Aloo Gobhi

Thank You everyone for coming to the opening ceremony and waiting for the first recipe. I know you all are very hungry and I can imagine most of you drooling already. By the way, Neetie was the first one to guess my recipe, so kudos to her. Yes, it's Aalo Gobhi, one of my ultimate favourites. Aalo-gobhi is a very common punjabi sabzi, although I am sure that every culture in India will have some spin of it already available. Gobhi is mostly available in winter months in India, so my Mom would make it once a week during those times and I would always relish it with a hot roti. Now, without wasting much time let's start the recipe...

Aalo Gobhi (Potato and Cauliflower)

Servings - 2-3 (1 if you are a punjabi...lol)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of cauliflower florets cut into small pieces
2 tsb vegetable/groundnut/canola/olive oil
1 large spanish onion cut into small pieces (although any onion would do but green/spanish onion just adds to the flavour)
2 green chilis, cut into small pieces
2 garlic cloves, chopped into small pieces
2 medium white potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces (any potato will do but white ones are easier to make)
1 tsb turmeric/haldi
1/4 tsb ground cumin
1/4 tsb ground coriander
1/2 tsb salt
1/4 tsb garam masala
1 tsb butter or ghee (there is no punjabi dish without ghee/butter)
1 tsb peeled and finely grated ginger

Method:

1. Wash the cauliflower. {TIP: I wash the cauliflower in cold salted water as it cleans it better and also adds a little bit of salt to it before frying}
2. Heat the oil in frying pan and add the onion, chilis, garlic and potatoes and fry untill the color of onions is deep yellow and its translucent (approx. 7-8 min.)
3. Add the cauliflower and fry till the onions are now brown (approx. 3-4 min.)
4. Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt and garam masala, stir and fry. (approx. 5 min)
5. Mix well.
6. Add the butter and mix, add 5tsb cold water and simmer. (approx. 5 min. but it depends, so keep checking till the potatoes are done)
7. Stir in the ginger. {TIP: I add the ginger later as it adds an extra flavour to it and also ginger tastes good in gobhi}
8. Serve with hot phulka or dal makhani {TIP: Goto Nupur's Blog for the recipe of dal makhani}
9. Enjoy!!

I tried the recipe last night to get the timings and quantity right and it turned out excellent, just like home. So, hopefully it will turn out good for you too...

Hint for next recipe (this one is tough, let's see who can guess it): Other day I saw a South Indian lady eating yogurt/curd with her fingures.