Yum! Yum! Yum!

Potato and Green Beans is a new combination to me until my college days. I have been introduced to this combination (while i was in masters at UTD) by one of my roomies, where we used to have weekly cooking turns and get to experiment each other's regional varieties. Those were good old college days filled with masti (fun). My friend used to make a simple stir fry with Potato and Green Beans, i used to love that. Today I have used the same base recipe, but jazzed it up with touch of this South Indian Spice Powder (Kobbari Nuvvula Podi ~ Sesame Coconut Spice Powder) and that became super hit on the dinner table. This goes well with roti & rice and perfect for Thali Setting as well. Here is the recipe, Njoy!


Ingredients:
Potato - 2 medium
Green Beans - 1 lb ( Fresh or Frozen)
Onion - 1 medium
Green Chili - 1 medium
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 Tbsp
Red Chili - 1 whole
Chana Dal, Urad dal, Cumin Seeds, Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp of each for tempering
Curry Leaves - 1 stem or 5-6 leaves
Salt -1 tsp ( per your taste)
Cilantro - for Garnish

Sesame Coconut Spice Powder - 1/3 cup


Preparatory Steps:

• Peel Potato, wash and chop into medium cube size pieces. Chop Onion and Green Chili into small pieces. 
• If you are using fresh green beans trim the edges and cut them into 1 inch size. Heat 1 cup of water add 1 tsp salt. When water boiling add green beans and boil for 5 min. Drain water through colander and transfer green beans to a plate.
• If you are using frozen variety thaw them in microwave for 2 to 3 min (until they become tender)

Method:

1. Heat Non-stick pan, add 2 Tbsp of Oil, once oil is hot add tempering ingredients in the following order, red chili, chana dal, urad dal, cumin seeds, mustard seeds followed by curry leaves. Saute for 1 -2 min until lentils are browned or mustard seeds starts spluttering. 
2. Add chopped onion and green chili to tempering. Add turmeric powder and mix everything in the pan and close the lid. Let onion saute for couple of min until they become translucent.
3. Add chopped potato cubes to the pan, mix with everything and close the lid and cook for 4 to 5 min until potato pieces become tender. 
4. Now add thawed or boiled green beans to the pan and mix with potato & tempering mix. Add 1 tsp salt & toss everything together in the pan, stir-fry on medium heat for about 5 min. 
5. Now add Sesame Coconut Spice Powder to the pan and mix everything well until potato and green beans are coated with spice powder evenly. Taste and adjust salt and seasoning as needed. 
6. Close the lid and cook for 3 min, now open lid and stir-fry for 5 min and add chopped cilantro. 
7. Switch off the stove and transfer curry to serving bowl and serve warm with Rice or Roti.

Notes:

• I make this recipe with Frozen Green Beans, as it saves time in trimming and chopping the Green Beans. And also it is easy to keep frozen green beans handy in the freezer, that allows you to whip up this curry irrespective of the season while Potatoes are available all around the year. 

Will be back with another unusual fusion recipe,
Take care until then and happy cooking!
-Mythreyi