Breakfast Aloo

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! You know how sometimes when things aren't going your way, or when you're worried about something, you're anxious all the time, and just can't bring yourself to relax? Who do you turn to? Your mum? Another loved one perhaps? Sure, but what if they're not around? What do you do then? For me, the obvious answer is food. When all else fails, I say make a batch of your favourite comfort food, turn the telly on, put your feet up, and forget about what's bothering you for a little bit.

Not long ago, I travelled to Istanbul on a project for about a year. I had been here in the past for a month but that was a short trip so I'd been booked into a hotel for the entire duration by my company so there was no hassle. Easy peasy. This time was different. This time, I only had the hotel option for a week, which I had forsaken since I had arranged with my colleague, Ms. Technically Gifted Rebel, to stay in her spare room. We hadn't talked about how long I could stay so I wasn't too fussed, until she told me her (very conservative) parents were coming to visit in a week and I'd have to skedaddle! Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but given that my Turkish vocabulary is about 20 words, coupled with the fact that most Turkish people are wary of letting their house out to foreigners, I was, to put it delicately, screwed. I started scouring the internet for places to rent and visiting real estate agents who despite their ridiculously large brokerage, had nothing affordable on offer. With D-day looming alarmingly close, some luck finally came my way. There was a nice apartment not far from my office that was being vacated and would be available by the time I had to be gone. Ms. Technically Gifted Rebel gave them a call, requested that they not show it to anyone before us (since I'd already lost out on a place that way), and she and  I went to have a look see. I liked the apartment, Ms. Technically Gifted Rebel was kind enough to speak to the landlady on my behalf (not unlike the Hand of the King) and boom, I had my own place. 

In all this time of not knowing where I'd stay, and worrying about having to lug my massive suitcases to hotels, or having to kip on the street (okay, I'm being dramatic, that wouldn't have happened), I had no one to turn to. Sure I spoke to my folks back home over the phone but there's only so much they could do to make me feel better from where they were. It didn't help that Ms. Technically Gifted Rebel doesn't cook and didn't have stuff in her kitchen to cook what I needed as a distraction either; so the first thing I cooked once I had my place all set up was dal chawal and breakfast aloo. Comfort food (in this case as retroactive comfort food). Don't be misled by the title though, this dish can be eaten for any meal, I just call it breakfast aloo because when I was little, my mum would sometimes make it for breakfast. I've just tweaked the recipe a little to give it a little more kick.

For my Breakfast Aloo, you will need the following:

Potatoes	4-5 big
Garlic	3-4 cloves
Green chillies	couple of medium sized ones
Cumin (jeera) seeds	2 tsp
Red chilli powder	2-3 tsp
Turmeric (haldi) powder	1 tsp
Dry mango (amchoor) powder	1 tsp
Salt	to taste
Oil

Prep:

1. Wash and cut the potatoes into little cubes. (Leave the skin on.)
2. Smoosh and mince the garlic.
3. Chop the chillies.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan oil.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Count to 20.
5. Toss in the jeera.
6. Wait until it starts to pop.
7. Duck under the overzealous one that jumps out of the pan.
8. Roll in the chillies.
9. Stick in the garlic.
10. Cook until the garlic goes light brown.
11. Sprinkle in the haldi and red chilli powders.
12. Mix until the oil in your pan goes evenly orange in colour.
13. Slide in the cubed potatoes.
14. Mix well until all the pieces are coated with the oil.
15. Add salt to taste.
16. Toss expertly like the guys running the Chinese food stalls on the side of the street. (Spelt 'Chinees' or 'Chines' or something along those lines.)
17. Pop a lid on.
18. Wait 10 minutes or so until the potatoes are cooked all the way through.
19. Take the lid off.
20. Sprinkle on the amchoor powder.
21. Crank the heat up.
22. Cook sans lid until the potatoes get nice and crispy. (Keep doing the Chinese chef toss.)
23. Turn the gas off.
24. Serve with a spicy paratha or as a side with dal chawal.
25. Stuff face.
26. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: If you have any leftover aloo after you're done eating, these make a brilliant stuffing for deep fill sandwiches.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!