Monday, November 1, 2010

Chips Nu Shaak / Batata Nu Shaak And An Award


Yummy name for a dish right?? I don't know anybody who doesn't love taters. You can seldom go wrong with them. Which makes the humble potato a great choice when entertaining people, particularly when you are not sure about their preferences. Nine out of ten times, when I ask my kids to guess what they would get to eat at a meal, they chorus potato curry!! So all I need to do to make my kids happy is make a potato curry with some rasam and rice.

Hubby is not much of a rasam person, though he will not mind a bit eating it with a very generous serving of potato palya. Well, I wouldn't mind either.. piping hot rasam with hot steamed rice, some ghee and plenty of potato palya. Aahh... heaven!!

This extremely versatile vegetable finds its home in baskets in most Indian homes. What life savers these can be when you have no other veggies on hand!  A look at the menu of  a dhabha can give you quite a number of combination this vegetable can be cooked in:-) Unlike a lot of other vegetables, this one can be cooked directly in the pressure cooker or microwave without even chopping. Well, peeling hot potatoes in a hurry is another story and I have scalded my fingers many a times, trying to do this in the morning rush hour.

 A culturally rich and diverse country like ours has innumerable ways of cooking potatoes among hundreds of other things that is. This is a Gujarati dish called Chips Nu Shaak or Batata Nu Shaak.

I think this dish is traditionally cooked only in oil, which helps it keep fresh for a day or two outside the fridge too.  Supposedly a perfect accompaniment with theplas while travelling. Reminds me of the tall multi-compartment lunch boxes filled with a variety of yummy food which Gujaratis carry on long train journeys. Boxes replete with rotis, subjis, dal, rice, farsan, pickles and dessert too!!! How many times, I have felt so envious of those guys, having gourmet food on journeys too, while we would eat our humble puliogare, curd-rice-pickle / chapati-curry/   sitting just across the seat. Sigh!! Have a heart people!! Its tough to tear eyes away from such sights or close your nose to the delicious wafting aromas.

I loved this recipe for its sheer simplicity and quite unique taste. It is also very delicious, and on its way to becoming a regular on our dining table.


I have eaten potatoes fried, potatoes cooked in a coconut based masala, with onion-ginger-garlic, cashew and spices, but never with crunchy sesame seeds. The addition of the sesame seeds certainly sets this dish apart in taste and novelty factor, at least for me. It is slightly sweet, slightly sour and quite spicy, very delicious... 


This is a Sanjeev Kapoor recipe, yes, I do it again!! I have roasted the potato strips instead of frying them in oil,  using a tablespoon of oil instead of three.

Ingredients:

Potatoes- 5 large, peeled.
Oil - 1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon
White sesame seeds - 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Jeera powder  - 1/2 teaspoon
Red Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
Lemon Juice - 1 tablespoon
Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

Procedure: Cut the potato into long, thin strips, put them in water. (Thinner than what I done should work better) If you are going to fry them in oil, remember they will become much thinner when fried, so do not cut them very thin.  Drain thoroughly.

Heat a large non-stick skillet and brush with very little oil or spray with oil. Once the pan is hot, lower the heat to minimum. Place the potato strips and cook till golden on both sides and crisp, flipping once or twice in between.(Two spoons work best for this).  I used 3 skillets simultaneously to make the process quicker. You could bake the potatoes, but I find it very time-consuming in my small OTG. Now if you happen to have a huge oven and can bake potatoes for a huge crowd at one go, don't even tell me about it:-). Yes, yes I will be 'upgrading' my oven shortly, hopefully!!. Once done, keep the crisp potatoes aside.

Optionally, as done in the original recipe, cook the potato strips in 2 tablespoons of oil, in a large skillet. Heat one more tablespoon of oil and continue as mentioned below.

Heat one tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan. Reduce the heat and add the sesame seeds. Saute till the seeds change color. Add the crisp potatoes, chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, jeera powder, sugar and salt. Mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the lemon juice toss again. Take off the fire. Garnish with the chopped coriander and serve hot.

Please note: The method of pan-roasting may work well if you are cooking for 3-4 people. Baking (in a big oven) may be more convenient for larger crowds.

