“Cabbage~Potato (Batata- Aloo) Katla Upkari (Bhaji/ Sitr Fry)” … A simple delicious healthy upkari/ bhaji from Konkani Saraswat Cuisine served as side dish with dal/ saar-chawal … tastes great with roti/ parathas too … Yummilicious …
** Here is a traditional simple potato- cabbage upkari from Konkani Saraswat Cusine that I often prepare at home. There are many variations to this recipe both spice wise as combo wise meaning you can prepare it with just one ingredient like only potato or cabbage or in combination. Again, you can prepare it with different spices like with addition of turmeric or without and with whole red chillies or powder form. For an innovative mind or for a person who likes a few changes in daily food these are all things to be kept in mind while preparing a bhaji.
** Coming to the word Katla in Konkani means triangular cuts. The veggies are cut into slightly thick triangular cuts for the upkari/ bhaji. Though, by and large this is done so only for potato bhaji and is also called bajjunu upkari meaning coz. here, oil is added on generously and water is only sprinkled a little bit, so that the potatoes get fried and cooked in oil itself. I have always loved adapting my own changes to our own Konkani dishes there by keeping the basics same but adding either veggies or spices different which has always given me fantastic result.
** This time, I gave twist to the batate katla upkari by adding on cabbage cut similarly ie into triangular chunks and cooked them in same patterns. It was simply awesome and I am sure I will prepare this one regularly now in my home. We have always loved potato and I include them a lot into my dishes, but when everybody is slightly vary of the good old potato as it is filled by starch, I too start getting worried as to if I am going overboard. Cabbage is an excellent veggie and this is sure to balance the bhaji as I can cut down on the quantity of potato.
** In all definitely a superb side dish both health wise and taste wise and above all its easy to prepare too. Do try out this dish and enjoy with your family and friends. I will share two links to the potato katla bhaji at the bottom of this recipe where in the recipe remains almost the same with minute difference of addition of chilly pieces in one and powder in the other. If you love potatoes like us you can try them out too and they are actually the traditional upkari dishes from Saraswat and goes very well when served with roti/ chapatti or poori.
** For the method of preparing Cabbage~Potato (Batata- Aloo) Katla Upkari (Bhaji/ Sitr Fry)” … My Style …
** Peel of the skin of 2 large sized potatoes/Aloo and cut them into half lengthwise and then again into two lengthwise ie. 4 cuts lengthwise then slice them horizontally into thin slices. Wash in plenty of water and soak them in plenty of water for 15 minutes. This enables the starch in the potatoes to get released and the upkari / bhaji remains crispier and does not turn much soggy. Drain off the excess water and once again wash in plenty of water and keep this ready aside.
** Remove the outermost cabbage cover if not so edible and then slice off a thick portion from the side and then cut them into chunks similar to the size of the potato cuts. Put them in colander and rinse under running water. Then keep it aside so that the water gets completely drained for for a good 15-20 minutes. You can shake the colander in between so that the water gets drained properly which is absolutely necessary or else the bhaji will turn mushy.
** Heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil/ tel in a thick bottomed kadai/ pan, when hot lower the heat and add in 1 tsp of mustard seeds (rai/ sasam), when they start to splutter, lower the heat and add in 4-5 red chillies (tambdi mrisanga/ laal sooki mirchi) cut into pieces, ½ to 1 tsp of hing (asafoetida) powder depending upon the strength of its aroma, pinch of of haldi (turmeric) powder, lastly a few curry leaves and fry all for a minute.
** Add in prepared and kept aside potatoes, mix well and cook covered on low heat mixing often to avoid it getting burnt at the bottom till 70% done. Now add in salt to taste, mix well, and then add the prepared and kept aside cabbage pieces and mix well. Throughout the process of cooking keep checking and stirring gently. If find that the veggies are being stuck to bottom, sprinkle some water and continue till done and then remove from fire and keep it aside.
** Note : You should keep checking the upkari so that it does not overcook, usually water is avoided as the oil is enough to cook the veggies. Again, if you add more water the whole bhaji, turns mushy and is not at all tasty. Remember to cook potatoes first and then add cabbage as the time varies with each and if you add together it does not work as cabbage cooks faster also the crunch in the cabbage has to be retained, so be careful.
** “Cabbage~Potato (Batata- Aloo) Katla Upkari (Bhaji/ Sitr Fry)” is done and ready to be served. Serve this as side dish always hot~ freshly cooked with Dal/ Saar or any other curry along with rice or pejja / rice porridge or roti/ chapatti/ parotas. Tastes great and is healthier option too, moreover young and old all will surely like this simple dish for sure. With changing times we have to adapt to some changes in preparing our regular dishes and this definitely gong to be it.
** Do try it out in your home and enjoy with your family and friends, again you can make another variation to this recipe too by adding in onions cut into cubes too and that one too tastes fantastic, the next time I prepare I will click a picture as it has been quite sometime since I prepared that variation. There are many more mix and match combinations of simple bhaji/ upkari in my blog, do browse through using the hashtag on the side and try them out.
** Note : In many homes this upkari is cooked in Iron Kadai as it holds in even heat and the iron content gets induced in the curry, also it gets a good burnt cooked look to the potatoes. If you have an Iron kadai, do use it, just see to it that once the process of cooking is done with, Keep it aside covered for 5 minutes and then remove the bhaji from kadai into another vessel or else it will turn out too blackish in color which is not at all pleasing.
** You can also browse through the links given below for batate katla upkari …
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