Dish of Potatoes with Green Beans
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Potatoes with Green Beans


Trinidad   -   Aloo Talkari
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 1-1/3 #
**
1-1/4 hr
Yes		 An interesting and delicious side dish for four, or light main dish for two. Vinegar makes a lot of difference in how the potatoes fry. See also Comments.

7
1-1/2
2
3
2
1
3
1/2
1/2
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ar
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ar
oz
#
T
oz
cl
T
T
c
t
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Green Beans
Potatoes (1)
Vinegar (2)
Onion
Garlic
Curry Powder (3)
Oil or Ghee (4)
Broth
Salt
-- Garnish
Cilantro
-- Serve with
Roti (5) 		PREP   -   (45 min)
  1. Trim ends of GREEN BEANS and cut diagonally into 1-1/2 inch lengths.
  2. Peel POTATOES and cut into 1 inch chunks.
  3. In a sauce pan large enough for the potatoes, bring plenty of lightly salted Water to a boil. Pour in Green Beans and cook until just tender. Scoop out and set aside.
  4. In the same boiling water, add 2 T of Vinegar, then the Potatoes. Boil lightly until cooked through - the centers should be soft, but the outside will be almost hard due to the Vinegar. Don't worry, they will be soft by time the recipe is done. Drain well.
  5. Chop ONION fine.
  6. Chop GARLIC fine.
  7. Chop CILANTO medium for Garnish.
RUN   -   (25 min)
  1. In a sauté pan, heat Oil to frying temperature. Stir in Potatoes and fry stirring very often until golden brown on all sides, or as close to "all sides" as you can get it.
  2. Pour out excess Oil, leaving about 1 Tablespoon.
  3. Bring back to frying temperature and stir in Curry Powder for a few seconds, just until aromatic.
  4. Stir in Onions and fry stirring just until translucent.
  5. Stir in Garlic for about 30 seconds.
  6. Stir in Green Beans, Broth, and Salt. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 3 minutes.
  7. Garnish with Cilantro and serve hot, accompanied by Roti.
NOTES:

  1. Potatoes:

      White Rose are my preference due to holding shape well, but Red Potatoes could be used. I keep away from Yukon Gold type because they disintegrate if cooked longer than the minimum. Pre boiling the potatoes helps them fry in much less time and with much less splattering.

  2. Vinegar:

      White Vinegar will work fine. The purpose is to firm up the outside of the potato chunks. This will let them fry faster, better, with less splattering, and will prevent baked on debris in the pan, much easier to clean up. The Potatoes will be soft by time the recipe is done.

  3. Curry Powder

      If possible use Trinidad Curry Powder.

  4. Ghee:

      Ghee is easily available in markets serving an Indian or North African community. Accept only Butter Ghee - Vegetable Ghee is often deadly trans fats. If you can't get (or won't accept) butter ghee, use oil. Avocado Oil would be best but Pure Olive Oil (not virgin) will work fine. For details and a link to our recipe for making Ghee, see our Ghee page.

  5. Roti:

      This any flat bread, such as Chapati. For Chapati, you can use the small Whole Wheat Tortillas. Here in Los Angeles, they are made on the same type machine and pretty much identical.

  6. Comments:

      I made this recipe according to the instructions in a Trinidad cookbook (sh 129) and didn't like the result. It was was difficult get the right texture, and difficult to clean up after. With a couple of tries, I developed a method that's easier, less messy, and comes out with excellent flavor and texture.

    In both Trinidad and India there are a lot of different methods for this dish. Many don't fry the potatoes, but those by professionals usually do. If not Fried, the Potatoes go in after the Onions are fried, and Tomato is sometimes added. Most do not have green beans or other vegetables, so feel free to omit the beans if you want. A good alternative, consistent with Indian cuisine, would be Cauliflower.

  7. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste

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