20 November, 2007

Gingerly Cooking... From Cookery Show: Ginger-Potato Curry

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Ginger-Potato Curry

The symptoms were there but it was not known to me or to my family for quite many months until last week. Like many people I had been unknowingly affected by cooking shows and it was too obvious not to see what I was doing. The first sign of it showed on one weekend morning when I realised I was talking to myself. I had been making our favourite breakfast Upma. “First we chop these ‘lovely’ onions very finely. Don’t we all love the aroma of onions frying in oil”, I whispered. “Next chop these hot green chillies and these ‘gorgeous’ plump red tomatoes. Make sure that you have sharp knife so that tomatoes are chopped into nice small chunks without much difficulty”, I said flashing all 31 teeth to my virtual audience who were watching my actions keenly. “Pick few coriander leaves and chop them very finely…. Mmmm… I love the fresh smell of these coriander leaves and always end up adding more”, I winked at my fans. “You know what the trick behind good Upma is? It is to roast the semolina in low flame till it turns golden brown and to add water little by little when cooking”, said to my all impressed audience.

Yes, I have had fallen a victim of “food porn” in capital letters. Fallen prey for all those flashy cookware and utensils, the way food is cooked and presented, the charming chefs (Jamie Oliver is the one;). It shouldn’t be a big shock for a person who is a foodie and has her own food blog going on full swing. It shouldn’t be a big shock to her husband who is getting used to the sight of his wife clicking pictures of each and every thing which comes under the category food or anything edible. But talking to myself in kitchen pretending to be a celebrity chef on TV is little too much for my own sake. But hey, it was kind of fun while it lasted ;)

With too many cooking shows in too many channels hosted by too many chefs and too many food blogs I some time wonder at this new craze of cooking. You flip the channels and you will find Gordon Ramsey's explosive attitude showering F-words at would-be chefs in one channel, Nigella Lawson whipping delicious (???) food in minutes in other channel. Other channel has its viewers glued to their screen with all sorts of so called celebrities from politics, movies, music backgrounds trying to win Master Chef fame in one show and next one has tight competition going on for the best dish prepared by Michelin-star chefs for Her Majesty, The Queen. I am not sure if the number of people and time spent in preparing food in their own kitchen has increased or is it just another TV show gimmick! But one thing is for sure, the attitude towards cooking has surely changed. In spite of working late in offices or workplace outside home, both men and women are spending much more time with their families in the kitchen cooking everyday meals. Few years before, it was just the lady of the house whom we would see slogging in her kitchen. With changing time, attitude and lifestyle, we can see many men cooking along with their spouse at home. (Well, at least this is the case in our home:)

Coming back to Cookery shows, Ginger-Potato Curry is adapted from the recipe demonstrated by Rakesh Sethi of Mirch Masala fame. With free-view channels with our TV package, I came across this show on Star Plus and watched Mr. Sethi cooking this dish which immediately caught my attention. This was the first time I came across a recipe which uses so much of deep fried ginger and using it as the main ingredient in a curry. With Sunita hosting this month’s Think Spice event where she asked us to cook with Ginger, I could hardly stop myself from giving it a go. I have made few changes to the recipe to suit my taste. Chef Rakesh used 1 cup of ginger julienne for 250 gms of baby potato which I thought will be too bitter and spicy for our palate. I added 1 tbsp cashew paste because I wanted little thick gravy than thin watery one. It was spicy, sour and sweet with tingling taste of fried ginger and sweet taste of baby potatoes and it tasted better the next day when potatoes nicely absorbed the flavours. Next time I might roughly mash potatoes for the flavours to blend well. So with all these changes here is my Ginger-Potato Curry.

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Ginger-Potato Curry

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Ginger-Potato Curry
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Serves: 3-4
Recipe Source: Rakesh Sethi of Mirch Masala
Ingredients:
10-12 Baby Potatoes, cooked and peeled
¼ cup Ginger juliennes (Original recipe called for 1 cup)
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
1-1½ tsp Chilli Powder (preferably Kashmiri Chilli Powder)
1 lime size Tamarind Pulp
½ tsp Methi/Fenugreek, lightly roasted and powdered
1-2 tsp Brown Sugar/Jaggary (adjust acc to taste)
2-3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp Cashew Paste (Optional)
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

For Tempering:
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
2 Dry Red Chillies, broken
Few Curry Leaves
¼ tsp Hing Asafoetida
½ tbsp Kasoori Methi
1 tbsp Oil
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Ginger Juliennes Before Frying

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Ginger Juliennes After Frying

