Winter comfort food saga continues...

Yet another winter comfort food - Aloo methi (potato with fenugreek leaves). Actually I love anything potatoes; be it winter or otherwise. So today's menu was Aloo methi and Tomato Dal.

Chapati with Aloo Methi and Tomato Dal

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Aloo Methi

4 potatoes parboiled and cubed

2 bunches of methi (fenugreek) leaves cleaned and chopped into small pieces

1 onion cubed

1 tomato cubed

6-8 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed

Salt, turmeric pd, garam masala (Indian all spice powder) and chilli pd to taste

Pinch of cumin seeds

1 dry red chilli

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, add the crushed garlic. When it releases the aroma (and before it starts turning brown) add the cumin seeds and dry red chilli broken into small pieces. Then add the onion and let them brown. Now add the tomatoes and the salt, turmeric and chilli pd. Saute till they are well incorporated and the tomatoes become mushy and start losing their shape. Add the methi leaves and 2-3 tblspns of water cover and cook till they are cooked. (I add a tblsp of tomato ketchup to make the methi leaves a little less bitter. You could skip this.) Now add the potatoes and half a cup of water and cover and cook till everything comes together and the potatoes are coated with the onion, tomato and methi mixture. Sprinkle some garam masala pd and cook for a minute and remove and serve.

Tomato Dal 

1 tomato chopped

1 cup of tuvar dal

5-6 cloves of garlic crushed

2 dry red chillies broken to pieces

1 green chilli slit halfway

A handful of curry leaves

Salt to taste

Pinch of hing (asafoetida) pd

Pinch of mustard and cumin seeds

In a pressure cooker add the washed dal and the tomatoes and cook till the dal is mushy. In a separate pan heat 1 tsp of oil and add the mustard seeds. When they crackle add the cumin and crushed garlic. As soon as the garlic becomes aromatic quickly add the curry leaves, hing and dry red chilli and the green chilli. Saute for a second and pour this mixture onto the cooked dal and cover and keep. This is to seal the flavors inside the dal. It is ready to eat! (I take the large pieces of tomatoes from the dal, a couple of the red chilli pieces, curry leaves and the green chilli and grind it to a paste and then mix this back into the dal. Hubby dearest is not too fond of big pieces of tomatoes :-))

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Tomorrow is a Sunday. The foodies that we are, on weekends we try food from new restaurants in town. Will definitely let you all know where and what we ate though!!

See you all tomorrow! Till then happy cooking, happy eating!!