Aalu Methi Fry (Potato tossed with Fenugreek leaves)

I never have liked Methi so much.. Surprisingly though, I have been encountering it in the aisle of the fresh produce section, each time I visit the Indian store. Known as Fenugreek in English, it is used in Indian cuisine quite often, both in a dry form as well as its fresh leaves to make many types of curries. Methi may be bitter to taste but then it has its unique flavour to it. Its seeds are used for tempering many Indian dishes.

Couple of things that I like done with fresh Methi leaves -

Methi paratha - Indian bread stuffed with Methi leaves

Methi matar malai - Green peas with gravy of Methi leaves and cream

Abhishek likes Aalu a lot, so many a times I just toss and stir fry some potatoes in the morning rush and pack his lunch... Some day suddenly he asked me ''make something different with Aalu today''. And out of the blues all I could think of was trying it out with Methi..

What all I used :

(Serves 3)

• Potato - 2

• Methi (Fenugreek) leaves - 1 cup

• Dry red chilly - 2

• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

• Amchur powder - 1 tsp

• Oil - 2 tsp

How I made it :

• Clean the Methi -  Cut out the roots, use the stem only where the leaves are there - discard the rest of the stem, wash the leaves thoroughly under flowing water, soak it in water for some time so that all the dirt settles down, wash again. Thorough cleaning is necessary to make sure clean it nicely.

• Heat oil in a pan.

• Take 2 large sized potatoes. Peel them and cut them into small cubes.

• Once the oil is hot, break the dry red chillies and put them in.

• Add in the cumin seeds now. Just give them about 10 seconds (to get fried) as the oil is already hot.

• Put in the cut potato pieces. Mix well.

• Let it be on medium heat, uncovered. Keep stirring in between.

• Chop the Methi leaves while the potatoes get cooked.

• After about 5 minutes of cooking, the potatoes would have started turning softer. Add in turmeric powder and the amchur powder (green mango powder). I am using the Amchur to counter the slight bitterness of the Methi leaves. Mix well.

• In another 3-5 minutes the potatoes would have turned lovely brown. Toss in salt as per your taste.

• Now that the potatoes have been almost cooked, add in the chopped Methi. 

• Let us give the Methi about some 5 minutes on medium heat.

• The leaves will start losing their light green colour, slowly sinking in volume and turning into dark green. And this should be done now.

Eat with a hot plain paratha.

Note :

• To remove the bitterness of the Methi leaves, you could toss some salt on the chopped leaves and leave it for about 10-15 minutes before you cook it. Try and see if it helps.