Sweet and tangy potato curry

This is my favorite go to dish when I need something really quickly on the table for dinner and I am feeling too lazy to make something more elaborate. It is also a fantastic back up dish when your original plan of a more ambitious menu gets burned in the pot, because you are too busy singing along with Pandora when you should be stirring diligently.

If any publisher wants a memoir of home cooks chronicling their disasters in the kitchen, they should absolutely give me a call first.

Burnt garlic? Check.

Blackened mung daal while roasting ? Check.

Added too much salt? Check.

Burnt caramel? Oh, yes!

Curdled sauce? Check.

Sigh. I could go on and on.

Which is why it is so important to have a dish like this in my arsenal that is absolutely foolproof and comes together in minutes!

Sweet and tangy potato curry

This dish made me break my golden rule of not repeating the same dish for dinner for  at least three whole months.

It was just that good.

One bite of these succulent potato cubes smothered in a  sweet and sour sauce and you’ll know exactly what I mean!

Here is the recipe –

Sweet and tangy potato curry

Serves 2 -3

Ingredients

3 tbsp granulated sugar

1 red onion, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger paste

4 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 lb/450 gms), peeled and diced into 1″ cubes

4 scallions, finely chopped

1 tsp red chili pepper powder

1 tbsp chaat masala powder (available at any Indian/Asian grocery store)

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup water

juice of 1 lemon

1 bunch cilantro, chopped (leaves and young stems)

Vegetable oil

 

Method

1) On medium heat, add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil to a pot. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar caramelizes and turns pale brown.

2) Add the onion, garlic and ginger and carefully stir making sure that the garlic does not burn. Saute until the onions are soft and translucent.

3) Add the potatoes, scallions, red chili pepper powder, chaat masala powder, salt, black pepper and saute for a couple of minutes.

4) Add the cup of water, bring the mixture to a boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are completely cooked through, but not falling apart. Check a couple of times to make sure that there is enough water in the pot to boil the potatoes.

5) Add the lemon juice, chopped cilantro and  mix thoroughly. Devour immediately with your favorite Indian flat bread. Enjoy!

Sweet and tangy potato curry