Tag Archives: potato

Jacket Potatoes

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Jacket Potatoes

Jacket potatoes are my favorite weekend meal. I love to be a couch potato on Friday nights with my favorite comfort foods by my side. Jacket potato is one of them. I was introduced to jacket potatoes in Cardiff. One of my friends used to have it as a quick meal. Just bake the potato, slit it into half and add corn and cheese and bake for some more time and done! Sounds good but not exciting and being a south Indian I wanted to add spice to this. Since then I have added numerous fillings to this dish but the most favorite of my fillings is the sweetcorn and capsicum filling.

Russet potatoes are perfect for this dish. They already have a mushy texture and this time I added grated paneer to the filling and it just added to the texture.

I like to top this dish with cheddar cheese but you can experiment with mozzarella or other similar cheese. I experiment a lot with jacket potatoes. Sometimes I lace the potatoes with chilli sauce before adding the fillings. Sometimes I top the potatoes with sour cream. You can even add different herbs to flavor the potatoes.

These jacket potatoes can be enjoyed with tomato sauce or any cream-based dips. I like them with the yogurt and mint dip.

Jacket Potatoes

Ingredients

Makes 8 jacket potatoes

  • 4 large russet potatoes, half boiled with salt
  • ¼ cup sweet corn, boiled
  • ¼ red bell pepper, ¼ green bell pepper, ¼ yellow bell pepper finely chopped
  • 2tbsp grated cottage cheese (paneer)
  • ¼ tsp oregano
  • ¼ tsp chilli flakes
  • ¼ tsp white pepper powder
  • 2 pods garlic
  • 1/4th onion finely chopped
  • 4-5 fresh basil leaves chopped or ¼tsp dried basil
  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • Salt to taste

Recipe

Halve each half boiled potato vertically. Slice off a thin round from bottom, so each piece will stand firm. Scoop the potatoes leaving thin wall on sides. Chop the scooped potato and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic, oregano, and chilli flakes. Add onions and sauté for a minute or till the onions are translucent. Add capsicum and sauté for 1-2 mins. Add corn and saute for one minute. Add paneer, salt, pepper powder, basil leaves, and salt. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the scooped potatoes and mix well till the potatoes are mashed.

Cool the mixture a little. Fill the mixture in the potatoes and top them with grated cheese.

Preheat the oven and bake the potatoes at 200 degrees for 15 minutes or till the cheese on top is slightly browned.

Aalu Matar (Potatoes and Peas Curry)

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Aalu Matar (Potatoes and Peas Curry)

Potato is the most versatile of vegetables. It is a staple diet of most of the middle class vegetarians.  You can combine it with any vegetable. This was the most common curry in our lunch box. There was a time when I hated aalu ki sabji. My mom makes at least 8-10 varieties of aalu sabji. Aalu fry, jeera aalu, aalu matar, aalu tamatar, aalu beans, dahi vale aalu and the list goes on. I finally made friends with potato when I went to Cardiff for studies. There were 4-5 variety of potatoes available and I started experimenting with this vegetable.

The food marathon that I went on after my wedding had this aalu matar following me at every house and I again started running from aalu ki sabji. Finally, when I am out of India again Aalu matar has become my friend again.

Aalu Matar (Potatoes and Peas Curry)

Ingredients

  • 2 potatoes peeled and cubed (Russet potatoes are good for this curry)
  • ½ cup fresh/frozen peas
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • ¼ tsp asafoetida
  • 6-8 curry leaves
  • 2 inch piece of ginger grated
  • 2 green chillies finely chopped
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 1 tomato finely chopped
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tbsp coriander powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander
  • 1 1/2 cups water

Recipe

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add cumin and mustard seeds. Once the seeds pop add asafoetida, curry leaves, ginger, and green chillies. Sauté for 30-40 seconds. Add chopped onions and cook for 1 min or till the onions are translucent.

Add tomatoes and salt and cook for 1-2 two minutes on a slow flame. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder. Mix well and cook for 1 minute. Tomatoes should reduce to pulp by now and leave oil. Add peas and potatoes. Add 1 1/2 cups water and close the lid and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

Once the pressure is released open the cooker and check the curry for seasoning and adjust salt or spice accordingly. Add chopped coriander and mix.

Serve with hot puri, roti, or jeera rice.