Happy (late) New Year! I know, I know. I haven’t posted in ages (it seems like I begin all my blog entries with that sentence. Ugh), but you all know that with all the preparations, Christmas is the busiest time of the year. Especially when you’re leaving for three months: a lot of people to meet with, too many cakes to bake, lots of handmade gifts to finish.
Right now I’m writing from my aunt’s flat in Moscow. Everything is covered in snow outside (I’ve never seen so much snow, even for Russia!). I haven’t been cooking too much but I have recipes that are waiting to be posted since half a month ago, so it’s not a problem 
For instance, these potatoes. I’m not a huge fan of (regular) potatoes. I can spend months without tasting them and suddenly I eat potatoes two days in a row. It must be Christmas 
Jeera aloo (Cumin flavoured stir-fried potatoes)
Even when ommiting the whole chili, the potatoes are quite spicy. Two teaspoons of whole cumin can seem a lot at the beginning, but once it’s cooked and mixed with all the other spices and potatoes they give the right amount of texture. They taste even better the next day. I’d definitively cook them again.
Serves: 3-4
From: Quick Indian Cooking
Ingredients
750 gm raw new potatoes, sliced into 1cm thick discs
2 tsp whole cumin
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Half tsp chilli powder
Quarter tsp asafoetida (hing)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
Salt to taste
Hot water
*Malli’s recipe included 1 whole red chilli, which I omitted.
Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the asafoetida and the whole cumin.
Add the cumin, coriander and chilli powder (be careful not to burn them!) and then the sliced potatoes.
Pour the water, cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes or until done. Stir the potatoes from time to time to avoid them sticking to the pan.
I cooked these for December’s Tried & Tasted. This month the blog being tried is Quick Indian Cooking and the hostess is Sudeshna of Cook like a Bong. You can find all the information on Lakshmi original post or Sudeshna’s post here.
You can use the logo I did for this month.
I also decided to bake some of the potatoes. Just wash as much potatoes as needed. Usually I bake 3-4 per person if they’re small and 2-3 if they’re medium, but if you can, choose the small ones: they bake better. Put them on the oven tray or an oven dish, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and black pepper and bake for an hour/one hour and half or until cooked, on a small to medium heat. Serve with some more oil or margarine. I think the best part is the skin so I don’t peel them, but it’s up to you.
For those who don’t know, I have a Flickr and a Tumblr. I’ll be uploading most of my photos (and I have lots of them!) there, so stay tuned. If you’re not familiar with Tumblr, it’s something between a blog and a Twitter account, although I use mine more like a blog (I hardly ever reblog and post once-twice maximum a day). You can add it to a RSS reader as any other blog.
How has been your Christmas/New Year? You can see some photos of mine on my tumblr. I’ve been resting so far, but I’ll be working as a babysitter once holidays are over. It was impossible to find anything in Spain…so I went to Russia. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Looks delicious!
quina delicia! que ho passis be per russia!
This is something my grandma and I make on a regular basis for a quick lunch, it’s such a nice and simple dish isn’t it? Hope you had a lovely christmas/new year!
This is one my of husband’s fav dish and mine too. I have uploaded a similar recipe in my blog
Mmm, I love potatoes so much, especially fried potatoes.
But I’ve never added cumin to them! Now I will have to try this. 
I love your picture of the window. 
Mmmm, potatoes. I love roasted spuds the most, none too keen about mash though! Your Xmas hat is very cute!