Spicy Potatoes & Yogurt with Bananas

Last week I made some Indian food for dinner - three quick and easy dishes and some of the "Chipotle" rice that was leftover from our homemade "Chipotle" burritos from Mexican Monday.  While the main dish that I made is not blog worthy yet, we feel like the side dishes are good enough to be eaten anytime.   

Aloo Chaat (Spicy Boiled Potatoes)

Makes 4 - 6 servings

Adapted from Easy Indian Cooking by Suneeta Vaswani

1 lb potatoes (about 3), peeled and cut in to 1/2" cubes

1 T cumin powder

1/2 t coriander powder

1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 t cayenne powder

1 t salt or to taste

1 lime or lemon

2 - 3 T cilantro, chopped

1.  Add potatoes to saucepan and cover with water by about an inch.  Bring water to a boil and cook until tender, probably about 20 minutes.  Drain and set aside.

2.  Mix the cumin, coriander, lemon juice, cayenne and salt in a small bowl.
3.  Pour spice mixture over potatoes and stir gently. 
4.  Right before serving, squeeze the lime or lemon over potatoes, sprinkle with cilantro and give it one last stir.

I thought the potatoes had a little too much cumin powder and Ryan thought they had too much lemon juice.  The original recipe calls for 1/2 t of amchur (mango) powder with 1 T lemon juice being the substitute (or half lemon that I put in).  I am going to buy some amchur powder for the next time we make this recipe and see if it makes much difference.  We think these potatoes could really be a side dish for any type of meal, not just Indian food.


Keleka Raita (Yogurt with Bananas)

Makes 2 servings

Adapted from New Indian Home Cooking

1 c plain nonfat yogurt

1 T sugar

1 ripe banana

1.  Mix the yogurt and sugar together.

2.  Peel and slice banana into circles.  Add to yogurt and gently stir.

3.  Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

This could not be any easier or tastier.  I've had yogurt with bananas many times, but once we started adding that little bit of magical sugar it really pumped up the taste.  I've made this many times, as an accompaniment to spicy Indian food and as a simple, somewhat healthy dessert.  And let's not forget the baby bonus - Oliver pretty much only ate this for his dinner that night.  Enjoy!