Have you been invited to Gujarati weddings, religious occasions or get together? yes? very nice! I am sure you did not get this curry in your (thali) plate, am I right?
Obviously not, with times changing, Gujarati menus have changed, became fusion and this humble yet robust Potato Curry has lost its charm from the big feasts and menus. If you are lucky, you might get served in tiny Villages of Gujarat!
BTW, Jamanvar translates Feast!
Okay, so let me virtually invite you for Jamanvar and show to you what sort of Traditional and Authentic Gujarati Menu you would have found at any typical Gujarati home or wedding if you were invited about 30-40 years ago.
Obviously, you may have found every dish pure vegetarian, and altogether you’ll have four or five items in your Thali, mostly contains Gujarati Daal, Kala Chana Nu saak, Plain Rice, One sweet ( Either Churma Na Ladoo or Mohanthaal ) One Farsan (mostly Ganthiya or Masala Fulwadi ), Bateta nu Saak and for drink you’ll have Buttermilk ( Chaas )
The reasons behind this type of menus were so simple and understandable. In olden days people lived without electricity and gadgets, so they prepared only a few items, which are non-perishable sweets like Ladoo, and Savouries for hundreds and hundreds of people, and prepared fresh dishes like rice, daal and saak just a few hours before the main feast served.
Goes well with Sadi Bhakhri , Masala Bhakhri round and soft gujarati rotli ,
Gujarati Potato Curry
One of them was Bateta nu Saak, and that is not ordinary saak, it’s Jamanvar nu Saak! You must try at least once in a lifetime 🙂 So one might ask how this potato curry is different than any other Potato Curry.
Firstly Jamanvar nu saak, potatoes aren’t peeled.
To make curry sweet, you must use Jaggery ( Gor, Gud )
To make curry tangy or sour use Tamarind paste.
There are no chilli-ginger or onion garlic added to this curry.
Gujarati Bateta Nu Shaak
Ingredients
- 500 g potatoes
- 75 ml of oil
- 1 tbsp. cumin and Mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon hing
- 3-4 dry red chillies broken
- saltalt
- 30 g jaggery
- 3-4 tbsp. tamarind paste
- 1 tbsp. red chilli powder
- ½ tbsp. turmeric powder
- 2-3 tbsp. ground cumin and coriander
- 1 tsp. garam Masala
- 1 tsp. kashmiri chilli powder
- handful fresh coriander leaves
Instructions
- Cut potatoes in desired size and wash thoroughly.
- Keep them in cold water.
- Heat oil in a kadai, add cumin and mustard seeds.
- Once they crackle, add hing and dry red chillies.sauté for few seconds, and add cut potatoes without water.
- Mix everything and let the potatoes cook for one minute.
- Add all the masala and salt.
- Let the masala cook, once aroma starts wafting add water.
- I use my andaza ( approximate ) in adding the water.
- Cover the kadai with the lid and let the potatoes cook.
- Make sure curry doesn’t get dry as we need to keep gravy.
- Once potatoes are cooked, but not mashed add tamarind paste and jaggery.
- If needed add little water.
- Once again cover the pot, and cook the potatoes.
- Keep checking, maybe you can mash a couple of potato pieces with the back of the spoon, so gravy gets nice and thicker.
- Switch off the heat, cover the pot and let the curry to sit for 3-4 minutes.
- In this time potatoes, gravy will get thicker and potatoes will absorb all the flavours.
- Garnish with the chopped coriander and serve hot with Bhakhri, roti, puri or paratha.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is an approximation calculated by an online calculator/plugin. Please consult a professional dietitian for nutritional advice.
Debbie
Friday 14th of July 2017
This looks very comforting, and sounds delicious! - VA for Denise Wright
Tina Dawson
Friday 14th of July 2017
I've been looking for a good potato curry to make this weekend - will try this one!
Beth
Friday 14th of July 2017
This looks so delicious! Very interesting history lesson you shared with us! It's a shame that sometimes traditional dishes are lost!
Unknown
Friday 14th of July 2017
Sounds like a great flavor combo!
Unknown
Friday 14th of July 2017
This sounds so incredibly delicious. I am so excited to try this!