Potato Sticks Curry

It feels so nice to be missed and that's what I infer from the comments left by my foodie friends...I apologise for keeping quiet for so long. I have been a little busy lately and have been feeling a little under the weather too. Added to this, I had my share of blogger and PC problems to deal with. But when I saw all your comments, rain or shine, I had to post. So, here it is.

This recipe is a classic from my Dh's grandma...The grand old soul is so good with cooking and even at this age, she makes sure she cooks everything by herself when her beloved grandchildren stop by... May God Bless her and keep her hale and healthy for a lot many years to come!

I have no idea if this dish has a proper name in Telugu. It's made from potatoes which are grated and fried. I will get into the details of this part later, but now here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Potato Sticks - 4.5 cans
Oil - Around 8 Tablespoons
Curry Leaves - 20
Coriander - 1 bunch

To Be Roasted:

Urad Dal - 1/2 Cup
Channa Dal - 1/2 Cup
Jeera - 1/8 Cup

To be fried in a little oil:

Dry Red Chillies - 5 long ones
Garlic - 10 flakes

Mix the roasted and fried ingredients and grind to a fine powder.

Heat oil in a pan and add curry leaves and coriander. Fry till they wilt. Next add the ground powder and fry for a while. Take care not to burn the powder. Next add the potato sticks and stir gently over a low flame till well blended. This should take about 2 to 3 minutes. Potato sticks curry is ready!

This dish makes a yummy accompaniment for rice. Mix it with plain rice with a drop of ghee or use it as a side dish.

I used French brand potato sticks. They come in small cans of about an ounce each and cost about 50 cents. If you want to make the potato sticks from scratch (I prefer this method, but time consuming), which is back breaking enough, here's the method:

Homemade Potato Sticks:

Wash and peel potatoes. Grate them with a grater which will give you thin, but long strands. Keep the gratings soaked in salted water till you are done with all the potatoes. Wash the gratings with water to remove some of the starch. Squeeze and let dry for sometime. Use paper towels or spread it on a plate to remove the excess water. Once they are considerably moisture less, fry them in a wide pan and keep aside. Potato sticks are ready.

Potato sticks by themselves are a snack and it looks like I have given two recipes in one post!

Addendum:

Just yesterday I chanced upon Meeta's MM-Give Thanks event and I felt this recipe would be befitting the event. I have a lot to thank my DH for and what could be a better way to do that than by cooking his favorite dish. My DH simply loves this recipe and could literally live on it for days together. :-)