Food talk
 Finger-licking potatoes

Chooran ke alu, which can be prepared in a jiffy, can be enjoyed with
both chapatti and rice, writes Pushpesh Pant

Chooran derives from the Sanskrit choorna that translates as powder. There are indeed many flavourful choorna in the ayurvedic repertoire — hingashtaka, dadimashtaka and lavan bhaskar are prominent in this list that have a legendary reputation as aperitif and digestive. Then, there are lavangadi, sitopalaldi and many more.

The chooran culture has percolated to grassroots or you could argue it is there from that it has moved up in classic texts — compilations of traditional Indian therapeutics. There are various hajmola and pachnola formulations based on tasty chooran — we now also have candies of this ilk — and assorted golis of jhatpat or fatafat fame. Interestingly, it is rarely that we have come across a genuine churan-flavoured delicacy. Hyderabad does boast of chooran ke karele but these are basically a variation on the bharwan theme. The spice blend doesn’t really display any signs of any chooran.

It is for this reason that we were thrilled to taste chooran ke alu at a friends place recently. The baby potatoes wrapped in thick sauce like sweet ’n’ sour paste tasted exactly like the anardana chooran one used to lick like an addict in childhood. The tempting stuff was ‘imported’ from far off Almora and was made by Annii a kiosk owner who specialised in tassels, stringing beads and embroidery.

Interestingly this concoction had a melted toffee like texture and was far removed from a dry powdery state. But we digress. Chooran ke alu is dramatically different from the usual hing zira anardana mutants. You can enjoy these with chapatti or rice as an accompaniment; top it with a blob of dahi and voila! You have chaat in a jiffy. Stick a toothpick and you have a novel cocktail bite. Sure puts to shade the much-hyped mint coriander laced Anglo-Indian creation chutney potatoes.

Chef’s corner

Ingredients

Baby potatoes (preferably

marble sized) 500 gm

Dhania powder 2 tsp

Brown cardamoms two

Cloves three

Kashmiri red chilli powder 1 tsp

Dried ginger powder 1 tsp

Saunf powder 1 tsp

Amchur powder 1 tsp

Black rock salt ¼ tsp

Sugar (or to taste) 1 tsp

Mustard oil 3 tbsp

Green chillies

(deseeded and chopped) two

Salt to taste

Method
Wash and clean the potatoes but don’t peel or scrape. Pierce through with fork or toothpick ensuring that the potatoes are not broken. Heat oil in a large shallow karahi and bring it to smoking point. Put in the pepper and cloves and when these begin to change colour, reduce heat to medium and put in the potatoes. Dissolve the powdered spices and other ingredients, except chillies, in `BC cup water to avoid burning and add to the potatoes. Stir well to mix and cover. Let the potatoes cook for about 10 minutes on low medium heat. Stir regularly and add a little water — just sprinkling — and replace cover. Garnish with green chillies.





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