Apple And Potato In Spicy Tangy Curry

Apple and Potato in spicy tangy curry cooked in traditional kashmiri
style.

Significance of the recipe : Presenting the fruit in a variant form
without losing its goodness. The practical aspect is that in a season when
apples are available in plenty, one might be bored to have the cut fruit
or apples in breakfast, hence the Seb aur Aloo ki sabzi makes for a quick
and interesting preparation to serve to the family or guests over a meal
with rice or roti. This makes for a complete meal and no need to have
another major dish along. The characteristically sweet and sour taste in a
mild spicy preparation makes it mouthwatering and a puzzle to solve for
the uninitiated who dont know what it is! Yes, you can play this guessing
game with your guests. I have done that and nobody could guess even after
relishing it!


Benefits :
Made in very little cooking oil. Low fat recipe.
No precooking, marination required.
Retains nutrition as the dish is not overcooked (no pressure required).
Condiments and herbs like zeera, heeng, badi elaichi, saunf ,cloves and
dry ginger powder are traditionally used in the Kashmiri cuisine and all
of these have health benefits and medicinal value.


Cooking Time (approx.) 30 mins.

Servings (approx.) : Serves 2. (2-3 large sized apples and 2 potato)
{Increase proportionately}

3 medium sized or 2 large apples ( Golden Delicious variety if you prefer
a bit sweet taste, American or green apples for a more sour taste.
2 potatoes
3 Sliced Green chillies
1 tablespoon Cumin powder ( zeera)
2 Whole cardamom - powdered ( badi elaichi)
3 Cloves - powdered or whole ( laung)
1 tablespoon Asafoetida ( heeng powder)
1 tablespoon Ground cinnamon powder
3 tablespoon red chilli powder (mirchi)
1 tablespoon turmeric powder ( haldi)
1/2 tablespoondry ginger powder ( sund powder)
1/2 tablespoon fennel powder ( saunf powder)
Cooking oil ( refined sunflower + soyabean blended oil preferably
Salt as per taste
Half teaspoon garam masala ( mixture of the above condiments readily
available)
Finely chopped coriander and mint leaves and chunk of dry whole red
chilies to garnish

Note: No pressure required. Dish can be prepared in one utensil, i.e. a
pressure cooker vessel or a kadhai itself.


Cut the potatoes into medium sized slices. Cut the apples into medium
sized chunks. Heat one table spoon cooking oil for 2 minutes in kadhai/pan
or a cooker. Add Asafoetida (heeng) powder to the oil and stir. Add the
potato slices into it and saute for 5 minutes. Add the apple pieces now
and stir using a wooden spatula so as to not break the pieces. Add the
clove, cumin powder and badi elaichi (cardamom) powder and stir. Now in go
the sliced green chilies so that they are sauteed and not remain raw. Mix
all these well and after 3 minutes add the turmeric powder. Then add
chilly powder and give the whole thing a good mix carefully. By now the
apples and potatoes would have tendered a bit, add at least 2 cups of
water to make a homogenous mixture. Add the dry ginger and saunf (fennel)
powder now. Add salt suitably. One teaspoonful will do. Cover the
vessel/pan with a lid and let it simmer for at least 10 minutes in the
steam on low flame. Give a stir in between and add some more water if it
is dry or you would like more gravy. The bits of apple make a very good
curry. Try to break the potato with the spatula; if it is tender and the
spices have been absorbed, it is time to add a hint of garam masala. Cover
the lid and allow to stand on medium flame for 1 minute. After this
garnish with finely chopped coriander and mint leaves. You can add chunks
of dry whole red chilies pre-sauteed in oil. That's it, the seb aloo ki
sabzi ( Apple potato dish) is done. Serve it with plain white basmati
(whole grain) rice or fulkas (roti/bread) along with fresh
chilly-coriander-onion chutney if you like and some fresh dahi ( plain
yoghurt) and you need nothing more! So prepare it and see how
you can innovate further with the simple looking apple.

Tip: You can just replace the potatoes in this recipe with shallow fried
brinjals, and the rest of the procedure is the same. That makes for an
exotic combination as well and further reduces the carbohydrate content
for the calorie conscious!


The microwave option :
If you want to reduce the preparation time further and have ran out on
cooking gas, this is a wonderful option.

Tip: The only thing is do NOT add heeng (Asafoetida) powder to any dish
when cooking in a microwave as heeng has to be added to hot oil to release
the actual taste. In a microwave, the heeng can spoil your dish!

Make smaller chunks of potato and apples. Mix everything well in a
microwave-safe bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of oil. ( You can use olive oil as
well) Add salt. Microwave for 15 minutes. Mix the ingredients again and
add more water if required. Add garam masala and microwave again for a
minute. Garnish in the same way with finely chopped coriander and mint
leaves and serve steaming hot!



--
Rec.food.recipes is moderated by Patricia D. Hill at .
Only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting.
Please allow several days for your submission to appear.
Archives: http://www.cdkitchen.com/rfr/ http://recipes.alastra.com/