Vegan Garlicky Potato Curry (Lasanya Bateta nu shak)
Today’s Garlicky curry is one that my FIL often used to make when we had too many boiled potatoes left over in our restaurant. Another favourite use of boiled potatoes is to use them for making bateta vada (spicy coated potato balls) or spicy bombs which are spicy stuffed bhjias. This curry is easy to make and lots of the ingredients can be changed to make it to suit your taste.
1tblsready made sambhar mix I used the Gits brand. You can also use rasam mix)
2tblsraisins
1tblssalt
2tspturmeric
extra chili powder if required
handfulchopped Fresh coriander
5-6cherry tomatoes
½ cupcup passata
1tblslemon juice
1tspSplenda ( you can also use sugar or jaggery)
Instructions
Boil the potatoes in their skin and once cooked, remove the skin. (Don’t use salad potatoes as they don’t soften so well) . Also slit the onions halfway to enable them to cook well. I didn’t spread the garlic chutney to the onions as onions have their own flavour.
Slit the potato half way to enable you to spread the garlic chutney between the potatoes. Try not to cut the potato in two. If it happens – it’s fine too.
Grind the roasted peanuts and fennel seeds. If you don’t have roasted peanuts, just use raw peanuts but cook them in the microwave for a minute at a time until they look roasted. Usually two minutes is fine but cook them in small bursts as they can burn easily, and this would ruin the taste of your curry. Once ground set it aside. Add most of the sesame seeds to this mixture but save a few for garnishing. Also add the sambhar mix to the ground peanuts. This mixture can be used for a lot of curries such as Okra and karela.
Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds and the dry chilies. Once the cumin seeds brown, add the asafoetida (hing) and add the filled potatoes and onions. Stir these gently so that the oil covers all the potatoes and onions. Add the salt and turmeric to the mixture and chili powder if you like very hot food.
Sprinkle half of the peanut and sesame see mixture on to the potatoes and mix. Add the raisins too.
Add one cup of boiling water to the curry and allow it to cook on a low flame for 5 minutes. The sauce may start to thicken. At this stage, you can decide how runny you want your gravy to be. You can add more water if you like or add another tablespoon of the ground peanut mix if you want to thicken your curry more. Cooking is all about experimenting with spices and tastes to your own preference.
Add the passata and the tomato puree and mix well.
Finally add the Splenda (sugar or jaggery) to the curry.
Garnish it with coriander, cherry tomatoes and a few sesame seeds and serve it hot with chappatis.
Notes
Any leftover peanut mixture can be saved to add to another curry.