Chanda Aloo - Moon shaped potatoes

 

Chanda Aloo cannot be made in enough quantities at our home. Two people can finish what a dozen people might eat at a fancier meal where everyone is being a tad more formal. Such is the beauty and comforting deliciousness of this simple potato dish. It goes back to my grandmother’s family’s table in Kurwaar. A recipe that has been passed down generationally. It now has fans across the continents. Friends and family members have taken it with them.

Chanda Aloo 

Serves 4-6

You can add asafetida into the potatoes with the cumin if you want even more heft of flavor. Thought that said, as much as I love flavor, there is a certain beauty to the rustic simplicity of this dish. 

 

If you want to be totally crazy, fry garden herbs like rosemary, thyme, summer savory, sage and verbena in oil, then add some lardon bits, cook the lardon till crispy and golden, with a strainer remove them from the pan, reserve to cool on a plate. In the pan with herbs and fat, cook the potatoes minus the coriander, or even with if you want to cook for a surprising end, and follow recipe as is. These potatoes will make you the talk of your family and community. 

 

8-10 medium sized potatoes

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 medium onions

Salt to taste

2 teaspoons coriander powder

2 teaspoons Deghi mirchi

Coriander leaves for garnish

Peel potatoes. Slice crosswise into thin round discs and put into a bowl of water.

Slice one onion into fine dice and other into thin half-moon slices.

Heat oil in a large wok and fry cumin seeds until golden brown.

Add onions into the wok and fry for a couple of minutes till they are slightly limp.

Add the rinsed potatoes into the wok.

Add salt, coriander powder and the chili powder.

Mix ingredient in the pan. 

Cover pan and let cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. 

Uncover and stir gently. Let cook for another 10 minutes. Stir potatoes. 

Cook the potatoes uncovered for 10 minutes to add color to the. Stir a couple of times, and most carefully. 

Taste for salt and serve.