Dog Day Gluttony: Dahiwale Aloo

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 Summer is flying by it seems. A decadent little vaca to Bermuda to sun our buns. FootPaul. A heat wave that made my little patch of a front yard morph into the Gobi desert. The Wimbledon squeezed in just to make my days that much more unproductive. Tall glasses of Pimms with every imaginable fruit. Late nights and the resulting early morning scrambles. Soft serve ice-cream (I never stop thinking about food do I?) 

And of course, the annoying habit we have developed of late of pouncing on our food and working our way through a dish before I have a chance to reflect on it, write about it and take a picture. 

 I also forgot to mention that summer is also the time when I find very illogical items in my fridge and pantry and spend the greater part of the evening figuring out how to convert them into a cohesive meal. 
   
 Like bologna and black beans. Or cauliflower and vanilla yogurt. Cooked pasta and leftover sambar. You get the drift.

This time however, it was yogurt and baby potatoes. Suddenly the sky was the limit.

But back to my annoying habit. Fellow food bloggers, how do you keep yourself from devouring a dish before taking that picture?

Dahiwale Aloo

Always on the look out for short cuts, I have been known to use canned whole potatoes for this one. Just be sure to drain all the water and check when simmering to make sure they don't disintegrate. You can add a couple of green finger chillies with the asafoetida and cumin seeds if you want an extra kick.

1 lb baby potatoes
4 large tomatoes
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp whole cumin
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
Pinch asafoetida
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tsp oil
Salt to taste

Boil the potatoes until soft and chop the tomatoes.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the asafoetida and cumin. As they sizzle, stir in the ginger and a few seconds later mix in the tomatoes and turmeric, chilli and coriander powders.

Stir for five minutes until the tomatoes are completely cooked and then add the potatoes with half a cup of water. Lower the flame to a simmer. Whisk the yogurt. Take the pan off the flame and stir in the yogurt. Simmer for five minutes, and add salt and garam masala.

Serves 4.