Recipe: super fast spiced potatoes with kalettes

This is based loosely on my mother-in-law’s jeera aloo recipe, which appears in my first pressure cooker book, although Shariq (husband) says it is more aloo tharkari. And it isn’t too far removed from a saag aloo either, though I have used kalettes in this recipe instead of saag/mustard greens.

I have adopted my in-laws’ ways with spicy carbs as my main comfort foods of choice. And how I needed it today. I am trying to walk 5 miles a day - usually manage at least 4 - a concerted effort on my part because I am conscious that working from home does make it hard to get the exercise in plus the more time I spend outside the better I feel. But today I was walking canalside in grey weather, with the wind blowing a sharp, stinging drizzle into my face. The icy bite has come back into the air. Hunkering down weather, which is what I am going to do as soon as I’ve finished writing this; sofa, book (rereading the last Maeve Kerrigan ahead of the next one coming out next week), cup of tea and double carbs.

Potato and bread together always feels like a treat, in part because they work so well together but also because I’ve never quite lost the thrill of eating something I wasn’t often allowed as a child. Chip butties were banned in my house - something one of my naughtier aunts knew as she delighted in feeding me proper chip shop ones, with scraps and Sunblest. Then when I was at 6th form the pub we sneaked off to (I was one for skipping double German on a Friday afternoon), sold the best chip butties I’ve ever had - perfect chips, fried in dripping, with a chewy crusted soft bloomer. I still love any potato/bread combo. Crisp sandwiches are the best, especially with a runny yolked egg. But this - combining as it does potatoes, chilli, cheese and flatbread is a firm favourite too even though the potatoes aren’t fried fried, and contains greens to boot.

You can mess around with the basics of this as much as you like; with or without the flatbreads – it is a quick, comforting dish, not fancy and infinitely adaptable. None of the spicing is mandatory. You certainly don’t need to add the whole spices or the curry leaves at the beginning, you can replace turmeric with your favourite curry powder, use a chilli powder or sauce in place of fresh chilli…you get the picture. And if you can’t get kalettes, other greens can be substituted – if you want to check cooking times with me, please ask in the comments.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil

½ tsp nigella seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp mustard seeds

A few curry leaves

1 onion, sliced

500g floury potatoes, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

15g ginger, finely chopped

1 chilli, finely chopped

2 tbsp finely chopped coriander stems

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tbsp tamarind paste (not concentrate)

150g kalettes or other greens

To serve:

Flatbreads - fluffy are best

A squeeze of lemon or lime juice

Coriander leaves

Grated cheese (cheddar is perfectly good)

Mango chutney

Raita

Heat the oil in your pressure cooker. When it has melted, add the spices and curry leaves. Wait until they start to snap, crackle, pop, then add the onion. Fry quite briskly until the onion starts to brown, then add the potatoes. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic, ginger, chilli, coriander stems and turmeric. Stir for a further couple of minutes then season with salt and pepper.

Check the base of your pan and add a little water to deglaze it if necessary – this is especially important with this recipe because potatoes are starchy and like to stick if they can. Add another 100ml of water, then close the lid and bring up to high pressure.

When your cooker has reached high pressure, lower the heat to maintain the pressure, then time for 2-3 minutes depending on your pressure cooker. Remove from the heat and fast release. Stir to make sure the base is still clean. Whisk the tamarind paste with another 100ml water, then pour this over the potatoes. Stir briefly again then add the kalettes to the cooker. Close the lid and bring up to high pressure again. Immediately remove from the heat and fast release.

Squeeze over a little lemon or lime juice then sprinkle with coriander. If you want to add cheese, sprinkle this over now and put the lid back on, but leave the cooker off the heat, just to help the cheese melt a little.

How to serve:

You can eat this on its own, as a side dish or – best of all – piled into a flatbread. I always add a bit of mango chutney if I have some. Geeta’s is my favourite brand, mainly for the nigella seeds, but preferably home made – I have a recipe in Modern Pressure Cooking as pressure cooking does speed up the process a lot. I have also discovered that the Eastgate Larder Medlar Chutney, which has a very mild kick to it, is also excellent with this kind of dish. If you want raita instead, or as well, I make it very simply – just yogurt, dried mint, a squeeze of lime and plenty of salt and pepper.

A quick tip:

I mention coriander stems in the ingredients list. If you are forever wasting coriander because you shove a bunch in the fridge and forget about it – and yes, I was once frequently guilty of this – you will preserve it much better if you separate stems from leaves. Pick off the fine sprigs from the thicker stems and wrap lightly in damp kitchen towel or tea towel. Put in Tupperware – they should keep for a couple of weeks that way. And the stems can be finely chopped and frozen. That ensures you always have a hit of coriander when you need it, because the stems pack a decent flavour punch.