What a criminal thing to do, one would think…Especially if you have been brought up on the distinctive North Indian Aloo-Puris cooked with as much pride and love by your moms and grand-moms..

Well, I  have found this one recipe from my Thathamai ( in Tamil, Thatha means maternal grandfather and Ammai means mother, &  somehow all of us cousins, ended up calling our grandmother Thathammai – an amalgamation of Thatha & Ammai) to be the perfect symbol of North -South integration and when I got married to a North – Indian, with the stereotypical ‘ all south indian food is sambhar’ attitude, this was my antidote, and man, didnt it work…;)

Well, here goes the recipe ( sorry abt the pics…they didnt turn out anywhere near to what I thought they should be..will improve in the next one, hopefully..:-)

Southie Aloo Subzi
6 big Potatoes

2 big Onion

2 green chillies

half tsp turmeric powder

Salt – to taste

finely chopped coriander leaves

A little oil

For Masala

One cup chana dal

One & a half cup dhania

Half cup urad dal

a pinch of hing

a bunch of fresh kadipatha

15-20 red chillies

Heat a kadai and dry roast the ingredients for masala separately, you can add the hing while roasting the kadipatha. Grind them to a powder and preserve it in an airtight container.

Now, boil the potatoes and peel their skin off. Cut them into small chunks. Chop onion. Heat oil in the kadai, and saute the onion and green chillies ( split in the middle). Add the boiled potatoes and two cups of water. Now add turmeric powder, salt and bring to a boil. Now add three tbsps of the ground masala and let it cook for 10-15 mins ( or till the gravy thickens). Garnish with coriander leaves.

Goes very well with hot puris