Saturday, 25 February 2006
aloo methi
click on image to see larger version
Reading Mangoes and Curry Leaves by Jeffery Alford and Naomi Duguid is doing wonderful things for our table!! Not to mention getting reinforcement from Barbara Fisher (Tigers and Strawberries
), who recently posted about making aloo methi (potatoes and fenugreek leaves).
We had just recently used methi in one of my favourite dishes: dhansak. T was not as thrilled about the dhansak as I was but he did say he loved methi. So when I mentioned that Barbara had made aloo methi, his eyes lit up and he said he’d make it for me.
Methi is quite pretty – small oval shaped darkish green leaves. Alas, we didn’t take a photo of the methi before we cooked it. edit 28 February 2006 09:46 EST: While in the process of putting together a post about dhansak, I saw that T took a photo of methi. Barbara did as well and you can see what fenugreek leaves look like on her post about aloo methi. You can also see her recipe for aloo methi there.
But I suspect that there are probably as many recipes for aloo methi as there are kitchens that prepare it. Here is what T did:
Alu Methi (Potato and Fenugreek Leaves) Curry
Ingredients
- ¼ c vegetable oil (canola, safflower, sunflower,…)
- ¼ tsp cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp brown mustard seeds
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- pinch of fenugreek powder (powdered fenugreek seeds)
- 1 medium onion
- ½ inch fresh ginger, peeled
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1 bunch fresh methi
- salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Clean methi well and discard the thick tough stems.
- Coarsely chop onion, ginger and garlic.
- In a separate pile, coarsely chop fresh methi.
- Slice the potatoes to about ¼ inch thick.
- Place wok on medium high and heat the oil until just about smoking.
- Add the cumin and mustard seeds and wait 5 or 10 seconds until they begin to pop.
- Add turmeric and fenugreek powders followed immediately by the onion, ginger and garlic. Fry for a few minutes until the edges begin to color.
- Add the potatoes and stirring occasionally, cook covered until they are almost done.
- Add the fresh methi and cook uncovered, stirring from time to time, until tender.
Serve with steamed rice or Indian bread.
We had our aloo methi with steamed rice and a spectacular Bengali style fish curry, which I will post about soon. But in the meantime, go quickly (do not pass go; do not collect $200) to your Indian market and buy a bunch of methi so you too can have aloo methi. It’s fabulous.
Incidentally, we were buying the sooji to use in place of semolina flour when we make fresh pasta. As far as we can tell, it’s the same thing. The only difference is the price. For some bizarre reason, “sooji” from the Indian grocery store is far less expensive than “semolina flour” from an Italian grocery store.
