Aloo gobi – Indian flavoured potato and cauliflower with Indian roti bread

One of my go to dishes in Indian restaurants is Aloo Gobi, a vegetable dish made by cooking potatoes and cauliflower together with spices and a little water. Traditionally I think they add green peas at the end. I didn’t have any peas today but I added a couple of tomatoes to the dish, not necessarily authentic but it worked for me.

For us a dish like that is a simple dinner but of course you can serve it alongside a protein. I like a simple chopped Romain salad with this dish, dressed with a lemony vinaigrette. The combination of semi-spicy aloo gobi, the lemony dressing and crisp lettuce is a good balance of flavours and textures.

Since I cannot eat without bread I made Indian Roti, an unleavened flatbread that is quick to prepare and goes well with this kind of food. I learned how to make it in a class at Poppadoms, an Indian restaurant that has since unfortunately closed.

I prefer to use white skinned potatoes for this dish, they keep their shape better than starchy brown skinned ones.

Depending on how hot you like your Indian food, you can spice it up with Indian style hot sauce during the cooking or at the table.

Enjoy.

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Serves 4 as main dish

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 small hot pepper, chopped or a pinch hot pepper flakes

1 cup water or stock

6 medium white skinned potatoes
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric

1 cup chopped canned tomatoes with juice or 2 fresh tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped

1 small head cauliflower, separated into small florets

Salt

1/2 cup loosely packed chopped parsley

Indian Roti (recipe here)

Directions:

Heat oil in a pot, add onion and cook over medium heat until translucent, not allowing the onion to brown.

Add garlic and hot pepper and cook until the garlic is fragrant, another minute or so.

Add the potatoes and toss them around the pot to get coated with the oil.

Add the spices and mix them into the potatoes and onion.

Add 1/2 cup water and the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let the potatoes cook for 5 minutes, covered, adding just enough water to prevent the mixture from drying. There should be liquid in the pot for the vegetables to cook in but not make it soupy.

Now add the cauliflower and stir to mix.

Add salt to taste.

Cover the pot and cook on low-medium heat until the vegetables are cooked through. Check for water level to make sure the vegetables are not dry. It should have a stew like consistency.

When the dish is ready check for seasoning, adding salt or hot pepper sauce as necessary.

As the dish cooks you can prepare the indian roti (see recipe here).

Serve the aloo gobi in shallow bowls with a lemony salad on the side, along with the roti.

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