Sukhi Bataka ni Bhajiસૂકી બટાકાની ભાજી
A dry potato sabzi with nothing but cumin, chillies and lemon. Use rock salt and it becomes fasting food; use ordinary salt and it is a weekday sabzi.
Ingredients
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- 4 boiled potatoes, cubed
- 2 tbsp ghee or oil
- 1 tsp cumin, 2 green chillies
- ¼ cup crushed roasted peanuts
- Rock salt, 1 tsp sugar
- Lemon and coriander
Method
- Crackle cumin in ghee and add the chillies.
- Add the potato cubes and toss for 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in the crushed peanuts, salt and sugar and cook 2 minutes.
- Finish with lemon and coriander.
- Serve with curd, rajgara thepla or rotli.
Tips
- Cold boiled potatoes hold their shape when tossed.
- The peanuts are where the protein comes from on a fasting day.
Storing and reheating
It keeps two days in the fridge, though the potato goes dry and firm. Reheat in a pan with a teaspoon of ghee over medium heat for two minutes; a microwave leaves the cubes dry and gluey. The peanut powder draws moisture and softens within a day, so add a little fresh powder when you reheat. Squeeze the lemon only at serving.
What you can swap
- If you are not fasting, ordinary salt is fine. Rock salt belongs to the farali version and tastes slightly less salty, so you may need a touch more of it.
- For a peanut allergy, use freshly grated coconut, which is also allowed on a fast. Outside a fast, a tablespoon of roasted gram flour or crushed cashew works well.
- Oil can replace the ghee, but the smell of ghee is half the flavour of this sabzi, and for the fasting version ghee is what is traditionally used.
- Instead of green chillies, stir in a pinch of red chilli powder after the heat is off. Added to hot ghee, red chilli scorches and turns bitter.
What to serve with it
The mainstay of a fasting day, for ekadashi, aatham and fasts through Shravan or Navratri. It goes with rajgara puri or farali thepla, plain curd and a wedge of lemon. On ordinary days it is a quick sabzi with rotli.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not overboil the potatoes. Cook them only until a knife just goes in. A potato boiled until it falls apart will not cube, and it crumbles in the pan.
- Do not peel and cube the potatoes while hot. Let them cool completely first; the cubes then keep clean edges.
- Do not add the peanut powder early and keep frying. It scorches and turns bitter. It goes in during the last two minutes only.
- Leave the pan uncovered. Trapped steam softens the cubes and a dry sabzi turns damp. Keep tossing in an open pan.
Questions people ask
My potato cubes keep breaking up. Why?
They were overboiled. Three whistles at most in a pressure cooker, or in a pan take them off when a knife goes halfway in. Drain immediately after boiling and let them cool uncovered; potatoes sitting in hot water turn mushy.
Is this sabzi suitable for a fast?
This version is farali as written: potato, cumin, green chilli, peanuts, rock salt and sugar. Leave out the turmeric, asafoetida and coriander-cumin powder, since many households do not use those on a fasting day. Go by what your own family follows.
Can I make it the night before a fast?
Boil the potatoes the night before, cool them, cube them and keep them in a box in the fridge. Roast and crush the peanuts too. In the morning, crackle cumin in ghee and the sabzi is done in five minutes, which is far better than making the whole thing a day ahead.
