Potato masala bhaji like in Udipi restaurants

This potato masala / bhaji or aloo sabzi was made famous by the ubiquitous Udipi restaurants as the masala in the masala dosa. It also makes an appearance in the puri bhaji, thali and toasted sandwich in an Udipi menu. It is simple to make and hence, I guess, was added to the menu of many a homes. This aloo sabzi goes well with chapati, puri and of course dosa. We also make a stuffed toasted sandwich with this potato masala for filling. 

At home, we tend to make this aloo sabzi when we run out of vegetables or to go with dosa. And then some rare times we make puri bhaji as well. 

Ingredients

Potatoes - 4 medium

Onion - 1 large

Green chilli - 2

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Udad dal - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - 7 to 8

Coriander leaves - 1tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Peel, wash and dice the potatoes and keep in water. Slice the onions, chop green chilli and coriander leaves and keep aside. 

Boil the potatoes till just done in water with a little salt. Reserve about half cup of the water and drain off the rest.

Heat a kadhai, add the oil and when hot add the mustard seeds and udad dal. When the mustard seeds splutter add the sliced onion, chopped chilli and curry leaves and sauté till the onion turns light golden. Add turmeric powder and the boiled potatoes with the reserved water and mix well. Let it boil and during then roughly break the potatoes with the back of the spoon. Check for salt and add chopped coriander leaves and take off heat.
 

Serve with puris and sheera for a sinfully heavy meal like we did.

 

Variation: I have seen some restaurants add a little tomato into this, which should then be added when the potato and water is added and cook till the tomato is done. Continue the recipe as given above.

 fluffy puris

sheera

Potato masala

This Udipi restaurant style Potato Masala recipe goes to "Side dish mela", hosted by cooking4allseasons. 

The Lore & Lure of Khidkiwada



With this post, my husband joins me on this blog.

 

If you are a Mumbaikar, you would definitely have your trysts with wada-paav. It’s an integral part of the city’s DNA, inseparable from its ethos.

I grew up in a city called Kalyan, about 45 km outside Mumbai. Now a bustling satellite city of Mumbai, Kalyan used to be a sleepy town, cut off from the Mumbai metropolis, socially and culturally. In fact, Kalyan used to be culturally more like Pune than Mumbai, though geographically it was one-thirds the distance from Mumbai to Pune by rail. The Kalyan culture was defined by the middle-class mindset; Maharashtrian ethos; mixed populace of Maharashtrians, South Indians, and few others; and presence of distinctly small-town amenities.

But one thing of repute in Kalyan was a local brand of vada-paav called as Khidkivada (meaning window vada). I am calling it a brand, because it satisfies all the conditions of the definition of a brand, which I learnt much later from business literature. A brand stands for a promise and is played out through its attributes that consistently deliver the promise of the brand.

 

Undoubtedly, Khidkivada is a shining example of a brand created in 1968, when it opened as a household venture with the wada being sold out of a window. Hence, the name.

Here’s the website: http://www.khidkivada.com/home.html

 
I can bet my last shirt and vouch that Khidkivada represents the top benchmark in all vadapaavdom. Its mixture is still a trade secret and is patent-pending and the name is trademarked since 1991. It now has outlets in Kalyan, Dombivli, and Pune. The secret mixture is available for sale and you can attempt a do-it-yourself (DIY) on the vada or make many other things out of it. The unique mixture reportedly lasts for 6 months without a change in flavor.

You will never get a Khidkivada that is cold because it turns around so fast that a lot of 25-30 vadas won’t last longer than 10 minutes. Served in a piece of newspaper with dry garlic chutney, the hallowed combination would give you a gustatory sensation that would transport you to stratospheric heights of gastronomic bliss.

 

The lore and lure of Khidkivada is reason enough to make a trip alone to Kalyan. You just need to hail an auto outside the station and ask to be taken straight to Khidkivada.

 

(pictures source: www.khidkivada.com)
- ed

Shoddy work by BMC and a twisted ankle

Two days prior to Christmas I decided to go to Bandra to soak in the Christmassy feel and to pick some cake and sweets from the American Express Bakery and Hershes. I took a fast train to Bandra and got a shared auto right outside the station. In a few minutes, I was standing in front of Globus on Hill Road.

It was quite crowded since it was a Friday and it was only 2 days to Christmas! The shops were lit up, the window displays were done in Christmas colors and the whole place was brimming with people. People were haggling with vendors for clothes, accessories and shoes and the food carts had people milling around them to get the vendors attention. I was busy lapping up all the sights and clearly forgot to watch where I went and twisted my ankle in a pothole. I immediately reached out to hold on to people around me and avoided falling down. A girl who was to my side quickly helped me to a stool from a vendor. I took off my shoe and rolled up my jeans and saw that my ankle had swelled to enormous proportions. Few ladies gathered around me and suggested visiting a nearby hospital immediately to get it looked at. Since I started feeling giddy with the pain they helped me sit in an auto and got me water to revive me. Some of them were willing to come to the hospital with me. They waited with me till I was a little better insisting that I call home and also took my number to check on me later. After ensuring that my family would meet me at the hospital they let me leave in the auto.

I don't know what I would have done had these ladies not been around. What if I had fainted on the street and no one helped me? I was touched by the concern shown by complete strangers on that day and I thank God that people extend a kind hand when needed. One of the ladies even called me a little later to check if the dizziness had passed and asked me to message her once I reached the hospital.
This post is to thank all those who helped me that day. And maybe someday I will have opportunity to help someone in need and will thus keep the good deed going.