Nita Mehta's Shahi Kaaju Aloo

Potatoes Simmerd in a delicious, yellow curry. Yogurt and cashews form the base of this royal (shahi) curry. Black cumin lends it's royal flavour to the humble potatoes. Taken from Nita Mehta's Indian Cooking copyright 2006 SNAB Publishers Pvt Ltd. ISBN: 81-7869-121-3 This book is part of a line of small cookbooks printed and released in Canada, all written by Nita Mehta. I had to adjust this recipe's directions and ingredients so it can be scaled properly, they asked to add a 1/2 cup of water that wasn't in the ingredient list.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 250  g potatoes
• 4  tablespoons cashews, soaked in
• 1⁄4 cup water
• 1⁄4 cup yogurt
• 1⁄2 tablespoon  chopped ginger
• 1  teaspoon  chopped garlic
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black cumin (shah jeera)
• 1  bay leaf (tej patta)
• 1  cup onion, chopped finely (2 onions)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon garam masala
• 2  tablespoons  finely chopped cilantro (coriander leaf)
• 1⁄4 cup milk
•  oil (for frying)
• 4  tablespoons  oil
• 1⁄2 cup water

Directions

1. wash potatoes and peel. Cut potatoes into 1 inch pieces.
2. Fry the potatoes to a deep golden brown and keep aside. Grind cashews, yogurt, ginger, and garlic to a paste in a small coffee or spice grinder. Keep cashew paste aside.
3. Heat 4 tbsp oil (note: second amount of oil) in a heavy based wok/pan. Add black cumin and bay leaf. Wait for 30 seconds until cumin stops sputtering. Add onions and cook on low heat until onions turn light brown. Add tumeric and garam masala. Stir to mix well.
4. Add cashew-yogurt paste. Stir for 1 minute. Cook till dry.
5. Add cilantro / coriander. Mix well for a minute.
6. Add water to get a gravy. Boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the fried potatoes to the gravy and simmer on low heat. Cook on low heat till the gravy gets thick and coats the potatoes.
8. Reduce heat. Add milk. Mix well and remove fromheat. Serve with rotis or paranthas.