Pahadi Achari Aloo

Pahadi Achari Aloo aka baby potatoes cooked in pickling spices and yoghurt sauce is a very simple, aromatic and delicious curry originated in the hills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal (North India)!

The first time I had this dish was 15 years ago at my friends wedding and I love that pungent, creamy curry, it tasted absolutely delicious with the methi paratha and rice and the  till today the taste still lingers in my mind. After I had this dish, I tried searching the recipe but I couldn’t find it anywhere so I came up with my version with the flavours I could recall and since then this is one of my favourite dishes to cook for parties.  I make this curry with thick greek or hung yoghurt, cream to give that richness, so please don’t count the memories.. 😉

Even though there are a lot of ingredients in this recipe but trust me, it’s a very simple preparation. Do give it a try!

Ingredients:

• 10 parboiled baby potatoes
• 1 big red onion thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes pureed
• ½ cup greek yoghurt or hung yoghurt
• 1 tbsp ea ginger and garlic paste
• 1  tsp cumin seeds and coriander seeds
• ½  tsp nigella seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds
• 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
• 1 bay leaf, a few red chillies
• ¼ tsp asafoetida
• 2 tsp pr to taste red chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder and dry mango powder
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1  tbsp mustard oil
• 2 tsp ghee
• Fresh coriander for garnishing
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp mango or chilli pickle (homemade)
• 2 tbsp fresh cream

Directions:

Dry roast coriander, cumin, fennel, nigella, fenugreek and mustard seeds, using a pestle mortar make a coarse powder.

Heat ghee and sauté the boiled baby potatoes till they are golden brown in colour.

Heat mustard oil, add the bay leaf, asafoetida and red chilli. Sauté the onions till they are golden brown. Add in the ginger, garlic paste and yoghurt, sauté for 5 minutes. Add all the spice powders, salt and tomato puree, cook till the water evaporates and oil starts to float.

Add in the potatoes, water if the gravy is too thick and pickle. Give it a stir and cook for 10 minutes on a low flame till the potatoes are fully cooked.

In the end pour the cream, dried fenugreek leaves and drizzle some ghee.

Garnish with coriander and serve with paratha or rice.

Tip: I always use baby potatoes for this recipe, red baby potatoes work really well for the recipe. Before boiling the potatoes, I prick them with fork and parboil them in salt-turmeric water. Till they are just cooked, but has a crunch.