Chilli Potato Fingers

One of the most popular dishes in Indian-Chinese cuisine is the Chilli Potato. I call it Chilli Potato Fingers because I use the French fries cutter to make the fingers. This way I can have uniform size of the vegetable and I can effortlessly cut large number of potatoes in no time. It also helps in cooking the vegetable uniformly. It is a very popular party dish and sometimes when I am in a hurry, I use the frozen fries to make it.

Ingredients:

5 large potatoes (I have used Idaho)
Dry corn flour to dust the potatoes
Canola oil to deep fry
1 cup green bell pepper julliens
1/2 cup spring onions, finely sliced
4 tbsp canola oil

For the sauce, mix in a bowl:

3 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp Sriracha sauce(red chili sauce)
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp raw brown sugar
1/2 tsp pepper powder
Salt to taste

To be finely chopped

1 full bulb of garlic
3-4 green chillies
3" ginger
1/2 cup coriander leaves.

Method:

1. Peel and wash the potatoes and cut it into fingers. Dry the washed potato fingers and coat well with dry cornflour powder.
2. Heat oil and deep fry the dusted potato fingers till it is golden brown. Drain on a kitchen towel.

3. Heat a wok on high flame and add canola oil. Fry the chopped ginger-garlic-green chillies for a minute.

4. Now add the sliced bell pepper and the spring onions. Fry for a couple of minutes.

5. Add the prepared sauce and fry for a minute. Add 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil.
6. Add the potato fingers and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves.

7. Enjoy with fried rice or noodles or just as an appetizer.

Green chutney with garlic

 

Green Coriander Chutney

This is a very useful chutney, and at the same time it has a very high nutritional and taste value. If you have a batch of these, ready in the fridge, it always comes in handy with pakoras, cheelas, sandwiches, poha, and with regular meals too.

Ingredients:

To be ground to a paste

2 cups coriander leaves, washed, chopped

5-6 green chillies

2" ginger,

2 cloves garlic

Juice of 1 lime,

1/2 tsp sugar

salt to taste

Method:

Grind the ingredients to me made into a paste. Add the lime juice, salt and sugar.

Tip: If you do not intend using all the chutney in one go, refrigerate the paste. Take our little by little and add the lime juice, salt and sugar accordingly.

Green Chilli Pickle

Green chilli pickle:

This is one of my personal favorites and a must have for those who cook non spicy meals for their kids. For me it is an additive with nimkis, khakhra, kachoris, rice and practically every meal.

Ingredients:

250 gms chopped green chillies (you can pick the chillies according to your heat tolerance)

25 gms mustard seed powder

25 gms salt

1 tsp red chilli powder

A pinch haldi

1/2 tsp each or fennel seeds, kalonji, and fenugreek seeds.

1/2 tsp sugar

Juice of 2 limes
2-3 tbsp mustard oil

Method:
Wash, dry and cut the chillies to small pieces. Air dry them for about 30 minutes.
Mix all the above ingredients together in a clean dry bowl. Once well mixed, store in a clean dry glass jar. After 2 days store in a refrigerator.
Enjoy with nimki, khakhra, kachoris and practically everything.

Tip: Always weigh the chillies, salt and mustard powder accurately. the rest can vary to taste.