Method:
Place tamarind pulp in ½ cup of hot water for around 10 minutes. Squeeze the pulp and collect the puree and discard the pulp.
Mix turmeric powder, red chilli powder, tamarind puree, salt to taste with ½ cup of water. This is the basic marinade for the potatoes. Prick cooked and peeled baby potatoes with fork and place then in the marinade. Mix them well and keep aside for around 15 minutes (Chef didn't marinade the potatoes and used it directly). After 15-20 minutes, separate the potatoes and the marinade.
Deep fry ginger juliennes in heated oil in a slow flame till they turn brown and crisp. Drain them on paper towel and keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add mustard, red chillies, hing and curry leaves.
When mustard starts to pop and splutter, add marinade mixture carefully and mix well. Bring this mixture to a boil at medium flame.
Now add fried ginger, kasuri methi, brown sugar/jaggery, cashew paste and mix well. Cook for further 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add baby potatoes and methi powder and cook over a low flame for 10-12 minutes till all the flavours blend well.
Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves with rice or roties.

59 comments:

  1. Amazing pics dear! and the curry looks sooo colorful..:)

    - Siri

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  2. :)) The cookery show was definitely amusing :D Looking at the pace you re going, am sure you will have a show of your own..all the best :) Btw, forgot to tell u that i enjoyed ur show a lot :)

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  3. Looks beautiful. Potatoes and ginger floating in a spicy and tangy sauce. No onions or tomatoes? Wow. I have to try it.

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  4. Curry looks delicious Sups! Actually reading through the post made me laugh out loud.. u do sound like the many TV chefs :-) Giving Rachel Ray a run for her money????

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  5. You know Sia I actually liked Sethi's recipes in India, rather than Sanjeev Kapoor. I always went wrong with SK but Sethi was precise. Good to see another of his recipes... maybe you should start a show of your own??!!! :-D

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  6. What an interesting and different curry Sia... I like ginger and potatoes so this sounds pretty good to me.. :)

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  7. wow Sia!! I loved the curry, but more than that I loved your shots of the Raw Ginger...great job!

    and don't worry, you are not the only chef at home who keeps blabbering like they are on TV..I keep practising that alwasy:) who knows someone might just call me someday to host a TV cookery show:D I am very optimistic, you know!:)

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  8. Sia, you not the first one to fall under Jamie Oliver's and Food Tv's spell, I would have given a million to watch you perform for your audience :) Ginger Potato looks and sounds wonderful I am sure tasted great too.

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  9. i agree. jamie is the one. i saw a sanjeev kapoor show on youtube recently where he has a skimpily dressed bimbo next to him as a prop. wonder why he needs her on the set. is a kitchen incomplete without a woman?

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  10. awesome..never thought of deep-frying ginger..the dish look lovely

    and sia..i'm sure there are many of us (incl me) who talks while cooking as tho she were filming a show..actually i would pretend to be a lecturer when i had to mug-up coprporate law at college ;)...and i love Ramsey and his 'F' bombs.. ha ha

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  11. Good looking curry:-)Too much ginger for me though:-(

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  12. oh lovely!!! My mom used to make something similar with baby potatoes... Yours look heavenly.Lovely pics as always. Thanx for the recipe.

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  13. wow Yummy! I used fried juliennes for my entry too..Cool entry sia

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  14. wow sia slurpppppppppppppppp :) sakathagi kantha iddu :) bayali neer batta iddu! looks excellent
    fried ginger have not thought of it ever. this will go on my try list dear!

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  15. Hey, i too keep talking to myself while cooking at times..the ginger snaps are amazing

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  16. The cutest EVER read! he he, i am chuckling :-D. I do that too sometimes, while making UPMA, that is ;). And no, thats not from cooking shows, i say my blog posts in my mind, he he :-D. And whats making me even more thrilled is that you were talking about upma-that totally made my day!

    To top it all, you have a curry that features ginger and potatoes-double dose of yumminess there :). Sups, tum sachi mein great ho :). Hey, and i love the placement of (???) after "delicious food"-from some of the cooking shows ;). You'll beat them hands down any day!

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  17. hhaa...so true on the cooking show!...and dish looks great..but I don't think I can ever try with so much ginger!..I somehow like garlic but never ginger!

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  18. Morning Sia!!
    what an amazing post, I was smiling throughout.That dish looks very different and very new as well.love those pictures!!
    I too watch cookery shows and u know i hate to watch Nigella, it doesn't look like cooking to me, I know i am harsh but i feel Jamie comes first and Antony Worral thompson next!! and hey you might see my recipe this saturday on his saturday show!!

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  19. Sia, which channel are u airing ur first show? Let me book my time first. Uppittu (concrete) isthu sakathagi varnisidira andre eega uppittu thinbeku antha anistha ide. Potato curry is looking awesome with fried ginger.

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  20. Am not too big a fan of ginger, but your curry sure looks amazing. I'd make it minus the whole lot of ginger. I loved your narration.