Padmajha of Seduce Your Tastebuds has shared an award with me. Thank you so much Padmajha!!

I would like to share this with

1.Suman Singh of Incidental Cooking
2.Shruthi Singh Traditional Secrets
3.Sneha Rao Sinless Delectables
4.Sayatani of A Homemakers Diary
5. Deepti Pawar Some Salt To Taste
6. Nithya of 4th Sense Cooking
7. Aparna of Apy Cooking
8. Sweet Artichoke Sweet Artichoke
9. Pratibha of The Chef And Her Kitchen
10. Srimathi of Few Minute Wonders

Please accept!!

25 comments:

Sneha said...

YUM YUMMMMM!! It looks truly and sinlessly delectable!! :0D

And for that reason, especially, I have to try it!! :0))))

AND THANK YOU SO MUCH for the award!! :0)

Padhu Sankar said...

What u say is true .Almost all kids love potatoes .Dish looks yummy!!

Deepti said...

Wat a wonderful starter ...

chef and her kitchen said...

Potatoes can't be eaten in a better way....looks delectable...yummmyyyy

sweet Artichoke said...

What a lovely name for these potatoes! You are right, who can resist potatoes? Definitely not me! Yours looks so crunchy and full of flavours! I will try soon!
Congratulations for your award and Thanks so much for passing it on to me! :-)
(will post about it later this week :-))

Akila said...

wow are those potatoes..... i thought it is something else.... looks yummy dear....

Shubha said...

wow looking potato suma,i surely want to try this one

FewMinute Wonders said...

Thank you so much Suma for the award. You have a wonderful recipe here for potaotes.

Deeba PAB said...

Nothing like a good take on taters Suma, and thees look wonderful! Congrats on the award. Well deserved!

Sushma Mallya said...

That looks mouthwatering...

Deepti Pawar said...

Hey! Thank you Suma for passing on the award to me! Will post it on SSTT as soon as I can. Thanks heaps, again!

Priya Suresh said...

I can have this batata nu shaak even everyday, very tempting..

Congrats on ur award..

Rachana said...

What a delicious starter, they look so good. Congrats on the award.

Sanjeeta kk said...

Lovely recipe, a good snack for any day.

M D said...

Hey Suma, this recipe is bookmarked! I love the simple spices that go into this vegetable. I am not much of a potato person, but by the look of this Batata Nu Shaak, I am sure it tastes amazing!

Spice said...

Lovely recipe.....feel like grabbing some right now...my mom makes similar kind minus the sugar part...

Anonymous said...

Wow! mouth watering dish indeed, lovely presentation. Congrats on the award too.

Aparna S Mallya said...

Congrats on the award and thanks for sharing it!

Lovely dish!!

Suma Rowjee said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Radhika @ foodfor7stages said...

Yes, those multi-compartment lunch box makes me jealous too especially when we are deprived of "good" food while traveling. I totally agree your views on potatoes. It is one veggie that everyone loves across the globe. And this gujrathi chips nu shaak looks so inviting. I could imagine how yummy it would be.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I initially thought it was some dish from the east, cos the name sounded so much like that. Imagine my surprise when I read it was from our very own country! This definitely would satiate the tater-lover in everyone. And the crunch of the sesame seeds would only add to the flavour Im sure. Definitely trying this asap Suma. Thanks for sharing :)

Anonymous said...

PS: Congratulations on that award...you so deserve it! :)

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

congrats on the award and thanks a ton for sharing this wth me.

kavya said...

Hi Suma

I tried this Batata Nu Shank recipe. My family members liked it. This will become regular dish in the future also. Actually i have tried this curry becoz next christmas vacation i need to travel 26 hours train journey for the first time.So i am searching for recipes which can be suitable for train journey.Luckily i saw this recipe and made this. I have tested this curry for 2 days out of fridge also. Taste was very good.I made morning and next day night also i have tasted it. Really suitable for journeys.
I do not know how to express my thanks.

Thankyou very much suma.

Nachiketa said...

Yummy potato dish n delightful award...
Congrats...

Cheers,
The Variable, Crazy Over Desserts - Nachiketa
Catch me on facebook @ Crazy Over Desserts