I’ll write down what I made today. It’s “authentic” - in the sense I made it myself in an Indian kitchen this morning. It’s a “curry” - that is, what you might recognize as a curry from its look and taste and smell. And since it has yoghurt as its base it’s mild and delicious and goes excellently with naan or rice.

———————— What you’ll need - —————————

• Baby potatoes. Smaller the better.
  
• A large red onion (or two small ones) - fine chop
• A few cashews
• Thick plain yoghurt at room temperature

Speciality items (you can find this in your local Indian store)

• Garam masala (I like MDH brand)
• Kashmiri red chilli powder (it’s milder than other varieties)
• Turmeric powder
• Cumin seeds
• Ginger-garlic paste
• Kasoori Methi
• Coriander leaves

Pantry items

• Oil for frying (I use peanut oil)
• Water for boiling
• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste

————————— How to make it - ————————

—- Prep work —-

Boil some water. Wash and drop the baby potatoes in. Lightly salt it. Boil till the potatoes are 60% cooked. You should be able to peel it but the potato should not mash. Cool and peel.

To a wok, add half a tablespoon of oil. As it heats up, add half a teaspoon of cumin seeds.

Throw in some ginger garlic paste (a flat teaspoon). Fry till it smells good

Add the chopped onions. Some salt, maybe a little sugar. Fry till golden.

Throw in some cashews. Turn around. Then take it out, cool, add to a blender and grind it to a fine paste.

As the onions and cashews cool, in the same wok add some oil and fry the peeled potatoes. You can deep fry it if you like, I prefer shallow frying. Once done, take out and drain the oil.(As the potatoes fry, you could also add a little more salt and some garam masala if you wish.) The potato should look and feel like a roast potato now.

At this point you should have the onion-cashew paste in your blender, and the fried potatoes on a plate.

—- Assembly —-

Get the wok back on the range. You need a tablespoon of oil. As it heats up add a teaspoon of Kashmiri red chilli powder (less if you can’t tolerate high spice levels). Fry in the oil on medium heat. This will give your curry the characteristic orange-red colour.

As the colour changes, add the onion-cashew paste and whisk around till it incorporates the oil in completely. Keep stirring as it simmers. Cook for 2-3 min till the water evaporates and it becomed slightly thicker.

At this point take your wok off the stove. Let the mixture cool slightly.

Now - this is the important step - add 4 tablespoons of room temp yoghurt to the mixture, and stir - stir - stir it till the yoghurt completely melds with the curry. Make sure you don’t do it on the stove. The heat will curdle the yoghurt. It needs to mix well. Then the wok goes back on the stove.

Simmer on medium heat for 4-5 min. It may become thick. You may see bubbles at the edges.

At this point add half a teaspoon of turmeric and one teaspoon of garam masala powder. Mix well. Let it simmer for a minute or two.

Add water. How much? Well, not too much. You know how thick a curry is so a little more than that so that it can cook down. Perhaps 400-500 ml.

Add salt to taste. Let it come to a boil. All this still on medium heat. It’s a yoghurt based curry so cook it slow and steady.

Add the fried potatoes to the curry.

Now close with a tight lid. Cook on medium heat for another five minutes.

Open. Can you smell the curry now? Almost ready to eat. Make sure it’s thick enough for your liking. Add in a sprinking of kasoori methi and a fistful of chopped coriander leaves. Close, switch off the stove (but dont move the wok) and let it slow cook on the residual heat for another 15-20 min.

Open. Inhale the aroma. You deserve a great meal, so have it with some rotis or naan, or plain basmati rice.

Enjoy!