Rassewale Aaloo with Moong Daal Paneer Paratha (Potatoes in a Spicy Tangy Gravy with Cottage Cheese Indian Flat Bread)

The next few days, till the end of this week, I am on an indulgence spree. The reason being my next weeks' GM Diet plan and so I wanted to pamper my body and my soul with some hearty dishes to last me through the diet plan. Although todays menu is not so much on the indulgence side as the cooking has been mostly done with olive oil and very little oil has been used for smearing the parathas, the potatoes are an indulgence nevertheless. Coming up over the next few days are Butter Chicken, Zaffrani Paneer Pilaf, Tandoori Aaloo, and Grape Compote Ice cream. Now after making and eating all of that I will be bound to follow the diet plan to the "T"!

                                         

Ingredients

For the Paneer Parathas

3 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup paneer grated

1/2 cup moong daal washed and soaked for about an hour

12-15 sticks of coriander leaves stemmed and finely chopped (reserve the stems for grinding to a paste later)

2-3 green chillies as per taste

1 tsp roasted cumin seeds

1 tbsp olive oil while kneading

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 tsp salt

1 medium onion chopped

1 inch piece ginger, chopped

Oil for smearing the parathas while cooking

For the Rassewale Aaloo

12-15 baby potatoes, washed and boiled skin on (I like it with the skin, you can remove if you wish; you can also use regular potatoes cubed into 6-8 equal pieces each)

1 big tomato, made into a paste with 1 tbsp ginger chopped and 2 green chillies

1 tbsp store bought tomato puree or pure ketchup (optional; helps enhance the color)

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp hing

Salt to taste

Few curry leaves

Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

1 tbsp olive oil or any oil/ghee of your choice

Direction

For the parathas

Make a fine paste with the soaked moong daal, chopped onions, ginger, coriander stems, green chillies, and roasted cumin seeds. You may add just a dash of water to make the paste smooth. In a bowl, take the flour and add salt. Add the chopped coriander leaves and the moong daal paste. Adding a little water at a time, knead it into a smooth dough. You may add additional dash of flour if the dough is initially too sticky. Pour the 1 tbsp olive oil through your hands into the dough and finish the kneading on a flat surface. Keep covered in room temperature until rolling. Heat a girdle or tawa and roll out thin parathas with the help of little flour at a time. Do not use too much flour as it will spoil the taste. Fry the parathas on the hot girdle smearing with oil on both sides. Serve hot with Rassewale Aaloo and freshly chopped onions or pickle.

                                       

                                       

For the Rassewale Aaloo

Heat oil in a pan and splutter the cumin seeds. Add the curry leaves, slit green chillies, and hing. Now add the tomato paste and the puree (if using) and fry for 2-3 minutes. Now add the dry spices, salt and  continue frying till oil starts coming out from the sides. Now add the boiled potatoes and mix. Add enough water as you require for the gravy, about half a cup is good enough. Cover and cook on a medium flame for the potatoes to absorb the spices. Remove cover and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with the parathas.