Potato & chickpea masala with dosas

For the first eighteen years of my life I didn’t know Indian food. Not a single masala, vindaloo, chapati or naan passed through these lips. Oh, woe is me! I grew up in a family that lived on classic British staples-  shepherds pie, toad-in-the-hole, quiche and sausage rolls for lunch on Saturdays and always a roast chicken with trimmings on Sundays. I had Chinese once or twice, I had my first pizza when I was seven but mostly we ate at home….and mum didn’t make curries. And if she had, I doubt they would have gone down very well- what with all the fussy eaters in my household. Eighteen years without a curry. Criminal.

Needless to say, I’ve made up for lost time and a trip to India two years ago only piqued my interest. The thing was I only ever ate Indian food away from home I mean, you know…all those spices….so having finally found the second love of my life (husband = number one) and having bought a number of books and torn out sheets of magazine pages it has taken me another 10 years to man-up, so to speak and start cooking. I have to be honest, this isn’t the absolute first time that I’ve attempted an Indian curry. I made a chickpea masala about a year ago having visited India and have made it several times since. I was starting to catch on to this India cookery thing and beginning to question how hard it really was. Once you have the spices down pact it’s really very simple and books like 5 spices, 50 dishes do an amazing job at simplifying Indian cuisine without jeopardizing it’s authentic flavour. So, thanks to a Foodbuzz Project Food Blog challenge I have now made my second ever Indian dish and I can’t stop thinking how utterly ridiculous I was believing that it had to be complicated and time-consuming.

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Potato & chickpea masala

Serves 8 as part of a selection of curries or 4 as the whole meal

For the masala
1 1/2 lbs/2 large Yukon gold potatoes (Maris piper or King Edwards)
25g/ 1/3 cup dessicated coconut (dried unsweetened)
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 serrano chilli pepper (long green chilli), stem removed
1 x 2 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp vegetable oil (or other flavourless oil such as canola)
1/3 cup water, plus an extra 2 cups
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 x 15 oz tin chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup peas or shelled edamame beans
Large handful of spinach or kale leaves
large handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped (stalks are okay too!)

For the dosas
80g/1/2 cup semolina flour
80g/1/2 cup rice flour
80g/1/2 cup plain flour
15g/1/4 cup dessicated coconut
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1 pint/2 1/4 cups water

• Peel the potatoes and cut into 2.5cm/1 inch chunks. Place into a bowl and cover with cold water.

• In a 12 inch heavy skillet/deep frying pan (cast iron is great) toast the coconut over a medium heat until golden. Watch it carefully it will turn quickly! Transfer to a bowl and wipe out the skillet. Next toast the cumin seeds over a medium heat, shaking the skillet until you can smell the cumin seeds (about 30 seconds). Transfer to a small bowl but keep the pan.

• In a small food processor, whiz together the green chilli, ginger, garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, oil, 1/3 cup water and 1 tsp salt until smooth. A few wee chunks won’t make a difference. Transfer the puree to your an and over a medium-high heat, stir until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

• Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally until it begins to soften (about 8 minutes). You may need to add a few splashes of water to the pan to release any sticking to the bottom of the pan.

• Drain the potatoes and add to the onion along with your reserved cumin seeds and cook over a medium heat until potatoes are barely tender (about 10 minutes). Keep stirring and adding splashes of water as necessary.

• Add the chickpeas and 1 1/2 cups water and bring up to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes more or until your potatoes are tender. You can cover this or leave uncovered and stir more frequently- be prepared to add more water too. Add the edamame and the spinach(or kale) for a final 3 minutes making sure to cover the pan this time and then remove from the heat and stir in the toasted coconut and chopped coriander.

• For the Dosas whisk together the semolina flour, rice flour, plain flour, coconut, cumin seeds, salt and water. Heat a 10 or 12 inch nonstick skillet (or crepe pan) and brush or spray with oil. Pour 1/2 cup of batter into the pan, swirling the pan with one hand and pouring with the other until you have thin coating on the bottom of the pan. You may find you need to add more liquid to the batter if it sets too thick. Like crepes- the first one tends to end up in the trash can!

• Let it cook for about 3 minutes on one side then flip onto the other for another minute. Transfer to a plate and continue with the remaining batter.