Sweet potato – green pepper – potato sabzi

Here’s a recipe for something I cooked twice this week. It turned out wonderfully and really, I can’t even claim it as my invention – it’s that simple.

Sweet potato – green pepper – potato sabzi

Warm some oil in a skillet. Throw in some mustard. As it crackles, add cumin, asafoetida, turmeric, red chilli powder. Let the spices cook in the oil. Add the chopped sweet potatoes and potatoes. I used thin and large slices of both the vegetables. Add some salt to taste, close the skillet with a lid and let it cook. Ensure that the vegetables don’t stick to the base of the vessel. When they’re semi-cooked, add in the chopped green pepper. It’d be good to add a little more salt to aid the cooking process. After a little while, check to see if the peppers are cooked. Ensure that they don’t turn into an over-cooked mash. At this point, you can add garam masala, kasoori methi. Stir well and turn off after a couple of minutes. Keep the lid shut and the vegetables will cook in the remaining steam.

As a variation, fennel seeds can also be added to the tadka in the beginning. Mint would also make a wonderful seasoning ingredient.

The sweet fleshiness of the sweet potatoes matched beautifully with the crunchy green peppers while the potatoes provided the perfect foil for the two.