Aloo potol (pointed gourd and potatoes curry)
A tomato based mildly spicy, Bengali recipe, made with pointed gourds (potol) and potatoes (aloo)
Ingredients
- 200 g potatoes cut in 1 inch cubes
- 200 g pointed gourds (potol)* cut in halves
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped
- 1½ tbsp ginger paste
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1½ tsp coriander seed powder
- 1 tsp cumin seed powder
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 dried red chilis
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 cloves
- 2-3 cardamom
- 2-3 fresh green chilis slit (optional)
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves chopped
- 2 tbsp mustard oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Make a paste with the spice powders (except the garam masala) and the ginger paste with 3-4 tbsp of water. Keep this aside
- Heat the oil in a shallow cooking pot, let it smoke then turn down the flame and add the whole spices and dried chili
- When fragrant, add the potatoes with ½ tsp salt. Fry until they turn light golden in colour
- Add in the prepared spice paste, fresh chilis and cook for couple minutes
- Now add the pointed gourds (potol), the sugar and mix it well with the potatoes and masalas
- Cook this for 4-5 minutes, add the tomatoes and 1 cup of water. Stir the curry well, cover and cook until the potatoes and gourds are well cooked
- Turn the flame off, sprinkle the garam masala and add the ghee. Cover and let it rest for 5 minutes
- Sprinkle the coriander leaves, mix well and serve the aloo potol or pointed gourd and potatoes curry, hot with rotis or rice. Enjoy!
Notes
- *When peeling the gourds, do leave some skin on (vertically). Otherwise it will completely melt and loose it's body in the curry when cooking
- You can add more water if you desire a runny curry
- g - grams
- tsp - teaspoon
- tbsp - tablespoon