Dahi Waale Aloo (Yoghurt Curry Potatoes)

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun. Back in 2014, when I was in Solihull, UK, I was a skinny beast (about the same width as The Rock's leg). I was powering through Insanity workouts, hitting the gym, swimming myself dizzy on weekends, playing football twice a week, and the odd game of badminton every few days. I even made time to go out to the pubs on the weekends with my friends to strike out with the fairer sex! I had pushed myself to the limit and then some, and I felt, in every sense of the word, invincible.

But like they say, all good things must come to an end. In October 2014, while playing my first football game upon my return to India, in my cockiness and natural affinity for showmanship, I overestimated the quality of the pitch I was playing on and my attempt to dribble past the opposition left my right foot planted on the turf as my body turned and pain ripped through my right knee as I heard a pop and collapsed in a heap. Scans revealed what I had feared most. I had torn my ACL. The only way to repair it, was surgery.

After finally going under the knife, I was resigned to my bed, only able to move around with the aid of a walker (whom I had obviously named 'Paul'). We went everywhere together. Long slow walks to the bathroom, painful hobbles to the kitchen, even limping waddles to the balcony to watch the sunset. When Paul and I weren't spending quality time together, I was resigned to my bed, twisting painfully as I did my physiotherapy, watching TV, reading, or (my personal favourite) stuffing myself with comfort food.

One such comfort food was Poori Aloo Aloo. No, it's not a dish so nice they named it twice. I just happen to like 2 different types of potato dishes and I can never decide which ones I want so I do both! This recipe is for one of those dishes, which if I'm being honest, holds an edge over its competition. But don't tell the other dish that. It tends to get jealous.

For my Dahi Waale Aloo, you will need the following:

Potatoes	3-4 large
Dahi (yoghurt)	2-3 cups
Green chillies	2-3
Ginger	1" piece
Curry leaves (kadi patta)	tiny handful
Jeera (cumin)	1 tsp
Haldi (turmeric) powder	1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder	1 tsp
Dhaniya (coriander) powder	1 1/2 tsp
Jeera (cumin) powder	1 tsp
Coriander leaves	handful
Salt	to taste
Oil

Prep:

1. Boil the potatoes. (You want them firm. Don't over-boil them!)
2. Roughly smash the potatoes. (You want chunky bits. Mashed potatoes won't do!)
3. Beat the dahi.
4. Chop the chillies.
5. Grate the ginger.
6. Chop the coriander leaves.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Toss in the jeera.
5. Roll in the chillies.
6. Float in the curry leaves.
7. Spoon in the ginger.
8. Cook for a minute.
9. Plop in the potatoes.
10. Mix.
11. Make a little well in the middle of your potato pile.
12. Sprinkle in the haldi.
13. Chuck in the red chilli powder.
14. Pop in the dhaniya powder.
15. Add in the jeera powder.
16. Cook for a minute.
17. Mix.
18. Take the pan off the heat.
19. Pour in the beaten dahi.
20. Mix.
21. Return the pan to the burner.
22. Drop the heat to just under medium. Cranking the heat up straight away will cause the dahi to split.
23. Add salt to taste.
24. Cook until the mixture goes from white to yellow and the oil comes floating to the top.
25. Pop the lid on and cook for a few minutes.
26. Take the lid off.
27. Throw in the coriander leaves.
28. Mix.
29. Turn the gas off.
30. Serve with pooris.
31. Stuff face.
32. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: These potatoes go great with kachoris too!

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