Call them Bombay potatoes. Or Bombay aloo. Either way it's one seriously delicious potato curry.
Prep Time20mins
Cook Time10mins
Total Time30mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 2
Calories: 395kcal
Author: romain | glebekitchen
Ingredients
Potatoes
6-7small waxy potatoes, peeled- around the size of golf balls
1/2tspturmeric
2tspsalt
Spice mix
1tspindian restaurant spice mix - recipe link below
1/2tspcumin powder
1/2tsp coriander powder
1/2tspkashmiri chili powder - or more to taste
1/2tspkasoor methi - dried fenugreek leaves
1/2tspkosher salt or 1/3 tsp table salt
Bombay potatoes
3tbspneutral vegetable oil
the cooked potatoes
3-4tbsponionsliced about 1/8 inch thick
1tspmustard seeds
2tspgarlic ginger paste - recipe link in notes
1/2tbsptomato pastediluted with 1 tbsp water
10ozcurry base - recipe link in notes
1/2tspamchoor powderor the juice of 1/6 lemon
1/2smalltomatocoarsely chopped
cilantroto taste
Instructions
Do your prep
Make the spice mix. Combine all the spice mix ingredients in a small bowl.
Dilute the tomato paste with the water.
Cook the potatoes. Combine the potatoes, turmeric and salt along with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Simmer until you can just push a fork into the potato without resistance. Be gentle. You don't want to break them up.
Have everything ready to go. Onions chopped. Garlic ginger paste standing by. Curry base pre-heated. Ingredients at hand. Be ready. It's going to go fast from here.
Make the Bombay potatoes
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium low heat .
Add the potatoes to the hot oil and fry until they just start to colour. This firms them up so they don't self destruct when you make the curry.
Remove the potatoes and set aside. Add the onions and cook over gentle heat until translucent. You are trying to keep them from browning. I know - anti-Indian cooking but this time that's what you want.
When the onions are translucent, raise the heat to medium. Add the mustard seed and cook around 20 seconds.
Add the garlic ginger paste. Cook until it stops sputtering, around a minute.
Turn down the heat and add the spice mix. This is the critical step. Stir it constantly for 30 seconds. If it starts to darken lift the pan off the heat. You want the spice mix to cook in the oil but not burn.
Turn the heat up to medium high. This is important. The heat is what caramelizes the onion in the curry base and gives the curry it's Indian restaurant flavour. As you become more comfortable with this technique try pushing it. Add the diluted tomato paste and stir until bubbles form (the oil will likely separate). This takes around 30 seconds to one minute depending on the heat.
Add 3 oz of curry base. Stir until bubbles form (little craters really), around 30 seconds. Think lively boil. Watch the edges of the pan. The curry can stick here. Sticking is OK. Just scrape it back into the base. Burning is bad.
Now add the remaining curry base and stir briefly. Let it cook until the bubbles form again. This takes 1-2 minutes.
Turn the heat down to low. Add the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are warmed through and the sauce thickens. This takes about 3 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and amchoor (or lemon if you aren't using amchoor). Stir to combine. Cook for another minute or two.
Garnish with a bit of chopped fresh cilantro and green chili if you like. Serve. Enjoy.
Notes
The recipe for curry base is here.The recipe for indian restaurant spice mix is here.The recipe for garlic ginger paste is here.If you haven't read about Indian restaurant technique yet, do that before you start cooking. It's a good read. Worthwhile.Have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go.If you are making multiple curries, have your curry base warming in a pot on the stove. If you are just making one, microwave it to warm it up right before you start cooking.