A month before our marriage and "I don't know how to cook" was something my husband heard me say more often than "I love you". Much as I was eager to tie the knot, the thought of having to manage a house, especially handling the cooking, was giving me nightmares.

He would, of course, reassure me that I didn't have to worry about cooking. "Takeaway" and "employing someone to cook" were the words he said more often than "I love you".


Perhaps it was the lure of the shiny, new pots and pans. Perhaps it was the complete boredom with having takeaway food everyday. Perhaps it was that thing called love. Whatever it was, before long, I wanted to cook a meal for us.


Batatyachi kachryachi bhaji (loosely translated as sliced potato stir fry) is what I settled on. After all, you can't go wrong with potatoes - they taste delicious any which way you make them. Plus, though I had never actually made the stir fry myself, I had seen my mum make it very very often and knew that it was very easy to make.

"This is delicious! Who says you can't cook?!" he said when he had the potato stir fry. " Yessss, I can cook," I thought to myself happily. Carried away by the success at the potato stir fry, I took on a more challenging recipe to cook the next day. That was a disaster, but more of that on some other post.

For now, check out this easy breezy spicy potato stir fry, our favourite way of having potatoes.



Ingredients:


Potatoes: 3 medium sized
Onions: 1 large
Curry leaves: 7-8
Green chillies: 2, chopped
Coriander leaves: 2 tbsps, chopped
Mustard seeds: 3/4 tsp
Asafoetida/hing: 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt, to taste
Oil: 1.5 tbsps

Method:


Wash the potatoes and pat dry. Quarter them length-wise and then slice them into thin triangles.


Soak them in a bowl of water for about 10 mins and then drain them.


Heat oil in a non stick wok. Add the mustard seeds and when they crackle, add the green chillies, curry leaves and the hing and stir for half a minute.


Toss in the onions and saute till they soften and turn pink. Add the turmeric powder and salt and stir for half a minute.


Now add the drained potatoes and stir fry them on a high heat (you need to keep stirring constantly else the potatoes will stick to the pan and gently else they will fall apart as they start to cook) for about 10 minutes or until done.

Finally, add the coriander leaves and the juice of half a lemon.


Serve hot with dal, rice and some pickle on the side for a really rustic, hearty and satisfying meal.