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  21. I am curry die-hard fanatic..i guess its one of my favorite dishes..red, yellow or green and love them really spicy..im literally drooling over your photos..they must bee sooooo soooo goooood! :-) great sice you have here

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  22. That was funny! I haven't watched much Nigella but was she the inspiration for this post?

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  23. Ok waiting for your show now :) Come on, at least do one at home and put it on You Tube

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  24. Its looks like Pulusu(stew) we make. I have never combined tamarind potatoes . I'm sure it tasted great.

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  25. wow. this is really lovely entry for the think spice event. the potatos have been peeled to look so smooth! lovely :)

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  26. Haahaa, that was one funny post suppi. I was glad to know there is someone else who is as crazy as me. I do that in kitchen as well and A has laughed about it a million times. hee hee. The pictures of the curry are gorgeous as always. I love the way those golden baby potatoes shine.

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  27. Nigella is one cook I trust(not necessarily like!) because she eats what she cooks. I NEVER trust a skinny cook!;D
    Gingery Aloo looks great, thin sauce I am not sure but might work with all the good spices!
    It's Wednesday btw, see you later or on Monday!:)
    Busy cooking for Thanksgiving.

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  28. 1 cup ginger! whoaaaa! that is one HOT curry ;) fried ginger, now that sounds yum, how did it taste btw? was ginger strong even after frying? looks yum.
    oh yeah! those shows keep playing in my mind all the time :) pretty relaxing, i wud say!!

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  29. Sia, the next time you're performing in your kitchen, make sure someone films you :)

    I *want* to see a video of this!

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  30. Fantastic idea! I ve never had fried ginger like this. You are such a creative one!

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  31. wowww!!! fantastic pics sia!!! sounds interesting fried ginger with baby potatoes curry !!

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  32. Me too:-)...I love doing that in the kitchen...especially when I'm not in the mood to cook...I find it uplifting, really....crazy eh? :-)...your post did make me smile today...and thanks for sending those gorgeous potatoes my way :-)

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  33. Hi Sups,

    Amazing recipe with deep fried ginger added to it...lovely presentation...

    As myhubby got 4days leave for thanksgiving...planning to visit my sister place which is just 4hours drive.

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  34. Really interesting idea. But does the ginger have to be deep fried? I hate deep frying. I so agree with you about these cookery shows. There are one too many...

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  35. Hi Sia,
    Looks amazing... Ginger flavour curry is perfect for Jeera rice. Thanks for sharing.

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  36. Looks absolutely delicious......

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  37. @siri,
    thank u:)

    @mishy,
    LOL... u enjoyed the show? oh, it was u in (virtual) audience waving at me then;) LOL...

    @kribha,
    no onions and garlic:) it tasted good with steamed rice. let me know kribha when u give it a try. and dont forget to adjust the ingredients acc to ur taste:)

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  38. @latha,
    LOL... i've never seen any rachel ray's shows. is she good? after seeing nigella cook, i have stopped watching these cookery show except for jamie oliver's. i simply adore him:)

    @ashwini,
    is it? i liked sanjeev kapoor's khana khazana. but these days it looks like he is doing lots of sugar-free product promotion than actually cooking. sethi is amazing. i usually follow any recipes precisly as i forget to write it down:) this time i managed to record his show and could watch it again before cooking. but again he used 1 cup of ginger for 250 gms of potatoes which would have surely knocked me down if i have had used:D

    @laavanya,
    thank u lav. if u like both ginger and potatoes then this is the one for u:)

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  39. @mansi,
    LOL... u crack me up girl. its good to be optimist;) and i am sure u will get to host a cookery show one day:)

    @ISG,
    would u really pay million to watch me cook on cookery show? then its a deal. where should i send my bank a/c number then? :) he he he...

    @bee,
    oh yes....naked chef... :D
    sanjeev kapoor is busy endorsing commercial products these days :)

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  40. @rajitha,
    pretend to be lecturer when studying business law??? LOL... i also used to do the same. and u like gordon's show han? his new season kitchen nightmare has started here:)

    @tbc,
    then imagine using 1 cup ginger as suggested by the chef;)

    @ramya,
    is it? get the recipe from ur mom and post it for us:)

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  41. @dhivya,
    i checked ur ginger recipe dhivya. it looks delicious:)

    @roopa,
    thanks roopa. anude first time try madta ippadu. it was delicious with a bowl of steamed white rice:)

    @easycraft,
    LOL... join the mad tea part then;)

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  42. @musie,
    i think of u and trupti when ever i make upma:) LOL... what food blogging has turned me into;) it is fun when i am all alone and cook. but sometime i do it even when i have few guest at home and belive it thats not a good thing;)
    LOL... she gave me heart attack when she combined chocolate syrup and onion in one of her dishes.... can u belive it??? talk abt express cooking. i would rather slog in my kitchen for good one hour than follow her recipe:D

    @srivalli,
    ah garlic... fried in oil...mmmmm.... i love it:)
    sri, chef used 1 cup of ginger and gave me heart attack;) u can reuce the quantity of ginger and make it. it tastes really good with steamed white rice. yummooo...

