Potatoes and Tomatoes cooked with Coconut

It's been the year of "not quite a summer." The wet wet spring and cool temps mean local harvests have generally sucked for everyone. But while my basil and peppers have languished, my tomatoes have oddly thrived. I wasn't sure I'd get much of a crop, but lo and behold I am awash in tomatoes. They've been slow to ripen, but ripen they finally have.

I needed to use a lot of tomatoes — and quickly. I fixed up a dish of chickpeas cooked in tea, brown rice, and...

Potatoes and Tomatoes cooked in Coconut
from Madhur Haffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking

The photo was taken right before boiling. Two dried chilies isn't enough to make it hot, but rather adds a nice subtle flavor to the dish.

3 medium-sized boiling potatoes (I used red skin)
4 Tbs vegetable oil
6 cloves of garlic, minced (yeah!)
1 whole dried hot red pepper (I use two)
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 1/2 cups freshly grated coconut (I used 2 C. dessicated coconut)
1/2 tsp gurmeric
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/4 lb fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces (or 16-20 oz canned)
2 tsp salt (I use 1 tsp)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp red wine vinegar

Peel potatoes, cut into 3/4 inch dice dice, and soad in a bowl of cold water.

Heat oil in a heave pot over medium-high flame. When hot, put in garlic. Stir for 5 seconds. Add red pepper(s) and whole cumin seeds. Give it a stir. The garlic should brown slightly and the red pepper should darken and cumin should sizzle. Lower heat to medium and add coconut. Stir for 10-15 seconds (to get it all coated).

Drain potatoes. Add potatoes, ground cumin, tomatoes and their juice, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. cover, turn heat to low, and simmer for about 45 minutes ot until potatoes are tender. Stir gently ever 7-8 minutes.

Add sugar and vinegar. Stir and cook uncovered for 1 minute.

This dish goes well with "Oily Toovar Dal with Cloves" (p. 111 of the same cookbook) and paratha or naan.

Comments

[Drink Recipes]

We eat something similar to this in our home. Though we don't use coconut as none of the family members really have a taste for it.

Good Dish