© Ashy Macbean 2004.
Spicy potato gravy
This is a quick, simple and cheap recipe with few ingredients, but the result is surprisingly tasty and satisfyingly filling. I first encountered potato gravy on a train station platform somewhere in South India. I can't remember exactly where, but it was late at night and I was very hungry. There are usually vendors walking up and down the train selling chats, popcorn and other snacks but on this route there weren't any. We pulled into a small station and I went looking for food. The first stall I came across was a puri stall. The guy had prepared all the puris in anticipation of the train's arrival and was just dropping the fresh puris into a huge iron pot of hot oil. A pot of potato gravy was bubbling away on a gas ring. I placed my order and went off to get some chai. When I returned, there was a big queue in front of the puri man's stall but he had laid aside a leaf-plate of puris with gravy especially for me.
I've since found the same meal on several other occasions, usually when I've been travelling by train. I've made the gravy at home a few times and the first time I also made puris. There's a link to a puri recipe at the bottom of the page if you want to try it. Potato gravy also goes well with other kinds of bread and rice.
Ingredients
500g potatoes
Half a tsp. each of turmeric, chilli and ginger powder
A pinch of anise seeds
1 tsp. black mustard seeds
Salt
Oil
Peel and chop the potatoes into 1-2 cm pieces. Heat some oil
in a frying pan and when it's hot add the mustard and anise seeds. Fry for a
few seconds then add the potatoes and powdered spice. Fry for a minute or two
more then add water and salt. Cover the pan and simmer until the potatoes begin
to break up.