Jeera Aloo

The Indian festival season, which runs between the months of August and November, is a time for both feasting and fasting. Sure, there’s a ton of great food to be eaten during some of the biggest Hindu festivals that occur during this time, like Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Dusshera, and Diwali. But there’s also time built in to cleanse your body through an upvaas or vrat, when people either fast entirely, or eat tasty, mostly gluten-free foods. Both the eating of the rich food and the abstinence from it occur for religious reasons, but even if one doesn’t buy into that sentiment, it doesn’t seem such a bad idea to break a period of heavy eating with the occasional fast to get things back into balance, does it? One of the delicious foods served and devoured during the period of fasting is this scrumptious Jeera Aloo, a very simple but incredibly delicious side of potatoes flavored with cumin seeds. There are many, many Indian style potato sides, including some like Bombay Potatoes that include tomato sauce and spices. But a jeera aloo doesn’t need those trimmings–it is meant to be a simple, homely dish, one you throw together when you don’t have time to make anything else but want something very, very tasty anyway.

Why you’ll love this Jeera Aloo recipe

It’s yummy. If there ever was a flavor match made in food heaven, it has got to be cumin and potatoes. The smoky, earthy flavor of cumin is the perfect complement to the creamy, bland but delicious spud. I also like to add some curry leaves into this dish because they add yet another delicious flavor dimension. It’s healthy. Potatoes are a supremely healthy food, packed as they are with antioxidants and vitamins and other good-for-you nutrients. Cooked right, as they are in this recipe with little oil and good-for-you herbs and spices like turmeric, cumin and curry leaves, they are a health star. When you serve jeera aloo to your family you can rest assured you are serving them a food they will not only love but one that will help keep them healthy. (A tip I have for you here is to try and use organic potatoes so you don’t have to peel them. A good deal of the nutrients in potatoes lie in and under the skin and you don’t want to lose them.) It’s everyone friendly. Jeera aloo is gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free and this dish is vegan, of course. This is also one of the most kid-friendly vegetable sides I know of. Kids love potatoes and will almost always scarf these down. It’s my son Jay’s favorite vegetable side dish, no contest. You can dial down the chili peppers if you are serving this to a child.

Ingredients

4 large potatoes A potato that will hold its shape is better, like a yellow or red, but russet potatoes will work here too. 1 tsp vegetable oil 1 ½ tsp cumin seeds 20 curry leaves. You can sub this with 2 tablespoons of cilantro or coriander leaves. 1-inch knob of ginger ½ tsp turmeric powder 2 green chili peppers. Use a pepper like jalapeno or serrano and deseed if sensitive to heat. Salt to taste

What to serve with Jeera Aloo

Jeera aloo is wonderful with Indian breads like roti or puri. If I were serving it with a vegan naan I’d also have a saucy sabzi on the side, like vegan palak paneer, vegan paneer butter masala or pindi chole. You can also serve jeera aloo with basmati rice and dal.