Tandoori Stuffed Potatoes You'll Love
The Curry Guy has even included a simplified recipe
- 1kg potatoes (about 8), peeled
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil or ghee
- 150g very finely chopped vegetables of your choice, such as carrots, onions, peppers, green bird’s eye chillies, tomatoes
- 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2.5cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp chaat masala (see right)
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 10 roasted cashew nuts, roughly chopped
- 200g paneer cheese, grated
- 50g strong Cheddar cheese, grated
- 3 generous tbsp finely chopped coriander
- 1 batch tandoori marinade (shop-bought)
- 2 tbsp melted ghee, for basting
Using an apple corer, hollow out the centre of the potatoes. If you are cooking this in a tandoor, leave two of the potatoes with one end intact; these will go at the end of the vertical skewers to stop the filling sliding off into the fire. Hollow out most of them all the way through so that there is plenty of room for stuffing. Next, carefully trim the potatoes with a potato peeler until you have cylindrical tubes with straight sides. Be sure to retain half of the potato cores. Put the prepared potatoes into a large bowl of water and swirl them around a bit to remove any excess starch. Drain and add new water and set aside. This is especially important if you aren’t cooking everything immediately, so that the potatoes don’t discolour.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and stir in the turmeric and salt. Add the potatoes and simmer for about seven minutes, or until the potatoes are about 80 percent cooked. Drain and set aside. Next finely chop the reserved potato cores. Heat the two tablespoons of oil or ghee in a frying pan over a high heat. When hot, add the chopped potatoes and the other vegetables and fry until the potatoes are soft. Stir in the chopped garlic and ginger, ground spices, chopped cashew nuts, grated cheeses and chopped coriander. Take off the heat to cool slightly.
Fill the hollowed-out potatoes with the vegetable mixture and then dip each one in the tandoori marinade. Skewer the potatoes, three on each skewer, with the two potatoes that have not been completely hollowed out at the end of the skewers if cooking in a tandoor. Prepare a direct heat fire. When the coals are whitehot and it is uncomfortable to hold your hand five centimetres above the grill for more than two seconds, you’re ready to cook. Grill over the hot coals for 10–15 minutes, or until nicely charred on the exterior. Baste the potatoes with a little ghee as they cook for extra flavour. Slice and serve with green chutney and/or roasted onion raita.
NOTE
For a simpler method, double wrap the whole potatoes in foil and place in the embers to cook for an hour. Then cut off the tops and scoop out the flesh. Make the stuffing, using the recipe above, and use to fill the potato skins. Place the tops back on the potatoes and secure with toothpicks, then rub the skin with oil or tandoori marinade and cook over indirect heat at 200C / 400F for about 10 minutes.
CHAAT MASALA
If I know I’m going to be using a lot of chaat masala, I double or triple this recipe. Usually, chaat masala is used in small amounts so this is how I tend to make it. You can buy good quality chaat masala in Asian shops but this homemade version takes it all up a notch.
MAKES APPROX. 4 TABLESPOONS
PREP TIME: 5 MINS
COOKING TIME: 2 MINS
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp amchoor (dried mango powder)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp ground black salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until warm to the touch and fragrant but not yet smoking. Tip into a spice grinder or pestle and mortar with the remaining ingredients and grind to a fine powder. This will keep for up to two months in an airtight container with little loss of flavour but it is best used on the day you make it.
