Aloo Gobi

Aloo Gobi (home version)

Aloo Gobi (work version)

At work, they served Aloo Gobi. It wasn’t what I thought it would be, so I decided to make it at home. I don’t think I’ve had it before, otherwise. I liked the home version better.

Now, since I hadn’t had it before in an Indian restaurant, I wasn’t sure what I thought it would be like. I did know I expected something spicier. Not necessarily hotter but spicier. You know? So, I turned to trusty ol’ recipezaar and sorted by rating and found this recipe: Aloo Gobi. It said it was from Bend It Like Beckham. I saw the movie so maybe that’s why the cafeteria version was off to me.

And then there were the tweaks/substitutions….

I didn’t have cumin seed, so I used ground cumin. I wasn’t sure of the ginger or garlic measurements, so I used 1″ of ginger and 5 cloves of garlic. I wasn’t sure of can size, so I used 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes that was on sale. I didn’t have chili powder — thought I did — so used ground red cayenne pepper. I wasn’t sure about the stem/leaf thing on the cilantro and got tired of ripping off the leaves so think I ended up using just 1/2 a bunch. Was tasty still. Also, didn’t use 1/4 cup oil. Used more like 1.5 T canola oil. The potatoes cooked up in 20 minutes because I chopped them bite-sized. I also cut the cauliflower bite sized and it kinda went fall-aparty at the end. Still good though. I didn’t wait as long as possible — ok, maybe I did. The length of time was as soon as the beeper went off that it was done. Very tasty! Spicy but not hot, until I dumped more cayenne in it.

I need a bigger saucepan. I need that in between larger than the saucepan size I have but smaller than the small stockpot. It was pretty full but cooked OK. Stirring was a challenge. I liked that it was one pot meal though! Lots of compost/stock waste generated too.

I was cooking for one so let it cool then put most of it in a large freezer bag. Laid it flat, got the extra air out, cooled more in the fridge — just to be sure — then put it in the freezer flat.

Fish, paprika potatoes, garlic green beans and orange slices

Dinner: May 19, 2008

• Frozen potato flake crusted fish

  School started today so I need to do quick. And I still haven’t planned ahead well, yet. At least I didn’t have cereal 😉 This baked for about 20ish minutes. It was ok. A little greasier than I wanted since it was baked. I would rather have had spiced baked fish. Must add it to my shopping list!

• Garlic green beans

  Still have a few cans left of green beans on sale. I love canned green beans. Another item I prefer canned is spinach unless it’s raw. These canned beans were cheaper per pound than fresh or frozen. I really stocked up. I had some garlic that wanted to be used (aka: getting old) so thinly sliced a few heads. After heating extra-virgin olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-ish, I added the garlic and lightly browned it. Then I added the drained can of green beans, some pepper and tossed it around till the green beans were hot. Tasted much better than plain ol’ nuked green beans but I should have used less olive oil. I didn’t use much but guess less next time. I probably used maybe 1 tablespoon.

• Paprika potatoes

  Had a can of sliced potatoes. Drained. Melted a pat of butter in a skillet. Added potatoes. Sprinkled paprika on it with a heavy hand. Warmed it up. Nom! See a pattern here? Canned stuff. Frozen stuff. Yes, but it tasted good.

• Orange slices

  My addition of fruit. I bought a couple of navel oranges this past weekend to make a spinach-orange salad. Since I had no fruit today — tsk tsk — I decided to add the orange to my meal. Since I was going to take a photo, I split it into sections. It was good. It seems I forgot how to peel an orange. 🙂 Practice I should!

Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, garden salad

I’m seeing a chicken theme here. Bwok? I do eat other things, really! But for .69/pound (.20 off per pound), I got a roasting whole chicken and looked for something to do with it that would be at least a little different than the other birds that have fallen on my plate recently. I wrapped it up in plastic last night and checked the potatoes. They felt neglected and started to expand their family by growing. But it’s not that hard to pop out the eyes — how barbaric sounding! — and make some mashed potatoes. The other side was hard to choose though. A quick check on the fridge yielded the answer in leftover salad bits. “Eat us!”

Dinner: April 27, 2008

• Roast chicken
  I’m seeing a chicken theme here. I do eat other things, really! But for .69/pound (.20 off per pound), I got a roasting whole chicken and looked for something to do with it that would be at least a little different than the other birds that have fallen on my plate recently. I did a rub and wrapped it up in plastic last night and checked the potatoes. They felt neglected and started to expand their family by growing. But it’s not that hard to pop out the eyes — how barbaric sounding! — and make some mashed potatoes.
• Mashed potatoes
  De-eyed, peeled, cubed, boiled some Yukons. I guess I should have realized by their low price (.80/pound) that they weren’t going to be much longer for this world. The chicken left some liquid in its pan, so I whipped up gravy (I use cornstarch).
• Garden salad
  Leftover boiled eggs (white only), tomato, romaine, cucumber, celery and Good Seasonings Light Greek Vinaigrette.