Goanese Potato a la Chellam

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Yes, Goanese potato.. Now stop flipping through your cookery books, this is a different recipe[ kinda sorta maybe] and no the Chellam is not Trisha from Gilli or other movies featuring Prakash Raj, what can i do if this lady is called Chellam...

Anyhow, here is the post- go away, stop distracting me already....

Granparents wait for 6pm, for the power to return[ cos we have powercut between 4 & 6pm- yes, daily], and they attack the TV, well, actually the remote. Evening 6pm is time for the cookery show on Jaya TV[the earth may shatter and winds may blow, but if they are home, they are glued].. Everyday there is a different person hosting the show and my gramma's favorites are - Menu Rani Chellam, Anita Kuppuswamy and Revathy Shanmugam [in that order].

So, yesterday it was Chellam's show and she made a Goanese Potato dish, the minute i heard the name, i plonked myself on the sofa out of sheer curiousity. Mom makes a Goanese potato and it is yumm, and spicy and well, yumm..  This one looked different and so i stayed there for about 10mins.

Chellam is revered at home cos they all love her cooking, mom & few aunts have attended cookery classes conducted by her and they believe her recipes will not fail..

Today morning, i woke up and waltzed into the kitchen only to find gramma getting a whole bunch of ingredients ready, and subsequently she ordered[ well, you cant reallly order her anything... more of a request actually] the cook to grind them before she leaves.

And for dinner, without waiting for gramma to come[ she was reading the Bhagawad gita, daily evening ritual] and mainly because i dint want to miss the CSK IPL match against MI, i got about making the dish. Was almost done when she walked in and was surprised... :-) It was delicious and before i could take photograph, well, it was settling down in our tummies... :D

What you need:

Potato - 4 to 5 [ 1 small per person]- peel and slice like you would for French fries
Green chillies- 2
Cloves- 4
Cinnamon- 1 stick
Tamarind- 1 tiny piece
Turmeric powder- 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder- 1 tsp[ optional]
Salt- to taste
Oil- to cook
Water- to cook the potatoes in

For the masala paste*:
Red chillies- 2
Black pepper[whole]- 5 to 10
Fenugreed seeds[ Vendhayam] -1/2 tsp
Coconut- 1/2 cup
Rice- 1 tsp

How to make it:

1. In a pan, add oil, cloves, cinnamon, green chillies and the chopped potatoes.
2. After a few mins, add the Turmeric powder, salt and Red chilli powder
3. Once potatoes have sauted for about 5mins, add enough water to cook them [till they are soft]
4. In another pan, without any oil- saute the ingredients for the *masala paste. Allow to cool.
5. Grind all the ingredients to a paste [add water if reqd]
6.  in a 3rd pan, heat some water and add the tamarind to it - proceed to make a paste [1 tbsp]
7. Once the potatoes have cooked, add the masala paste and tamarind paste/water
8. Add salt if required
9. Allow to boil till flavours come together

I made myself a few rotis, but grandparents ate it with idli... It was yumm, quite spicy but lovely flavours~