This Navratri, I have tried to keep myself away from the Tamasic food. No specific reason. Just wanted a natural detox for the body after torturing it for weeks of mindless eating. So restraining from heavy foods like onion, garlic, eggs etc. has kind of helped to bring my metabolism back into a normal working state, also making the body adapt the changing weather conditions.
Apart from having some of the Navratri special dishes like vrat ki Rajgira kadhi, amla pudina chutney and Vrat ki farali aloo sabji, I also kept my menu for the week completely onion-garlic free. So I prepared mostly Sattvik dishes like Instant rava palak idli, ghee lauki jeera and Moong dal cheela etc. which helped me move through the flow swiftly.
If you are even slightly connected to your body, you would feel a lot of change inside by maintaining this diet. Your body feels lighter and more energetic in general. Of course, if you are an avid meat/egg eater or love the onion and garlic, it is hard to follow the diet all the time. But doing it for a week every few months is easier and works good in the long run to keep you healthy and fit.
Dahi aloo i.e. potatoes simmered in yogurt gravy is one such curry which you can (actually, must!) include in your weekly detox regime. It is such a simple dish yet so comforting and soulful. With minimum spices used, you can savour the original flavours from potato and spiced yogurt. BTW, lately I am becoming fan of minimum spices cooking. You can try more recipes like Patta gobi matar (cabbage stir fry with green peas) or Gajar matar (carrot stir fry with green peas) if interested. Both these dishes were made with very less spices and taste awesome!
So back to the potato curry. To be honest, this can be called as a chunky potato yogurt soup as well. Yes. Mildly spiced yogurt based potato soup sounds like an apt International name for this delicacy. It would go insanely well with any soft bread like buns or toasted breads. If you are making it for fasting purposes, you can have it with Kuttu ki poori along with Mooli ka raita.
There is another version of Dahi aloo on the blog which I make with the addition of mint so its called- Dahi alu pudina. It is yet another simple and very flavourful curry that I prepare with potatoes and yogurt and you can have it during your No onion garlic regimen or during the 9 days of fasting (Navtara/Navratri).
This recipe for Dahi aloo can be planned ahead of time (for boiling potatoes) so it can get ready quickly, just about in 15 minutes. Click for more under 15 minutes recipes. It makes a nice, easy accomplishment to dal-rice and a perfect side dish for any rice dish. Addition of ginger and Asafoetida gives a nice tang and also enhance the digestive traits of the dish.
If you want to have this strictly for fasting purposes, remove the turmeric, asafoetida and dried red chili from it and it would still taste amazing. Or you could simply go to my recipe for Vrat ke aloo and make that instead.
Lets see how to make this fabulous No onion garlic Dahi aloo. Do write to me if you try this recipe and it comes out to be good. Even if not, I would love to hear from you. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see more of these recipes and inside fun.
Dahi aloo (no onion garlic recipe)- Chunky potato yogurt soup
Ingredients
- 3-4 in medium sized potatoes boiled or tendered microwave
- 1 cup fresh yogurt I would recommend using full fat yogurt
- 1 tsp Ghee (if using oil I would recommend Peanut oil or mustard oil)
- piece A small of ginger grated or minced
- ½ tsp mustard seeds rai
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 2-3 dried red chilies sookhi laal mirch
- A pinch of asafoetida hing
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- leaves A handful of cilantro coriander
Instructions
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Peel the boiled potatoes and break them roughly into chunks. Keep aside
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Whisk the yogurt well with about ½ cup of water so there are no lumps. Keep aside.
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In a pan, heat the ghee/oil and throw in mustard seeds. When they start to splatter, add in grated ginger, heeng and dried red chilies. Let them fry for half a minute
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Then add the remaining spices and broke potato chunks, mix well and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for about 4-5 minutes at low gas setting. Sprinkle a few teaspoons of water in between so it doesn't get stuck at the bottom and potatoes absorb the flavours from the spices.
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Next, turn the gas to the lowest and stir one last time so the excessive steam gets off the pan. Then add the whisked yogurt very gently folding the potato chunks into it. Do not stir vigorously at this time or the yogurt might curdle up.
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Cook this covered for about 3-4 minutes, stir once or twice in between. If you want to add some more water, do at this point and let the curry cook for 1-2 minutes further.
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Once the curry starts to thicken up a bit, turn the gas off. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot and fresh with dollops of ghee on top.
Recipe Notes
If making for fast- Skip turmeric, red chili, heeng and use Sendha namak and black pepper instead.
WOw !!! Perfect aloo’s in yogurt sauce.
Potatoes and the sauce look yummy. Thx for linking.
Vardhini
CooksJoy
wow thats looking gr8 dear…have made dum aaloo b4 but this looks fresh and temptg
Very delicious and mouthwatering…lovely clicks dear
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Wow.. super yummy!!
Krithi’s Kitchen – Serve It – Pressure Cooked/Slow Cooked
looks divine..;)
excellent cliks
Tasty Appetite
Looks wonderful and great clicks !!
Ongoing event CC:Spring Seasonal Food
yummy n perfect clicks….
looks delicious and colorful…tempting clicks.
Thanks for dropping at my space…glad to follow you.
Thanks Nalini 🙂
Mouthwatering dish… beautiful clicks. happy to follow you
This certainly looks delicious. I think, I can get most of the ingredients. I will dosome checking since I would love to make this.
Would you like to link this to My Meatless Mondays. It is a good choice for a meatless meal.
wow.. potatoes look delicious… perfect with chapathi…
Hi Nupur.
Marination is an unavoidable step in this recipe and I guess it’s worth it for the potatoes to imbibe all the interesting flavors. Nice curry and looks delicious.
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Yes Pari, it was totally worth marinating the potatoes. I often cook them skipping this part in a jiffy. But the difference is quite highly felt.
Nice theme for the event, will surely participate.
looks soo nice… will try this
Oh wow, I love anything to do with potatoes. And this looks heavenly!!
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yogurt and potatoes…such a good combination.
What a lovely meal! I love potatoes and your dish is fantastic! Can’t wait for a new potatoes to be on the market!
the potatoes look so yummy. i love dahi aloo recipes..
very delicious and perfectly done dahi aloo..my favourite .. very tempting clicks.
This looks so creamy n delicious!
Looks super delish and inviting!
I followed your recipe and didn’t stir the gravy vigorously. But still my gravy was curdled. Can you please let me know what could be my mistake.
Hi Astha, did you turn the gas to the lowest before adding the curd? You need to bring the temperature of the dish inside the wok down so that the curd wont curdle. Another great tip is add some water (2-3 tbsp) to the pan before adding yogurt