I never wished for a summer this hot to burn you when you are out even for a minute :(
temperature here reached as high as 105 Degree F last week and more expected in the coming months.
Though I like to have Non vegetarian dishes always, this time of the year is when we'll need to avoid rich, spicy, non vegetarian foods and concentrate on making food cooling and simple as much possible, especially for those who are out in the sun during day time.
Drinking lot of water, fruit juices, coconut water, including yogurt once in a day, having at least 1 fruit daily (Watermelon, Grapes and other fruits with lots of fluids in it) and including herbs like mint and other cooling vegetables like Cucumber regularly are ways to keep our body cool.
I felt guilty when I had chicken continuously for 2-3 days last week so decided to go vegetarian at least for few days, though its not an easy task to keep my family happy with the same.
This is a simple and tasty potato curry, recipe is typical way of making potato curry for rice in Kerala, I just included mushroom to make it extra nutritious,if you dislike mushrooms may avoid the same and make it even simpler :)
Used Button mushrooms here, as these are good source of Vitamins and Minerals, benefited only if they aren't overcooked, hence care should be taken while cleaning and cooking the same, a quick rinse under running water then patting'em dry using kitchen towel or tissue is the best way to clean them, as the more it gets exposed to water, more nutrients (B vitamins) gets drained away, also slicing the same just before cooking them keeps its nutrients intact.
Ingredients
Potatoes - 3 no's cut in to small size pieces.
Button mushrooms - 5-8 numbers ( cleaned and sliced as written above)
Onion - 1 small , sliced
Tomato - 1/2 of 1 whole tomatoes thinly sliced
Ginger & Garlic - 1 tsp finely chopped
Green Chili's - 2 no's slit
Fennel Seeds/Perumjeerakam - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Coconut Milk -(Thick) 1/2 cup
Oil - (Coconut oil or any Vegetable Oil) 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Curry leaves - 1 or 2 springs (Optional, I didn't use)
Method
* Boil and cook potato pieces until cooked nicely, keep aside.
*Heat oil in a pan(Cheena chatti) , add first fennel seeds first , followed by ginger,garlic, onion and tomato pieces & Curry leaves (if using). Saute till the oils starts to separate.
* Add the powders (Coriander powder, Turmeric powder and Red chili powder) , cook for a minute and add sliced mushrooms(slice them just before adding it for cooking)
* Saute for 2 minutes in medium heat, until the mushrooms starts to sweat and release water.
* Add the cooked potato pieces along with the water in which it was cooked, add salt , stir and cook for another 5 minutes until the curry starts to boil and reduce.
* When the curry reaches the needed consistency (Thick or thin as you want it to be) add Coconut milk, stir and switch off the heat.
Enjoy potato and mushroom curry with plain rice, Roti or any Bread.
Notes :
Make this curry thick or thin, how ever you want it to be, if you like it thick boil the curry until very less water left before adding coconut milk.
Coconut Milk is optional too, though it makes this dish rich and extra flavorful.
This curry thickens a bit when it sits because of the potatoes in it.
May omit Mushrooms and make these with potatoes alone
