for mine, so it just kind of cooked a little longer) to marry the flavors. Stir to avoid stickage, unless using a non-stick wok (like I did).
If there is any liquid, open the lid and let it evaporate. Let cool but serve hot, topped with fenugreek leaves (didn’t have).
A note about the formatting of the ingredients: These ingredients can be combined beforehand in small bowls to make use of mise-en-place, which you’ll find quite useful in this recipe because of the multitude of spices. So ingredients that are bolded in a row can be in one bowl; underlined => different bowl; italicized => different bowl. Little glass bowls are perfect for this. I am usually too lazy to do mise-en-place, but it’s a definite for this recipe.
So this was quite yummy! Having non-burnt garam masala made a difference I think, as did fresher ginger and such. But while my first attempt at this dish came out too brothy, this one was hardly brothy at all–in fact, it was rather dry. I was hoping for more of a thick stew sort of thing, that could drench rice; a sauce that could be cleaned off the plate with some naan. Still doesn’t live up to the one I had but it was fun to make, and better than my first attempt. It was deliciously spicy (in the flavor way, not in the heat heat heat way).
I like that this dish is mainly vegetables but is still so filling. I’m glad this one included tomatoes to add more umami/savory flavor. I added peas for a pop of color (was not in the original) and some sweetness to go with all of the savory spices.
I made garlic bread to go with this (talk about cuisine-crossover) and it was pretty good, although naan would have been better. Some rice would have been good as well. I had a small side of plain yogurt with mine, too, to dip! Next project… homemade naan? Homemade whole wheat naan? Hmm… if I only had the patience to wait for the dough to rise…
What will I cook today? 