    @padmaja,
    morning darling:)
    i absolutely love jamie's show. he is down to earth and so much like any common cook:) u coming in saturday kitchen show??? how cool is that. i am surely gonna keep that in mind and watch the show:) i am so thrilled for u:)

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  43. @lakshmi,
    first indo has promised me to give million dollars to see me cooing in cookery show;) once she does that i'll let u know. he he he...
    LOL @concrete... he h ehe...

    @shella,
    u can try it with very little also shella. not every one likes ginger. but deep fried ginger is less spicy than the raw ones. do let me know if u try it:)

    @dhanggit,
    a warm welcome to my corner:)
    yellow, red and green curry? r u by any chance talking abt thai curries? if u like thai curries i have already posted red and green curries here.

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  44. @sra,
    nigella and inspiration??? i cant see them complimenting together;) less i talk abt it better... he he he...

    @sandeepa,
    oh no... i am gonna have my own glamourous(???) highly paid cookery show san. LOL...

    @shivapriya,
    pulusu han? do u use fried ginger and tamarind there?

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  45. @nags,
    thank u nags:) potatoes were peeled by hubby dear;)

    @seema,
    oh yeah, crack pot that i am;) who knows may be ven A does the same when u r not around. so keep a close eye on him;)

    @asha,
    less i talk abt nigella better;)
    thin sauce tastes really good with white rice, just like neeru saaru or ganji saaru we make.
    so all packed for long weekend? have fun ashakka:)

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  46. @richa,
    yeah, thats what even i thought when he used 1 cup of ginger. fried ginger still remains hot but comparitavely less hot than raw.

    @kaykat,
    LOL... i rather not;) he he he...

    @zlamushka,
    i can think of using fried ginger in salads and soups also. give it a try:)

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  47. @vanamala,
    thank u:)

    @sunita,
    oh yes... makes it more interesting when we r not in a mood to cook:)
    it was my pleasure to cook it for u suni:)

    @usha,
    thanks usha dear:) so 4 days of fun at ur sister's place? enjoy it dear and come back with new recipe for us:)

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  48. @mallika,
    i am not sure if we can bake it. but baking just 1/4 cup of ginger is waste of time and gas i feel;) it hardly absorbs oil when deep fried. so u can give it a try mallika. u can use fried ginger in salad dressing and soups also. tastes good and gives extra crunch and punch.

    MT,
    ah...jeera rice... yes, but tastes wonderful with plain white rice also:)

    @jayashree,
    thank u:)

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  49. hey Sia!!!
    You've gotta a mail!!!!!Please check it!!

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  50. The ginger potato curry looks delicious.
    Hi hi i too watch some of the shows you mentioned.
    SO youtoo fallen for the young charm of jaimie.Join the club :-)
    My hubby hates the fellow with a passion i think that is because hs wife has fallenn for young jaimie ha ha ha

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  51. Looks yummy, Sup! Just saw your comment about Jan/Feb being cold and wet. The plan is to stay for 4 days, 2 of which we have to spend in Manchester. Do send me your number, I'll call you for sure. It'd be great if we can meet up too.

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  52. lol, I can't stop laughing picturing you looking into the imaginary camera and talking to yourself in the kitchen... that is something I've never done, and I thought I was crazy ;)...but may be this will come true, you might be hosting your own show one day... That curry looks delicious! Ginger is a sure winner..

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  53. @happy cook,
    LOL... whats with these husbands, they dont like any kind of competetion isn't it? ;) i love jamie's cooking, nothing more or nothing less;) he he he...

    @vani,
    i have left u a messeage in ur blog vani:)

    @sig,
    LOL...who says u r not not crazy enough;) u r crazy in other ways...we all crazy bunch join together make our own party of crazy bloggers. oh!!! too much of craziness;)
    have wonderful time in spain darling:)

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  54. Superb pictures and great entry!!

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  55. I can definitely relate with the imaginary audience and watching cookery shows...
    Lovely pics of the ginger..curry looks yumm.

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  56. @raks, rachel, viji,
    thank u:) yes, they were quite spicy, just the way i like it:)

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  57. Hi Sia,

    I have nominated you for the best photography (Best Food Blogs Awards over at http://wellfed.net).

    Your pictures and ideas are simply divine, good job, girl!

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