Hungry … starving in fact. It’s 9 pm and I still haven’t eaten dinner coz there really isn’t anything to eat. We’re out of rice, I don’t feel like having noodles or a sandwich, but if I remain hungry any longer I will end up eating cake for dinner. Not really feeling in the zone today to cook up anything special; even the boyfriend has simply bought himself beef (it’s more likely horse meat) lasagne from the supermarket, and I rarely eat that. As I stare blankly into my fridge I subconsciously take stock of what I have lying about ~ a half punnet of brown mushrooms, a very sorry looking bag of string beans, tub of plain yoghurt, few flourettes of cauliflower leftover from that pot of cauliflower and bacon soup we ate three nights ago, and two boiled medium potatoes.
I considered a mushroom and cheese omelette, then I thought maybe a simple potato + boiled egg salad smothered in mayo … but dang it! No chives. In the end I decided to use up the cauliflower to save it from the bin. And when you have cauliflower and two bits of potato there can only be one logical solution: Aloo Gobi. The perfect light meal that is both filling and low GI. Often, eating late at night unsettles my stomach but this dish ticks all the boxes. It’s easy to prepare, it’s healthy and the spices in it have a calming effect on the tummy (so long as you lay off on the chillies). I cooked this at night so the pictures aren’t exactly great.
Aloo Gobi literally means potatoes (aloo) and cauliflower (gobhi), and it is a dish one can find readily all over India. It is eaten as a side dish with rice and roti, and sometimes it is used as a filling for dosas. As we have already established I was fresh out of rice in the house my next best bet would be to make flat breads to go with this aloo gobi. Well ain’t nobody got time for that! So I simply ripped open a fresh pack of soft flour tortillas. The way I saw it was hey, a flat bread is a flat bread.
Aloo Gobi आलू गोभी.
3 tbsp oil
2 medium potatoes
1 cup caulifower
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 red onion, sliced thin
1 green chilli, sliced
8 curry leaves
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp chilli powder (if you’d like it extra spicy)
½ tsp tumeric powder
2 tsp garam masala
fresh coriander
salt
water
I have been working very hard to understand and learn more about Indian cooking by watching hours and hours of Indian cooking videos and documentaries. Oh, the Rick Stein ones are fantastic {Rick Stein’s Food Paradise: India}, and they got my creative juices flowing. Made me want to return to India for a food-centric holiday. Anyway, with my new found confidence in cooking the Indian way, let us begin to put this aloo gobi dish together. Start by heating up the oil on medium and frying the cumin + mustard seeds a little. It is important to fry them until fragrant, but do not burn them.
Next sautee the onions, green chilli, curry leaves and ginger-garlic paste. Cook until the onions are soft.
Add all the ground up spices – tumeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala. Followed by the cauliflower and potatoes. Stir to coat everything well with the spice paste and onions. Sprinkle with some fresh coriander stalks.
Add water, cover pot with a lid and simmer to soften the cauliflower. About 5 – 8 minutes.
Adjust seasoning and serve over rice or flat breads. I like to have this with lots of fresh coriander leaves and yoghurt.
Having aloo gobi from time to time is rather comforting, and it really fills you up for a long period of time. I had these in those tortilla wraps and I was set for the rest of the night. The other good thing is this keeps well in the fridge and the next day you can simply take it out and eat with with more bread or rice. This dish is simply bursting with flavour that you’d hardly notice you’re partaking in an all veggie meal … a great way to get the family to eat more veggies. If you added peas to this dish it would then be called Aloo Gobi Matar.
When you have simple know-how in the kitchen I think you will never go hungry. I have made a full meal out of seemingly nothing ingredients and they have managed to keep us fed until we can make it to the grocers the next day. Often times I find it bothersome to plan a meal ahead of time. I don’t know what I feel like eating so I fail to defrost the chicken breast or the fish, and by the time dinner time rocks around it is too late … everything is rock solid and waiting for them to thaw is just too painful. These are the times I have to get creative in the kitchen and come up with something on the fly, and I have been very successful at it … just ask Jules, my ex-flatmate.
So the next time you find yourself with late night cravings or starving after a looooong day at the office … don’t reach for that bag of chips or cookies just yet … stare into your fridge and look for any leftovers that you can cook with spices. Always store tortilla wraps in the pantry ~ coz you never know when you’re going to need them ASAP. This dish not only sustained me during the night but when I woke up the next day, I ate more tortilla wraps and this for lunch. It always tastes better the next day. Best eaten with a side of cold yoghurt drizzle … yumm yumm.
~ Enjoy! ~
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