Aloo Mutter

Description
Ever wondered what to do with those mushrooms in your fridge that have passed the “use by” date by a couple of days or so? Potatoes in your cupboard sprouting a few shoots perhaps? A couple of handfulls of frozen peas lurking in a bag in the depths of your freezer compartment? Wishing you could do something about those onions you haven’t used yet?Time for another Route79 cooking lesson:

Ingredients

 * 1 bag of mushrooms chopped into quarters
 * 2 large onions chopped finely
 * 1 tin of peeled plum-tomatoes
 * 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized chunks
 * Frozen, pre-pulped garlic, ginger and green-chillie (Read this recipe for for more info on this.)
 * Spices: Turmeric (Haldi), Garam Masala, Ground Coriander, Salt, Jeera (cumin) seeds
 * A large-ish pot in which to pour 3 or 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
 * Optional: some fresh (or frozen) chopped coriander leaf to garnish at the end

Directions
Heat the oil in the pot until hot. Add the cumin seeds and watch them pop and fizzle for around 20 seconds. Then add the finely chopped onions and fry until they are brownish.



Then add the pre-pulped, frozen garlic, ginger and chillie chunks and stir-fry for a few minutes before adding the spices: 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons haldi (tumeric), 3 teaspoons garam masala, 2 teaspoons ground coriander. Stir it all up until the aroma starts to take over your kitchen.



After a few minutes - add the tinned peeled-plum tomato - and chop them up coarsely with your wooden spoon in the pot:



Fry on medium heat for a few minutes - stirring occasionally - until you can see the oil separating from the mixture when you stir it. Then add the chopped potato.



Stir it all up thoroughly - and then add around 500ml of boiling water.



Then put the lid half-on and let it simmer semi-vigorously for around 10 mins before adding the chopped mushrooms.



Simmer for around 10 more minutes - stirring occasionally - and then add the bowl-full of frozen peas - and once again, stir thoroughly.



After the pot has reached the consistency that you prefer - switch off the flame and let it sit for around 10 minutes whilst you prepare the fresh basmati rice (or instead: pour into a deep bowl and prepare some warmed pitta bread or toast) with side-salad and/or chillie/mango pickle. Then serve up (and sprinkle with some fresh/frozen coriander leaf/stalks) and enjoy whilst it’s hot!

Any leftovers can be kept in a cling-filmed bowl or plastic container for up to two days in the fridge. But be sure to not keep leftover rice like that though. Throw any leftover rice away - always make it fresh the next day. (According to my Mum - “old” rice is not good for your brain.)

Recipe by Route 79
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