BihaRi AL00

People around me have always known about my Bihari connection. Weather i love it or not, Bihar/Jharkhand  & its people have always sucessfully make their presence felt in my life. Like yesterday, i went on to meet a director to discuss costumes of his movie, and it turned out that he is a Bihari!!!! Pissed of I was & how!!!!!! But i did carry on with the conversation, not only becoz i have known him before (we both realised about our past meetings, 30 mins after we started talking), but also because he is one of those cute looking Biharis. But sadly gone are the days, when a beautiful face was enough to fool me. Now more the beauty quotient, the bitchier i get.

Anyways. i have never known much of Bihari cuisine. I some how felt the state mainly & only dwindled over there Sattu & Litti stuffs. But while going through a mags recipes i discovered a whole new bunch of Bihari delicacies. I realised Bihari food can also be yumm @ times like their men (Very few in number, not all!!!!!!).

So, as an ode to the Bihari's in my life, those still there & mostly importantly, those not there, i made this Bihari recipe, for a get together with friends. I felt this could be something like a finger food as well. And no matter how much diet & calorie conscious we get, our very own Aloo always gets the better of us.

Here, goes the recipe for this yummy aloo thing!!!

INGREDIANTS:

• Mustard seeds......................................... 4tbsp
• Potatoes..................................................8 nos, medium in size
• Tomatoes................................................ 6, chopped
• Salt........................................................ to taste
• Kasundi................................................. to taste
• Turmeric powder................................... 1tsp
• Red chilli powder................................... 2tsp
• Garlic cloves......................................... 10, crushed
• Water................................................... 2 cups

METHOD:

• Dry grind the mustard seeds in the chutney grinder. In kadai, heat mustard oil, add the garlic flakes. As it turns golden, add the ground mustard. Lower the heat.
• Once the mustard starts releasing aroma, add in the potato wedges & mix well.
• Now add the chopped tomatoes, salt, turmeric & red chilli powder, kasundi & little water. 
• Cook for 30mins, coverd, till potatoes are done.

This dish has a little inspiration from Bengal, becoz of its extensive use of mustard in various forms. Moreover the flavour is soo good that you hardly need any chutney with this. Becoz of my love for spicy food, i had added in some whole dry red chillies along with the garlic. The number of tomatoes in my dish were also less, since i ran out of them. I managed with tomato purees. I felt this could easily go well with steamed rice. And the leftovers can be turned into patty, either consumed with tea, or used with a Burger. This dish worked well for me, becoz of its rustic nature. No offence meant, but it becomes easier for me to accept Bihari's in their normal rustic habitat!!!!!!!!!!!

Versatile( or should I say double-faced/sly) this dish is, like most Bihari's!!!!!!!!!