Pan Roasted Garlic Potatoes

Wash the potatoes and cut them into 1″cubes. You can also use baby potatoes, I’ve used regular potatoes (skin on) is ok too. Finely mince onions and partially crush the garlic.

Dry coriander leaves are not a must, but I usually stock them for emergencies. They are quite easy to make but the only disadvantage is that they loose most of the flavour and aroma when dried. Considering the fact that I live little far from Indian store and rasam being a staple at my home, i do need these at times when I run out of fresh ones. So I stock them in dried form which when used gives the satisfaction of little coriander flavour and ample colour for my dishes. Here’s how you make it.

When you buy fresh coriander they will be usually bundled, throw off the band and let them sit spread over a newspaper or paper towel for 1 hour. We want them to loose all the water and sand. Wipe them clean and remove the leaves from the stalk. Discard the stalk, and spread the leaves over a clean paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds. Here again timing differs depending on your power setting. Remember.. too much heat will burn them and it will smoke. So slowly increase the timing by 10 seconds until it becomes dry but should still stay green. Then let them dry like that for another 15 minutes, store them in air-tight box and you are good to go….. I normally use them for rasam, fancy garnish for fried fish, mix with bread crumbs for coating cutlets, most of the Indian preparations when I run out of fresh leaves, like the one shown here…

Heat oil in  a pan/ kadai, splutter mustard, cumin seeds, split black gram and curry leaves. Sprinkle asafoetida and add the minced onions and garlic. Fry those for few minutes and followed by cubed potatoes. Bring the flame to low, cover and cook the potatoes for 5 minutes. When done, they must be cooked at least partially, add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder and salt. Bring the flame to medium and keep frying, sauteing and scraping them until the potato corners crust and masala browns. This could take from 15 to 20 minutes depending on the size of the potato cubes. Finally garnish with dry coriander leaves and serve hot with curd rice.